Fill stockings of brightly colored Christmas materials with personal items (age-/gender-appropriate—clothing, personal hygiene items, toys, books, games) for prisoners or low-income families. Or investigate providing gifts for children whose parents are in jail.

Put together hygiene kits for homeless people, to be given to a local shelter, including items like toothbrush, soap, and hand lotion. Ask children in your congregation to create handmade cards to go with them.

Do the Twelve Days of Christmas for a needy family, secretly delivering gifts from Dec. 25 to Jan. 6.

While caroling at the homes of church members, collect items for a nearby food pantry. A week ahead of time, list needed items in the bulletin.

Some Salvation Army outlets invite people to dress teddy bears to give to needy children at Christmas. Invite other women from your congregation to dress a bear. Follow with a teddy bear picnic, inviting children and all your favorite stuffed bears. Decorate and eat “ginger-bears.” Special music: “Waltzing with Bears,” of course!

Hold a silent auction of goodies and craft items suitable for Christmas gifts. Earnings may be donated to a selected cause.

Make reusable gift bags with paper from wallpaper books or from scrap materials. Or gather to wrap presents together.

Serve only red and green foods at a carry-in.

Invite group members to write Advent (or Lent) devotions  to compile in a booklet for use by your whole congregation. Have a coordinator suggest scripture passages from which writers may choose. These booklets will become a treasury of reflections on the season, specific to your setting.

Hold a white elephant gift exchange.

Decorate a Christmas tree with chrismons—gold and white symbols for the Christ (lamb, candle, rose, etc.). Learn about their history as you work on this craft together (see www.umcs.org/chrismons).

Rather than a Christmas gathering in the busy days of December, celebrate Epiphany with an all-church Christmas tree bonfire at an approved spot on Jan. 6. Reflecting the theme of bringing gifts to the Christ child, collect items for new mother kits (diapers, baby wipes, baby shampoo, etc.) to be delivered to a women’s shelter.

Mennonite Church Canada Resource Centre has collected a wide variety of worship pieces for Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter. Pieces include monologues, readings, service outlines, prayers, and dramas. Some of these pieces are available online. Or call (866) 888-6785.

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