Journey to Christmas: telling the Christmas story on Instagram

Every December, church social media feeds fill up with the same kind of post: carol service times, a nativity rehearsal reminder, a poster for the Christingle. All of it matters, but none of it tells anyone why Christmas matters.

So for CLM Church Ormskirk this year, I tried something different. Instead of using Instagram only to tell people about events, I used it to tell the Christmas story itself.

One road, fifteen posts

Journey to Christmas is a series of fifteen Instagram posts. Each one is a moment on the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem: the angel's visit, the census, the long road south, the crowded house with no room, the shepherds in the field, the star, the gifts and, finally, the stable.

A single path runs through every post. It enters each image on the right and leaves on the left at exactly the same height. So as each new post is added and the grid shifts along, the road still joins up across every row. By the time the last post goes out, CLM's profile has become one continuous picture of the journey, from an open door in Nazareth to the manger.

All fifteen Journey to Christmas posts as they appear on Instagram, with one road winding through the grid.

Every post carries its verse reference, from Isaiah 9:2 ("The people walking in darkness have seen a great light") to Isaiah 9:6 ("For to us a child is born"). The story is told in scripture's own words, not mine.

From day to night

The light changes with the story. It's warm afternoon in Nazareth, then golden hour on the long road, dusk as the shepherds watch their flocks, and starlight by the time you reach the stable.

The change is gradual, not one post at a time. Each image picks up its colours exactly where the one before it left off, so the sky darkens smoothly across the whole grid. That darkening carries the meaning: the people walking in darkness, and the great light at the end of the road.

Pieces 1, 9 and 15 side by side, moving from afternoon light to dusk to a starlit night.

Letting the scenery do the talking

Early versions had people in them: Mary, Joseph, shepherds and wise men. They looked good, but they made the posts about watching someone else's story.

So I took them out. The posts show only footprints on the road, a crook left against a rock beside a dying fire, three gifts set down by the roadside, and a door left ajar with light spilling out. You know who has been there without ever seeing them, and that leaves room for the viewer to imagine themselves on the road.

Footprints leaving the open door of a stone house in Nazareth.

A shepherd's crook leaning against a rock beside a small fire.

A gold casket, a brass incense burner and an alabaster jar set on a red cloth in lamplight.

Details that reward a closer look

A grid has to work at thumbnail size, but people do tap in, so the detail matters:

- Nothing stops at the edge. The hills, the footprints and the camel tracks of the wise men all run across the join between posts. Where a detail ends, it fades out gently over the next post.

The road and camel tracks running across the join between two posts.

The Missing Peace. The campaign's tagline is a picture as well as a phrase. In the second-to-last post, Bethlehem glows with a jigsaw-shaped gap where the stable should be. In the final post, the road fades into the light of the stable.

Bethlehem with a glowing jigsaw-shaped gap, beside the lit stable where the road ends.

Pointing somewhere real. The final posts invite people to Bethlehem at CLM, the church's Christmas immersive experience day on Saturday 19 December.

What story will your feed tell this Christmas?

Social media doesn't have to be a noticeboard. With a bit of planning, it can tell the gospel story in a way people stop scrolling for, and then point them to a real place where they can come and find out more.

Good-looking content isn't enough on its own. It needs to reach the right people and help them take the next step. That's why I start with strategy, so everything has a purpose, Christmas posts included.

Tell me a little about your church and what you're hoping for this Christmas, whether that's a full campaign like this or a few well-planned posts. I'll reply by email, and we'll work out the next step together.