Jo said she'd be interested to see how it was done somewhere else. There are differences everywhere. Here the Christingles are already made. When we arrive with five minutes to go the church is almost full. The hall is opened up, and there's very little seating available even in the overflow. It is not a widely advertised service, but people find out that its on and come anyway. The service is designed with small children in mind. We start with Colours of day - appropriate but one of my pet hates. There is some basic liturgy, and a song that explains the Christingles. The youth group (SPY - St Peters Youth) do their part. They are clearly not well rehearsed, by nevertheless do a very creditable job under the circumstances. This is the first time I have seen SPY - and its one of the things I was looking forward to. Youngsters with long hair are instructed to tie it back. There are instructions given, and children appear from everywhere - no adults take Christingles here. The SPY youth have tapers and are lighting the Christingles. One little girl is overheard saying "its a death trap" as she watches all the lit candles and tries to walk past. The lights are switched off. Any church looks wonderful full of happy children holding lit candles I'm sure. St. Peters certainly does.
As always at St Peters the timetable works like a dream. The service is scheduled to be 45 minutes. 45 Minutes after the start of the service the church is almost empty. That is one of the things we discussed as we left, Jo agrees it leads to the service feeling rushed. Its also fair to point out that we are rushed. On to the next blog entry to find out why.
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