Christingle Service and Christmas Tunes

On Monday, December 8, we attended the Christingle service performed by the children at Brett's school. While this is the second year in a row that we attended this service, to be honest I really didn't understand what the true meaning of the service was. So, I looked it up and thought I would share with any of you who might not know the true meaning either.

The story of the first Christingle...

On Christmas back in 1747 in a town in Germany, a pastor sat at home thinking of how he could explain the love of Jesus and what Christmas really meant to the children in the church. He decided to prepare an simple symbol to help make the message of Christmas easy for them to remember. He gave each child a lighted candle wrapped in a red ribbon, with a prayer that read "Lord Jesus, kindle a flame in these dear children's hearts". This was the first ever Christingle service.

Many years later, in 1968, Christingle services were introduced to the Anglican Church in Great Britain and the custom spread quickly. Each year there are more and more Christingle services in England and Wales, although today's Christingles are a little different.

The Christingle consists of:
* an orange representing the world
* with a red ribbon around it representing the blood of Jesus
* fruits and sweets are skewered on 4 cocktail sticks which are pushed into the orange representing the fruits of the earth and the four seasons
* a lighted candle is pushed into the centre of the orange representing Christ, the light of the world
* and tinfoil around the base of the candle to reflect Christ's light and goodness

It has wonderful meaning and I honestly wish that schools in the U.S. would adopt some of the practices and services that occur in the U.K.

In addition to the Christingle service, Kendall and Kameron wanted to share some of the Christmas songs that they learned in Playgroup.

The kids and I are currently in Peoria for the Christmas holiday (and loving every minute of it) and are awaiting Mike to join us in just a few days. Merry Christmas!!!