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Christingle 2017

Leaders' Notes

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Preparation

These notes are designed to be useful if you are planning far ahead and if you need something at the very last minute!

Advertising the service

If you have time, it is worth thinking carefully about how you advertise the service and encourage people to come.

Christingle services are an opportunity to invite people to experience the life and worship of your church, especially those who don’t usually come. The service is accessible to all ages, and the message is ideally suited to communicating the love of God in words and images. It is an opportunity to speak of the practical ways the Church, in partnership with The Children’s Society, is showing God’s love to vulnerable children.

It is worth displaying posters in local shops and schools, as well as on your church noticeboard. However, people are much more likely to come after a face-to-face invitation, so it is important to encourage your existing congregation to think about who they might invite.

Making people welcome

Offering refreshments after a service is a great way to get people talking. Research suggests people are more likely to come back to another service if three or four different people have talked with them. So if possible try to make this a team effort, with a welcome team ensuring that newcomers are introduced to different people over the refreshments.

Logistics for the service

There are many different ways to lay the space out, and the order of service is designed to be adjusted for your specific needs.

If space is flexible, we encourage you to only put out the number of seats you are likely to need. A congregation scattered around a huge number of seats or pews won’t feel as warm and welcoming as having everyone gathered together. Even if you can’t adjust the seating, make sure your welcomers encourage people to sit together near the front if you think they are unlikely to fill the whole space.

To light your space, we suggesting using a large, central candle which is lit at the beginning of the service. The notes for the order of service also have suggestions for your lighting throughout the event (if it is practical to vary it during the service).

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The Children’s Society: Christingle 2017 Order of ServicePlease see the ‘order of service resource’ for copies for your congregation.

Gathering: The welcome

If possible, dim the church lights as the service begins (there still needs to be sufficient light to read responses).

Welcome to our church, as we gather to worship God.

In our service today, we will use Christingles to celebrate Jesus – God with us, the light of the world.

We will hear the song that Mary sang, when God chose her to bear his Son. And we will think about the different ways in which Jesus is with us today.

Later in the service, we will light our own Christingles, but first let us spend a moment in stillness, remembering that when two or three are gathered in his name Jesus is with us, his light shining in our midst.

A large, central candle is lit.

After a time of stillness:

Lord Jesus, Light of the world, you came down from heaven and entered our world as a child, born of the Virgin Mary. Open our eyes to see your light today.

Lord Jesus, from the crib to the cross you stood among the people who had the least and suffered the most. Open our eyes to see your light today.

Lord Jesus, you promise that when two or three are gathered in your name, you are there in the midst of them. Open our eyes to see your light today.

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Gathering: Saying sorrySo let us think about the people we meet: People we have helped and cared for, People who have helped and cared for us.

Whether we know it or not, Jesus is present in them.

Jesus, God with us, We thank you for the times when we see you. We are sorry for the times we neglect you.

Let us think about the people we neglect people we see, but are too busy to help people whose lives are hidden, whom we are too busy to find.

Whether we knew it or not, Jesus is present in them.

Jesus, God with us, We thank you for the times when we see you. We are sorry for the times we neglect you.

Jesus, God with us, in the crib you came alongside us on the cross you paid the price for our sin: forgive us for the times when we have neglected you, give us eyes to see you in the days and weeks ahead.

Amen.

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The Word of God: Mary’s song

The text below is divided for three readers, ideally young people. If possible, dim the lighting (the congregation don’t need to read at this point). You may want the whole congregation to read Mary’s song.

A So let us go back. Back many years, many hundreds of years, to the time before Jesus had been born.

B The world was waiting in darkness, to see what God would do.

C There were so many ways in which people were cruel. Little ways and big ways. From the smallest acts of unkindness to the biggest wars.

B The world was waiting in darkness, to see what God would do.

A There were so many ways in which people were forgetful. People with food forgot the hungry. People with shelter forgot the homeless. People with friends forgot the lonely.

B The world was waiting in darkness, to see what God would do.

C Some people said: God is asleep, and we can do whatever we want! Some people said: no, God is angry, and will come to punish us all with his great power!

B What happened next surprised everyone.

A God was not asleep. But God did not come to take revenge and punish everyone. Instead, he sent his son Jesus to live among them, Shining the light of his love into the darkness of sin and injustice.

B And who did God choose to be Jesus’ mother?

C God chose Mary, a young woman from a poor family. Mary, a young woman from Nazareth, a town of little importance.

B God chose a person and a place which everyone else had overlooked.

A God sent the angel Gabriel to tell her the good news. She would be the mother of his Son!

C Mary was surprised and confused. What could all this mean? She thought and prayed, and read the Scriptures.

A At last she understood. And Mary sang to praise God for sending Jesus to the world. The song is written down in Luke’s Gospel,

B We are going to listen to Mary’s song, So we too can understand what God was doing.

Put the church lights up to full at this point.

1 My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.

2 From this day all generations will call me blessed; the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his name.

3 He has mercy on those who fear him, from generation to generation.

4 He has shown strength with his arm and has scattered the proud in their conceit,

5 casting down the mighty from their thrones and lifting up the lowly.

6 He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.

7 He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, to remember his promise of mercy,

8 The promise made to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever.

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The main talk: Mary’s song (The Magnificat)Rather than writing a talk verbatim, we have included a collection of ideas than can be used as inspiration, in isolation or interwoven together.

Introducing Mary’s song

In the main order of service, we have suggested a way of giving the background to the Magnificat – getting three young readers to tell the story of the Annunciation (one reading the regular text, one the italicized text and one the bold text). It may be that you would prefer to give the background in the talk itself – or to use a question and answer format, to draw the knowledge out of the congregation. The key points are:

Ԏ The world was waiting in darkness. At the time of Jesus – as people lived in the midst of oppression and violence, where some had a great deal and others struggled to survive – people were asking what God would do.

Ԏ Some people thought God would come as an angry judge.

Ԏ Others thought he was irrelevant – that he didn’t care how human beings lived their lives – that the darkness would continue unchallenged.

Ԏ God’s response was different from anything the world expected.

Ԏ He chose Mary – a poor woman, not yet married, from a town of no importance – to be the mother of his Son. You may want to read or summarise the story of the Annunciation in Luke 1.26-38.

Ԏ Mary was greatly surprised by all of this!

Ԏ Luke tells us that Mary ‘pondered all these things in her heart’. It is three months later that Mary sings the Magnificat, as she visits her cousin who is also pregnant.

Ԏ Within those three months, after much prayer and thinking, Mary comes to understand more and more of what God is doing and why.

The message of the Magnificat

This song is recorded in the Gospels – and used in many churches and cathedrals at evening prayer every day of the year – because it is a key to understanding why Jesus was born.

You may want to use the text of the Magnificat in more than one way during the service – having it read (by a single voice, two voices, or the whole congregation antiphonally) and also singing it (there are metrical versions here).

Ԏ You could ask the congregation talk the song in small groups, so parents and carers can help children to participate.

Ԏ Two questions for discussion are: When have you felt so joyful that you wanted to sing? What words from Mary’s song stand out for you?

Ԏ Whether or not you have a small group discussion, make sure you draw out some of the key themes of the Magnificat for us today:

§ God is not indifferent – he cares about every human life ('He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, to remember his promise of mercy')

§ He has a particular care for those who are poorest and who are overlooked by the wider society ('lifting up the lowly' / 'filling the hungry with good things')

§ He not only cares for the poorest – in Jesus, God has come and lived among them. It is 'his lowly servant' Mary whom God has chosen as the mother of his son. Jesus is not born into a rich or powerful household (among 'the proud in their conceit' or 'the mighty [on] their thrones')

§ Jesus transforms an upside-down world – it is turned the right way up again! The mighty are cast down and the poor are raised up. Mary’s song proclaims that the poorest and most vulnerable are at the heart of God’s Kingdom. That should affect the way we live today.

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Making connections: Christingles

Ԏ Mary’s song reminds us Jesus does not stand far off from the world. The Christingle candle is rooted deep within the earth – a sign that in Jesus, God’s love does not just shine on the world, it has entered into that world. The ribbon shows God’s love embracing the world, and is also a sign of his life being poured out on the cross.

Ԏ Jesus is not just God for us and on our side. He is God with us (that’s what the name 'Immanuel' means).

Ԏ In Jesus, God stands among those who are in greatest need. As a child born in a stable, part of a family who had to run away as refugees, he knows what it is like to be vulnerable and unsafe. He is with children and young people who are in need. When we reach out to welcome and care for them, we are welcoming and caring for him.

Making connections: our stories

Ԏ You may want to use specific stories to explain how children and young people are in need today, and how the Children’s Society is helping them.

Ԏ There are stories of young people The Children’s Society is helping online here.

Ԏ The Heart of the Kingdom contains a chapter by Tess Ridge on children’s experiences of poverty here.

Making connections: our response

Ԏ Invite people to consider where they are we in this story? Do they sometimes feel vulnerable and excluded? How might the light and love of Jesus shine on those situations?

Ԏ Do they know people around them who are in need, or who are often overlooked? Where do they need to recognize the face of Jesus in others, and offer them practical compassion and care?

Ԏ We don’t do all this on our own. Jesus doesn’t just call us one by one, he calls us into a Church, that keeps on singing Mary’s song and trying to live it out.

Ԏ If there are practical projects your church is part of – to care for those in need or to challenge injustice – you may want to talk about those here.

Ԏ In 1881, Edward Rudolf founded The Children’s Society. In the last year, the money given by supporters like you enabled The Children’s Society directly tp help 18,164 children and bring about 5.6 million positive changes to children and young people’s lives.

Ԏ Some of the ways they do this are:

§ Giving schools ways to make sure poverty is left at the school gates, so no-one is ever embarrassed about or impoverished by their uniform.

§ Welcoming young child refugees into communities, schools and helping them build friendship groups.

§ Campaigning to make sure children in care are not moved home too frequently or unnecessarily and are never isolated.

Ԏ Today, as we gather to sing Mary’s song and to light our Christingles, there are practical ways in which we can let that song reshape our lives, and help the light of Christ to shine on the injustice and need in the world around us.

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Responding to the Word: Prayers of intercessionJesus took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’

Let us pray for children and young people who are in need today, and let us pray for The Children’s Society and all it does to help them.

Loving God, we pray for all children and young people who lack shelter and safety, security and friendship, all children and young people who lack the basic things each person needs.

As the ribbon of the Christingle is a sign of your great love, wrapped around the world, enfold them in your arms of love.

Inspire us, as we hold the Christingle today, to shine a light on injustice and neglect; that those children’s stories may be heard and their needs may be met.

Bless The Children’s Society, and all who work and volunteer for it. May they be brave in challenging injustice and show your love and care to the children and young people who are in greatest need. We make this prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Let us pray for own needs, that we may grow in the light and love of Christ, and for all who are on our hearts this day.

Loving God, You made us in love and for love. Open our eyes so that, instead of thinking of ourselves alone, We might see the face of Jesus Christ in every human being.

Expand our hearts,

That we may love those who the rest of the world forgets.

We bring to you all who are on our hearts, all who teach us how to love by their words and their deeds and especially those we know who need your comfort and your healing today. Shine your light on them, we pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Gathering: Saying sorrySo let us think about the people we meet: People we have helped and cared for, People who have helped and cared for us.

Whether we know it or not, Jesus is present in them.

Jesus, God with us, We thank you for the times when we see you. We are sorry for the times we neglect you.

Let us think about the people we neglect people we see, but are too busy to help people whose lives are hidden, whom we are too busy to find.

Whether we knew it or not, Jesus is present in them.

Jesus, God with us, We thank you for the times when we see you. We are sorry for the times we neglect you.

Jesus, God with us, in the crib you came alongside us on the cross you paid the price for our sin: forgive us for the times when we have neglected you, give us eyes to see you in the days and weeks ahead.

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Responding to the Word: Offering our giftsPrayer over the offering:

Loving God, you made everything that is, so we are giving back to you s ome of what is already yours.

Bless what we have offered, and the work it will support. Bless all the staff and volunteers of The Children’s Society and the children and young people whom they will help.

May our offerings help the light of your love burn even more brightly in the year ahead. We make this prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Introducing the Christingle

We’ve put together different ideas of how to introduce the Christingle (this can be done as part of the main talk, or separately – just before the Christingles are lit). Feel free to adapt and edit any of them to suit your audience.

Ask the young people what a proper Christingle has and what the items mean, building one from the pre-prepared items for a correct Christingle.

As an alternative: instead of making the Christingles in advance, you could give every member of the congregation the parts of the Christingle (the only pre-preparation is that you need to make the hole in each orange, and put some foil in beforehand). Talk through the meaning of each part as they assemble them during the service.

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The lighting of the Christingle The Christingles are lit and/or presented. Hymns, songs or carols may be sung, and the Lord’s Prayer and/or the special Christingle prayer may be said.

Lord Jesus, Light of the world, I hold this Christingle as a sign of your love.

The candle, planted deep within the world, as a sign that you made your home among us, that you lived with the poorest and most neglected.

The ribbon, wrapped around the earth, a sign of your blood poured out on the cross, enfolding the whole world with your saving love.

The fruits, a sign of all the good things of creation given to us that we might share them fairly so everyone can delight in the life you have given them and the world you have made.

Lord Jesus, Light of the world, as I hold this Christingle and think about your great love for me, help me to become a light bearing that love to others.

Amen.

Sending out: The Blessing

May the Lord open your eyes to see the face of Jesus in all who are in need.

May the Lord open your heart to welcome and care for each of God’s children.

May the Lord pour out his Spirit upon us all that we may light up the world with the love of Jesus Christ.

And may Almighty God bless you and watch over you, this day/night and evermore.

Amen.