Josh Robertson, Children, Youth and Families Minister at St Mary’s Church in Newent tells us about their plans for the Christingle Trail in Newent.
Our Christmas Eve Christingle is one of the biggest services of the year and for some families this can feel very overwhelming, so we wanted to find a way that would give families the opportunity to feel fully part of the story away from the busyness. Our aim is to create some quieter, reflective, yet family-oriented spaces within our church. Our trail builds on the experience people have had at our Christingle over the last few years but gives the edge of something new.
The clues will be in two forms, brief information about an aspect of a Christingle and what each of the parts represent and then to also find ‘Chris Tingle’ on the placard. I should mention that ‘Chris Tingle’ is our wonderful curate dressed up as a Christingle who has appeared at Christingle services for a few years!
The clues lead the family all around the churchyard ending at our church porch where there will be an information board about our Christmas 2025 services and our upcoming children, youth and family activities in January and February.
The main incentive for families to be involved is that it provides a space with something different to do and to think about together.
We notice that Families often walk through our churchyard at different times of the year, it is a familiar and well-loved space in Newent. Through offering something different we hope this might create a talking point about church, give families a clearer understanding of what church is and break down some preconceived ideas.
Many families already have a tradition of coming to our Christingle service on Christmas Eve, which we hope to build on. Some of our biggest feedback from parents is that they struggle to find things to do over the Christmas break so we also felt the church could respond to that in a simple way.
We are advertising it through our local primary schools, on our church Facebook page, achurchnearyou and on our leaflets that are going out advertising what is going on in our church at Christmas. We are also going to encourage our church members to invite their grandchildren/family or a neighbour with children to come and take part in it.
The event will run from the Saturday 29 November (the start of the Christmas Lights Switch on) until Sunday 2 January.
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