Preparations are underway for the ever-popular Christingle service, which will be taking place this Sunday (3rd December) at St Mary's Church Haddenham, starting at 4.00pm.
Christingle is a celebratory event that takes place in thousands of churches and schools across the country in the run-up to Christmas.
As you can see from the photograph, it takes quite a large team of dedicated volunteers in Haddenham to part-prepare many dozens of Christingles, so that they can be completed by the children when they add sweeties during the service.
Christingle celebrations are named after the Christingles that are lit during the service. Christingles are made from an orange decorated with red tape, sweets and a candle. The meaning of each element of the Christingle is as follows:
The symbolism of Christingle
Each piece of the Christingle holds special symbolism to help children understand the importance of Jesus and the Gospel, and its relevance at Christmas time.
* The orange represents the world
* The red ribbon (or tape) symbolises the love and blood of Christ
* The sweets and dried fruit represent all of God's creations
* The lit candle represents Jesus's light in the world, bringing hope to people living in darkness
All are welcome to participate on Sunday, whether you're a regular church-goer or not – 4.00pm in St Mary's, by the duck pond.
