In the Northeastern Iowa Synod December, STAR, I talk about how pastors and leaders can do more with their digital ministry and outreach by posting a message about Christmas on their website.
This time of the year there is a spike in the number of people googling “the meaning of Christmas”.
If you are a pastor you are likely writing on this topic already, whether it be a sermon, a devotion for an event or meeting or for your church newsletter. Simply take what you have written, title it “The meaning of Christmas” and post it on your website. Then when people google the meaning of Ch
ristmas your church website will come up in the results.
If you have some time and do some more, people also use google to learn more about Christmas traditions during this time of the year. You could add a page on your website with a little something about the various Christmas traditions and legends. You could tie it to your context and talk about the particular traditions in your community.
For example, last year the most googled question about Santa was “Is Santa Real”. You could write about Saint Nicolas, but title it “Yes, Santa is real”.
Be very careful, when dealing with legends that you are clear that these are legends, and that the origins of many of these are ambiguous. They are for fun and inspiration. Not history lessons. Because people will fact-check.
Be sure to end the article about legends and stories with a gospel message about Christ and that they can learn more about the baby born in the manger at your church, your times of worship, especially Christmas services. Also be sure to share a link to that page on social media.
