A bold national effort is underway to rally 200,000 Christians in sharing the Gospel this Christmas, with the aim of reaching two million people in public spaces across the festive season.
Launched under the banner of Shine Your Light 2025, the campaign is spearheaded by the National Day of Prayer and Worship (NDOPW) and has already drawn significant support from political figures and more than 60 Christian networks and denominations.
The initiative, which began in 2023 with just over 700 participating churches, has rapidly doubled in scale and impact, with over 1,500 churches involved in 2024’s Christmas outreach.
The vision is simple yet ambitious: return Christmas back to its Christian roots by taking carols, messages of hope, and the love of Christ beyond church walls - into streets, shopping centres, prisons, schools, and any place where people gather.
Convenor of NDOPW and founder of Shine Your Light, Dr Jonathan Oloyede, said: “Summer is here in all her glory. But before Christians set off for their break, I want to remind the UK Church about Shine Your Light. This is the united campaign by all the churches across the land each December to put ‘Christ back into Christmas’.
“Last year, we saw over 100,000 Christians mobilised across the UK in cities, towns and villages taking Christmas Carol Services onto the streets, witnessing, and preaching the gospel to approximately 1 million people. Imagine this year, we're looking by the grace of God to reach 200,000 Christians."
Although Christmas might seem far off, it will come around quickly and Dr Oloyede is asking Christians to think now about how they can get involved in outreach and get planning.
“I want the UK Church to imagine Christians in schools, colleges, universities, shopping malls, in prisons, in the workplace, on the high streets - everywhere - preaching the gospel, covering the whole land across Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales," he said.
"That’s what we are aiming for and we’d like every church to register their interest before leaders set off for their holiday, or time off work."
Shine Your Light 2025 officially launched at a high-profile parliamentary reception in early May 2025, hosted by MP Jim Shannon, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the International Freedom of Religion and Belief.
The reception brought together over 100 Christian leaders from a broad spectrum of denominations and regions.
Many testified to the life-changing impact of past Shine Your Light events in communities like Canterbury, Birmingham and parts of Wales and Scotland.
Over Pentecost weekend in June, a 72-hour prayer initiative was held, and organisers are rallying even more Christians to get involved in a nationwide outreach blitz from 12 to 14 December.
Congregational Federation representative, Jim Lyon, stated: “We did something last December in my community and we saw some truly amazing opportunities to bring people together to hear the message of Christmas.
“I would encourage every Christian to pray for a key for you to unlock the opportunity to do a Shine Your Light event in your area, using the amazing resources which are available.”
The campaign is backed by public figures including Baroness Marsha de Cordova, Jeremy Balfour MSP, Jane Dodds AM, and MP Munira Wilson alongside BBC presenters James Lusted, Pam Rhodes, and Gemma Hunt.
