Eastview Community Church (Winnipeg) was challenged to raise $24,000 for Forward House, a local outreach ministry. The congregation responded by collecting just over $40,000! Pastor Dave Ens said “Our Christmas eve service was quite simple and kept Christ at the centre.” Over advent, Eastview’s website stated, “As co-conspirators, we celebrate that we have started to reclaim this season, celebrating in such a way that God continues to bring hope and love into people’s lives, through us.”
On Christmas eve, a young woman from
College Drive Community Church (Lethbridge, Alta.) shared a powerful testimony of God’s presence in her life journey. It was a wonderful expression of the theme of Advent Conspiracy (AC). “We had a very good response to her sharing,” says pastor Brent Miller. “AC was very well received in our congregation.”
John Neufeld, pastor at
The Meeting Place in Winnipeg said that they were able to raise $15,000 during their AC initiative. The money was donated to a water project in Kinshasa, Congo. The church also collected food items in shopping carts throughout Advent season and donated them to a local organization that serves free hot meals to people in the inner city. “We participated in AC to experience Christmas in a different and deeper way," Neufeld shared. "Advent Conspiracy is our plan to mess with the system and reclaim what we’ve lost [about Christmas]."
Here are a few ideas they suggested to their congregation on ways to give relational gifts.
- A movie night out or at home
- Football night with pizza
- Wrap 2 used classic books to read together
- Hot chocolate and a walk through some Christmas lit streets
- Babysitting for a friend or relative
- Shovel snow for an elderly neighbour
- Head out of town for a roadtrip adventure
- Give someone an oil change (if you know how!)
- Take an afternoon to go geocaching
- Make a mini-movie to send to family and friends who live far away
Other ideas
- Christmas hampers for government housing in your community
- Visit a hospital or elderly home
- Volunteer at the local homeless shelter
- Plan a winter fun day for families in the community
Other websites to check out
