Children and Youth
Children at Sunday Services
Children are welcome at Sunday services. Children are given related puzzles and 'colouring in' which they can complete (if they choose) during the service either in the special children's corner or in the pews with their family.
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Christingle
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The story of the Christingle: There were three children, who were very poor, but wanted to give a gift to Jesus, like the other families at church. The only nice thing they had was an orange, so they decided to give him that. The top was going slightly mouldy, so the eldest cut it out and put a candle in the hole. They thought it looked dull, so the youngest girl took her best red ribbon from her hair and attached it round the middle with toothpicks. The middle child had the idea to put a few pieces of dried fruit on the ends of the sticks. They took it to the church for the Christmas mass, where the other children sneered at their meagre gift, but the priest took their gift and showed it as an example of true understanding of the meaning of Christmas. Wikipedia
The Significance of the Christingle: 'Christingle' means Christ light, the orange is round and represents the world which God created and God loves. The candle represents the light of the world, the light of Christ which calls us to shine in the darkness. The red ribbon speaks to us of the blood of Christ which was shed for us and as the ribbon is wrapped around the orange, it represents Jesus’ love which reaches all around the world. The four toothpicks holding sweets represent the four seasons of the year and God’s goodness in providing for us throughout the year. |
The Christingle service is a favourite Christmas event for families and especially the children of the parish.
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