Top 10 Christmas Service Projects for Church Youth Groups

Before I start these great Top 10 Christmas Service Projects for Church Youth Groups, may I give you the biggest "DON'T"? DON'T subject your church youth group - or your other church members - to yet another catalog of trinkets, wrapping paper, candles and candy. These things cost half the catalog price in neighborhood stores. The kids have to run around convincing people to give them money and the people feel guilty if they don't buy something. One Christmas, most of the people in our church were hit up for purchases by over two dozen teens and kids, to the tune of $50-70 per household. People need that money at Christmas for their own families! Plus, this may teach your youth group about entrepreneurship, but not about the love that Christmas represents.

Why is my suggested Top 10 Christmas Service Projects for Church Youth Groups easier? We have found there is so much less worry because the kids (and parents or leaders!) don't have to re-visit or keep track of people who pay for boxes of basically unwanted stuff that they bought and are expecting to receive. Sometimes, those catalog projects need a CPA to keep track of all the money and checks!

Why is it more challenging at the same time? Your church youth group will need to bring their thinking caps, creativity, resourcefulness and a sacrifice of time to the table. But it's very rewarding, and it will sharpen their skills in various ways to let people know the Good News of Jesus Christ (John 3:16:"...for God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life"). This is not an exclusive club at all!

Three of these are organized National Service Programs that are great fun and get great results, and the rest are original Christmas service projects for church youth groups to do.

1. Operation Christmas Child- Stuff a Shoe Box with Giftsfor the World's Underprivileged Children

Done through the Samaritan's Purse Organization - Franklin Graham, President. Your church youth group can fill shoe boxes with gifts that send hope and much-needed items to children in designated places (it varies each year), along with a personal note about the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. This is a hands-on project, for which the youth will be collecting anything from toys to hygiene items. Gifts must be new and a $7.00 check per box is needed to cover shipping charges. I suggest that the youth raise this money from their own allowances. That way, they have even more personally vested in the project.

Visit this page at the website for ideas on what should be included in the boxes, drop-off locations and resources. Their National Collection Week is November 17-24th.

How to do it: The youth group can make up flyers or make announcements in church for people to bring things in. The youth should be asked to donate their own shoe boxes from their own newest pair of shoes. Once the items are brought, packing instructions are followed and the boxes sent. Then they can announce to the church how many boxes, and get a big pat on the back and the satisfaction of knowing they helped someone.

2. Angel Tree - Gifts for Children with Parents in Prison

Organized by Prison Fellowship, founded by Chuck Colson. Angel Tree is a way to reach out to kids and also reach their moms, dads and grandparents experiencing hard times due to the other parent (or sometimes both) serving prison time.

Kids in your church youth group may identify with this situation, be one of those children themselves, or if not - they need to know that whatever problems they think they have, someone has it worse.

How to do it: We contacted Angel Tree at this page to register, and received a list of prisoners' families in our area with their contact info, names and ages of the children. Our youth group then put on a skit during a Sunday Morning Service about a fictional child whose parent was in prison. At the end of the skit, the Angel Tree was announced, with a deadline for the congregation to take a family's name (names were hanging on the church Christmas Tree on paper angel ornaments). The youth group (with help) collected the presents, labeled the gifts and invited the prisoners' families to come to our church for a musical Christmas presentation (you can invite them to an adult, youth, or children's choir Christmas performance), explaining that their gifts would be handed out that night.

The youth group was in charge of organizing refreshments after the presentation, and decorating the Fellowhip Hall or getting adult volunteers to help. An emcee was selected to call off the children's names, and other youth handed them their gift boxes. It was a smash for us two years in a row!

Be sure to have a sign-up list at the door to take names and phone numbers of families who want someone from the church to visit them after the holiday season.

3. Do Your Own Similar Thing in the nearest Challenged Neighborhood

Your church probably already has a handle on the closest needy neighborhood (in fact, some of your kids may live in one). Take your church youth group to visit this neighborhood 2 months before Christmas. Knock on doors (yikes, that's hard!), ask if you can help them at Christmas or Thanksgiving with anything.

How to do it: Split up into several groups, going to two or three houses at a time all in full view of each other so you can share your progress after each home. One person does the talking, another makes a list of needs and/or takes peoples' names and sizes, and 2-3 more stand back and pray for those who are conversing with the home's residents.

Take these lists back to the church. Present them and execute the project in a similar way to Angel Tree.

4. Volunteer for your neighborhood's Homeless or Underprivileged Ministries

Again, this is a good tool to get your church youth group to value whatever they have, and see that someone is less fortunate than themselves.

If your city is like mine, there are probably several hard-working ministries to homeless people or poverty-stricken communities in the area. Many of these ministries are flooded with volunteers only at Thanksgiving and Christmas time, so volunteer early.

Your church youth group can go to the ministry to serve food. If they can't get away from their own family on Christmas day, some of these ministries need volunteers the day before as well to count or wrap gifts or separate food bags, clothes or toys that have been donated.

How to do it: Before going, do some casual role-playing to make sure your teens know how to speak up for what they believe in - the love of Christ. Play at challenging them to recognize a "witnessing opportunity" and be bold in making a statement or just showing His love (Colossians 4:5 - "make the most of every opportunity") . Then challenge them to put this into action. The ministry you go to may or may not be faith-based, but either way there will be people who are unfamiliar with God's word.

5. Have your church youth group do their Christmas play or concert at a local Juvenile Detention Center or Nursing Home

If your teens are rehearsing a Christmas play or concert, arrange with at least one neighborhood ministry to have them come and perform it there. This makes a great dress rehearsal before the formal Church presentation, or an extra time they ge to do it after practicing for weeks or even months!

A note about all of these skits and plays - Try not to use the same "Joseph and Mary in Bible costumes" thing. I write and direct church plays, and found the best way to help people identify with the real meaning of Christmas is to take a situation that may happen today and give it biblical principles. For example, one of our Christmas skits had a "poor little rich kid", whose workaholic parents always traveled and weren't coming home for Christmas. A Christmas Caroling group comes to her door and she makes a friend who tells her about the greatest friend of all - Jesus.

6. Take a group of younger At-Risk Kids out for Activities with the Youth Group

How to do it: Go to a nearby elementary or middle school and see if they have a class of "at-risk" kids - children or pre-teens who might be at risk for dropping out of school due to a troubled home situation or other extenuating circumstances. Offer to take these kids with the youth group on a Saturday outing around Christmas. Make it clear that, during the activity, if the opportunity arises, the Gospel may be brought up on a one-on-one basis or a group setting at the end of the day.

If the school is willing to provide an escort and parents are willing to sign permission, have the teacher get each child in the class to write their names, likes and dislikes on a piece of paper.

Put these pieces of paper in a bag and have each of your youth draw a name. That youth is paired up with that child for the day. Have each youth take from their own allowance or collect donations of $10.00-15.00 to take on the day's activity for admission fees and a snack for themselves and the child. Go to a roller- or ice-skating rink, bowling, or similar activity.

Relationships are built this way. I am now the godparent of a child whose mother was my "at-risk" student!

7. Youth Group-Run Christmas Gift-Wrapping Station

So much more unique than a car wash or spaghetti dinner! Have your church youth group set up a gift-wrapping booth at church. Announce to the congregation that they should bring their family gifts to be wrapped! Charge $2 to $5 per gift, depending on the size.

How to do it: Have the booth up for 3 or 4 weeks, rotating the members of the youth group who wrap the gifts. Give guidance to kids who may have "two left thumbs", or have them be volunteers instead, asking church members for donations of gift bags, wrapping paper and bows.

The money collected then gets donated to a neighborhood or national charity that is voted on by the youth group - along with notes from each youth group member about why Christmas is about Jesus, not just gifts to each other.

8. Toys for Tots - Organized by the United States Marine Corps.

Your youth group would be in charge of presenting an announcement or skit in a Sunday Morning Church Service as the kick-off to collect new, unwrapped toys for needy children. Some states have their own Toys for Tots branch organizations. Find a local campaign office by going to this "find an office" page. You put in your state, and look for your closest listing. Have a youth group member volunteer to call the Toys for Tots office, get drop-off locations and the deadline date. They should also ask if your Youth Choir can be stationed at the drop-off location for a couple of hours when you bring in the gifts, and do some Christmas caroling while you're at it!

In this case, the toys must be sent unencumbered by letters, etc., but your youth group can write a Christmas card with a Scripture message to present to the Marines or volunteers on duty.

9. Meals for a Family

Your church will probably have people from outside and within calling around Thanksgiving and Christmas time to see if the church can provide a meal.

How to do it: Give the names and numbers of these families to the youth group. The youth group makes announcements to the church that food is needed from November 15th through December 21st (or so). Set up a "Food Donation Station" separate from your Church's normal food pantry. Take canned and boxed goods any time - these should all be Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner-type foods - and have the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving and Christmas as Turkey Donation Day. A person can either donate a turkey (be sure you have refrigerator space) or the money for one.

The Youth Group sorts the foods into bags, making a whole holiday dinner in each, then goes shopping for turkeys still needed with the money just before delivering the meals. Each bag should contain Christmas card(s) with a Scripture message signed by the youth group members.

Be sure to have someone call each family before delivery to be sure they are home. The youth may also need to solicit extra driving volunteers.

10. Servant-for-a-Day

Have your youth group set up a sign-up booth where people can request one or more of them to to be servant-for-a-day in the following ways:
-Come and clean their house before Christmas visitors arrive
-Help serve Christmas dinner
-Relieve a caregiver so they can get out at Christmas
-Clean the home of a homebound or physically challenged person as a Christmas gift

Through all of these projects, your youth group will learn the meaning of being a servant at Christmas, instead of only wanting things for themselves. And they will be surprised how good it feels to do all this for others!