Churches are being invited to join in the launch of the national church's 'At the heart of Christmas' theme as a way to help generate interest around their own Advent and Christmas services and activities.
On the evening of 25 November, the Church of England will be premiering a film at 6.30pm to launch the theme and the national resources available. From 6.45pm, churches are invited to join in by sharing posts on social media channels using #AtTheHeartOfChristmas.
Here are some of the key ways you can get involved:
1. Share Advent and Christmas events
The simplest way for local churches to join in is to share an invite to services and events on social media on the night. Use the hashtag #AtTheHeartOfChristmas and tag @TheChurchOfEngland in post. They'll re-share posts on their channels from 6.45pm.
Use the Church of England's free social media templates to create custom invitational graphics. These can be found in the A Church Near You resource hub.
Learn how to customise your own by following their Canva tutorial. If you prefer a pre-prepared option, you can create custom social media graphics in the AChurchNearYou.com Resource Hub within minutes.
2. Add your services and events to AChurchNearYou.com.
From the beginning of Advent, the national church will be inviting the public to find a local worshipping community on A Church Near You Help people to find your services by adding them to your church site today.
Not yet an editor? Find out how to become one.
3. Decorate your social media and website
If you want to take things a step further, decorate your church's social media pages by using the free social media templates. Take a look at how some churches have already been using the free resources - take a look!
At St Justus, Rochester, they have been promoting their The Journey initiative to host a mini Mary and Joseph throughout Advent
4. Don't forget to share your stories with the Diocese!
Just like the national church's Christmas theme, we're keeping things simple this year. We want to help spread the word about how local churches are offering welcome and support this Advent and Christmas.
Simple.
We would love to hear about what you are up to in order to help regular members, as well as new visitors, discover or rediscover the hope at the heart of the Christmas message.
Please email us or tag us in any posts, so we can highlight the invitation being offered to people across the Diocese this year: communications@rochester.anglican.org