Christingle Service

You are warmly invited to our Christingle Service. The service is for children. Come early if you want a seat. Carols will be sung during the service along with seasonal readings from the Bible. During the service the significance of the Christingle will be explained. The Christingles will be lit and given out, and then the lights will be dimmed whilst another carol is sung.

A collection will be taken during the service to support the Methodist Church's childrens charity "Action For Children".

In 2011 we had a tableau of the Christmas story during the service. A stable scene had been created to make the story more realistic, with palms, a star and a crib.

We had two readers and a group of actors of all ages acting out the story. They were volunteers from the church members and friends of the church.

The angel appeared to the shepherds announcing the birth of the baby Jesuus.

The shepherds then went into Bethlehem to look for the the child.

We also had a guest appearance of a camel, which came with the three wise men.

Here he is waiting quietly whilst his masters offer their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh and worship the new born King.

Thank you for all those who took part and made the service so interesting.

The collection during the service raised over £200 for Action For Children.

What does the Christingle mean?

The Christingle itself is made up of 

• four cocktail sticks bearing dried fruit or sweets - to signify the four seasons and the fruits of the earth and God's good gifts
• a red ribbon (or tape) - indicating the blood/ love of Christ
• an orange - representing the world
• a lighted candle - symbolising Jesus, the Light of the World

The Christingle Story

No one knows for certain when the word "Christingle" was first used or from what it derived, but wherever the Moravians went in the great outreach of missionary evangelism in the 18th and 19th centuries they took with them the custom of the Christingle. The symbolism gradually developed and today in the Moravian Church in Britain, the Christingle consists of an orange representing the World, with the candle inserted in the centre and lit to represent Christ the Light of the World. The candle used to be held on a goose quill, part of which was split into fronds, on which were impaled nuts, fruits, raisins and sweets. These stood for the created order over which Christ is King, and for the fruits of the earth and the benefits that come to our lives through God's bounty and goodness. Since goose quills are not so readily available, today we use cocktail sticks on which to impale the fruit. The wood still being part of God's created order. The red ribbon forms a circle around the orange and reminds us of Christ's Passion, through which our redemption has come.

The Christingle Service is usually held on the Christmas Eve at Banner Cross Methodist Church, and is a Children's Celebration in which we place the child in the midst of all we do, just as the Christ - Child is the centre of all our lives. At the climax of the service, each child receives a lighted Christingle and in the magical moment of the darkened Church, the visual symbol tells the truth of the Christmas story, - that in the darkness of the world there has shined a great light. In the darkness, with the lighted Christingle the Children sing the "Away in a manger".

The Moravian Church established Christingle in 1747 as a powerful and moving symbol of Christ’s light and his love for all people. The Children’s Society introduced it to the Church of England in 1968 and it is now a popular, much-loved family event in many other churches.