Delivering Light and Joy

In Wiltshire, 3 schools in the Benefice of the Lavingtons, Cheverells & Easterton are having Christingles delivered.

All 140 children at Holy Trinity Great Cheverell have had a Christingle bag delivered, and St Barnabas in Market Lavington are having theirs delivered on Monday 21st December. All 94 children in the school and pre-school will be having one.

Vicar Marion Harrison has recorded a short video to explain what each part of the Christingle is about and how to make one (the YouTube link is here).

She is also going to do a virtual Christingle on Zoom on Monday 21st at 4.00pm, and a Christmas story time at 4.00pm each of the other days that week, up to and including Christmas Eve.

Whilst it involves schools, the story itself comes from the benefice, with a group of parishoners, including the Rural Teaching Partnership's Nicola Coupe, collaborating with the vicar to identify some prayerful activities to support schools with.

Marion says:

"How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

"I don't know about you but I don't think the landscape of the past year could be any stranger. So how do we keep singing the Lord's song? If the landscape has changed, then so must our approach.

"In our rural benefice, our beautiful but small churches just didn't have the capacity to hold the numbers that usually attend our 3 (or last year's 4) Christingle Services under present restrictions.

"A group of parishioners approached me and together we decided that if the children couldn't come to us, we would simply have to go to them. The ladies took it upon themselves to make it as easy as possible for me by doing all the leg work for which I can't thank Nicola Coupe, Anne Wilson and Antoinette Fish enough.

"I just had to front the YouTube and services on Zoom. This led me to think about holding a 15 to 20 minute Story Time on Zoom each afternoon from the 21st to and including the 24th, telling the Christmas Story in a slightly different way, through the eyes of 'The littlest angel and shepherd's son'. I am in the middle of writing this, but it will be ready in time!"

Pictured below: Holy Trinity Great Cheverell Christingles