Churches are used to seeing packed pews at Christmas time and the Reverend Chris Thorpe says preparations in his parishes usually begin in the summer.
He is the vicar of Shifnal, Sheriffhales and Tong in Shropshire, which expect to see thousands of people gathering for services over the festive period, so what is Christmas like for him? And how has Christmas changed?
One recent change to the schedule has been the help given to those struggling financially and that has meant foodbank appeals and a service for people finding Christmas an emotional struggle.
It is also a time of joy and Mr Thorpe said: "It's amazing how many stories people are wanting to share at Christmas time and how Christmas touches people deeply."
He said preparation for the busy Christmas period in Shifnal involved Trinity Methodist Church too and teams were set up in the summer to plan various events.
One of the biggest is the biennial Christmas tree festival at the start of December, which this year included 72 trees spread around St Andrew's church in Shifnal, attracting about 3,000 visitors.
Mr Thorpe joked: "We have to do it every two years to give us time to forget how difficult it is."
But he said the event was "fantastic" and it was "such a privilege to meet so many people and especially you meet a lot of people at Christmas".
St Andrew's opens its doors to provide a warm space for people all through the year, as well as offering a number of groups and drop-in sessions.
Recently, it has completed its Christmas hamper project with the local food bank and Mr Thorpe said: "We've sent out just under 90 huge hampers for Christmas to the most needy families in Shifnal."
A new addition to the December calendar this year has been the "Blue Christmas" service on 15 December.
Mr Thorpe said it was aimed at "all of those who find Christmas a struggle and if you've had a bereavement, if you've had a break-up in the family, if there's been an unhappiness, actually many times you can't face Christmas".
He said he lost his own father at this time of year "and it made Christmas really, really difficult".
Mr Thorpe said December brought "a whole series of really special services," including the Christingle service, the Crib service on Christmas Eve and Midnight Mass later that evening, which he said was always "beautiful".
He said the "big one" every year was the carol service on the last Sunday before Christmas, but his favourite occasion was when hundreds of people go into the town centre on Christmas Eve to sing carols.
"Just because there are so many people that want to come together at that time," he said.
One of Mr Thorpe's team of helpers, outreach worker Kelly Hooper, agreed Christmas was "an extremely busy time".
She said the people at St Andrew’s "just want to be here for everyone in our community and further afield" and make Christmas a time to "bring people together".
Ms Hooper has been involved in staging the 10 school performances which the church hosted in the run-up to Christmas and Mr Thorpe said they were "each wonderful, funny extraordinary retellings of the Christmas story".
He said they could make him laugh out loud, but were also "sometimes deeply profound".
Asked what he liked about them most, he said: "I love watching the wonder in children's faces, especially when the church is in darkness, they're holding a Christingle, they're peering into the candle and they are caught up in the mystery of what it means for God to have come to us."