Everyone loves a good Christmas tradition. As much as we love the unexpected surprises, there is something about knowing “this is what we do” and “this is how we celebrate.” Some families put their Christmas decorations up the weekend after Thanksgiving. Others bake special recipes only at Christmas. And still other families take part in a specific ministry on Christmas Eve. Christmas traditions may include foods, music, activities, worship and a multitude of other things that remind one of the holiday season.
It is no different in girls’ ministry. It is fun to know when you reach eighth grade you get to go on the "eighth grade girls retreat." Or when you finally arrive as a high school senior you get the option of going on an international mission trip. And although we may have some of these programmed “traditions” throughout the years, do we have any specific Christmas traditions that the girls come to love and anticipate each December?
If you haven’t started your own Christmas traditions with your girls’ ministry, here are a few suggestions:
- Adopt a child or family by Sunday school classes or small groups. All the girls pitch in five to ten dollars and then go shopping together. After shopping, spending time wrapping the gifts and writing personal notes to the child or family. If possible even deliver the gifts as Christmas approaches.
- Go Christmas caroling together. It is an old standard, but always a good one that helps the girls and those in the neighborhood or nursing home enjoy the Christmas spirit.
- A favorite among our girls is the tacky Christmas sweater night. Everyone calls her grandmother or digs through the racks at resale shops to find an obnoxious Christmas sweater or sweatshirt. We wear them to Bible study and then after study time have a fabulous time eating cookies and drinking milk.
- Writing and signing Christmas cards for the homebound, wounded soldiers or those serving in the armed forces. This is a great way to help girls remember those who may be having a difficult or lonely holiday away from family or friends.
- Baking cookies and doing a cookie exchange. The girls can keep the cookies to share with their family or as a group you might want to take the cookies and share them with your local community firemen or police station.
Honestly, there is not anything too original here. However, the point is to find something the girls enjoy and anticipate; and then create a tradition that, like a family heirloom, is passed down from year to year.
So, what are your creative ideas? What are some Christmas traditions (or other traditions) that build unity and cohesiveness among the girls? What are some ministries to people that depend upon your dedication and faithfulness? What would be a Christmas tradition worth starting in your girls’ ministry? And I'm not suggesting the "Tacky Christmas Sweaters" Bible study or party...I'm just saying it is a hit!
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