Carols, candles, mince pies and a Christmas celebration for all ages. Discover the meaning of Christmas and make Christingles. At the premises of Clarence Road Baptist Church, Clarence Rd, Southend.

Over recent years we've had a Christingle Service on Christmas Eve where everyone gets to make Christingles.

Christingle literally means 'Christ Light', there is a picture of one on the right, better than that you can make one if you come on Christmas Eve at 6pm. Everyone takes home an orange decorated with a candle, wrapped with a red ribbon, and sweets on four cocktail sticks.

The Christingle Story

In 1747 a Moravian bishop in Marienborn, Germany made a Christingle to help people understand that Christmas is about Jesus coming as the light of the world. It caught on andt the idea spread and sometime later it was named as a Christingle. The candle used to be held on a goose quill, part of which was split into fronds, on which were impaled nuts, fruits, raisins and sweets. These stood for the created order over which Christ is King, and the fruits of the earth represented the ways God blesses us. In victorian times the fruitfruit, nuts and sweets were replaced in some churches by cloves representing people on the face of the earth. 

The meaning of the Christingle

• The orange is round like the world.
• The candle stands tall and straight and gives light in the dark as Jesus did in coming as a baby and does today.
• The red ribbon is God's love warapped around the 'world' and is a symbol of the blood that poured from Jesus when he died for us.
• The four sticks point in all directions and symbolise North, South, East and West - they also represent the four seasons.
• The sweets represent God's good creation that needs the light of Jesus.

At the climax of the service...

...everyone gets to make, light and keep a Christingle and the dark building is lit by the candles just as Jesus lights up an often dark world. Come and join in and explore the meaning of Christmas. Public parking in same road. Here's a map of the venue

Comments (0)

Show/hide comments