Sunday 15th December from 14:00
Our Children’s Christmas Workshop held in the Church Hall is filled with Christmas activities and open to all children aged 2 – 12. Ends after a drink and biscuit with the Christingle Service.
Our charming and atmospheric candlelit Christingle service for children of all ages begins at 16:00 in the main Church.
Now in its 50th year, Christingle is a special, memorable celebration that takes place in thousands of churches and schools across the country.
The celebration is named after the Christingles that are lit during the service. Christingles are made from an orange decorated with red tape, sweets and a candle.
The symbolism of Christingle
Each element of a Christingle has a special meaning and helps to tell the Christian story:
- The orange represents the world
- The red ribbon (or tape) symbolises the love and blood of Christ
- The sweets and dried fruit represent all of God’s creations
- The lit candle represents Jesus’s light in the world, bringing hope to people living in darkness.
Because Christingle was specifically created with children in mind, the celebrations are the perfect event for children and families and can be enjoyed by people of all ages – especially if they don’t regularly attend church.
The history of Christingle
Christingles began in the Moravian Church in Germany. At a children’s service in Marienborn in 1747, Bishop Johannes de Watteville looked for a simple way to explain the happiness that had come to people through Jesus. He decided to give the children a symbol to do this. In 1968, John Pensom of The Children’s Society adapted Christingle and introduced it to the Church of England. This involved children decorating an orange with a red ribbon, dried fruits, sweets and a candle to create a new visual representation of Christ, the light of the world, celebrated by the lighting of the Christingle candles.