CHRISTINGLE

One of the highlights of the Christian Year in many churches is The Children’s Society Christingle Service. It is an opportunity for the whole community to get together at the Service to think about the needs of children everywhere, but especially the underprivileged children and young adults cared for by the Children’s Society.

At St James in Christleton, it is usual to hold the service in January, but it can vary. The service is named after the Christingles that are lit during the ceremony which are illustrated below. Christingles are oranges wrapped around with red ribbon, decorated with dried fruit and sweets, with a candle in the centre. Each element tells the Christian story. The orange represents the world, the red ribbon symbolises the love and blood of Christ. The sweets and dried fruit represent all of God’s creations, and the candle that is lit towards the end of the service, which represents Jesus’s light in the world, bringing hope to people living in darkness. It has been difficult in these last two years to hold a service locally, but people have been encouraged to support the work of the Children’s Society in different ways.

The colourful pictures below from the Christleton archive, were taken between 2007 to 2019 and show children from across the community, from the schools and all the uniformed organisations, who together with worshipers, have raised lots of money for the Children’s Society. Our local Childrens’ Society organiser is Lesley Morgan, and the Rectors involved in the pictures shown include, Canon K Peter Lee, Canon Perris Williams and Rev. Dr. Stefan Collier.