Candy canes are a standard Christmas treat and/or decoration. The church has several children’s talks or devotions around the candy cane. But did you know they are a very useful tool for outreach? You can buy candy canes with a Bible verse or a Christian message attached. On the back of the card, attach a printed sticker with an invitation to Christmas Eve worship.
Please be sure to have a location, time, website (if up to date), and information about your worship service. Send teams out to stores and neighborhoods to hand out candy canes with the invite card attached. Be sure to equip them with a simple script and to pray that the Lord leads their conversations. A simple script has answers to the top questions people normally have about the church. For example: Is there childcare during the service, or are my children welcomed in the main worship space? You are a Lutheran church – What does that mean to you in one sentence? What can I expect? Why do you like this church? What should I wear? What is the music like? Do you have services online?
We like to put the candy canes in stockings, or you could use buckets. Either way, this is a simple way to connect with people, share God’s love in a simple way, and also learn about your community. Listening to people is just as important. We learned our community has biases to mainline denominations. We also learned where they worship and why. Be curious and try to find out the why behind their answers.
by: Rev. Jason Scheler, Mission Executive of the LCMS Southern District