What s on in a Church of England School

Transcription

1 What s on in a Church of England School December 2017 Christian Festivals Advent Sunday is on 3 rd December Christmas Eve 24 th December Christmas Day 25 th December Boxing Day and St Stephen s Day - 26 th December Other Festivals and Awareness Days Tree Dressing Day - 3 rd and 4 th December Winter Solstice 21 st December Shoe Box Appeals Advent Advent begins on the Sunday nearest to 30 th November (St. Andrew's Day) and lasts until midnight on Christmas Eve. Advent Sunday is the first of the four Sundays before the 25th December. Advent is a term from the Latin word 'adventus' which means "coming". It is a time of waiting for the arrival of Christmas, the coming of Jesus to earth when He was born as a baby at Bethlehem about two thousand years ago. Advent is the new year of the Christian Church and the church season that leads to Christmas Day. Clergy typically wear royal purple or royal blue vestments during Advent. Many churches also include an advent wreath (sometimes called an Advent ring or crown) in their Advent services. The Advent Wreath is the widely recognized symbol of Advent. The wreath is made of a circle of evergreen branches laid flat to symbolise eternal life. Four candles stand in the circle and each one represents one of the four Sundays of

2 Advent. In the centre of the circle is a fifth candle (traditionally white), the Christ Candle, which is lit on Christmas Day. The circle of the wreath reminds Christians of God, His eternity and endless mercy, which has no beginning or end. The green of the wreath speaks of the hope that Christians have in God, the hope of newness, of renewal, of eternal life. Candles on the wreath Advent worship is like a journey through the Christmas story that s why it s so appropriate to have one in a Church school. Christians use the Advent candles to celebrate this period with one lit every Sunday of Advent so that during the last week before Christmas all four candles are lit. The last central candle (which represents Christ), is lit on Christmas Day. The candles act as reminders to Christians: o o o o o The first candle is the candle of 'Hope', so prayers on this day focus on hope. This candle represents the 'Patriarchs' such as Abraham and David. The second candle is a symbol of God's 'Peace'. This candle reminds Christians of the Prophets who foretold that the Messiah would be born. The third candle represents 'Love' and stands for John the Baptist who baptised Jesus. The fourth candle symbolises 'Joy' and when this candle is lit Christians remember Mary the mother of Jesus who was joyful when the angel Gabriel told her she was to have a special baby. (This candle is often pink in colour.) The fifth white candle reminds Christians of the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. Candles symbolise the light of God coming into the world through the birth of His son, Jesus. Why not make an Advent ring and use it with an Advent calendar through December. You could use an Advent Candle (from Oxfam) for the central candle. Each day during Advent, you could start your worship with the lighting of the appropriate number of candles. At the end of term the wreath could go into your local Church. Advent Calendars Advent calendars were once easily found in the shops, but are now getting more difficult to obtain. Most of them are Countdown to Christmas and nothing to do with the Nativity. This is from Eden, an online company they have lots more to choose from. or order a fairtrade one from Traidcraft. They are 3.99 from

3 And only for the fourth year you can now buy The Real Advent Calendar one of the few Christian Advent Calendars, telling the Nativity through December - a must for assemblies! A beautiful advent Calendar and a fairtrade chocolate treat too! Why not start off each act of worship through Advent with opening the next door? very popular! Get them from Traidcraft or get in early at Tesco. They are due out on 1 st October 2017 or pre-order from Eden There are many on line advent calendars here are some to try.they are fun and the children will like them There are dozens of them on line so google on line Advent Calendars if you would like to find one. A really good one last year was The Archbishop s Advent Calendar. He has a site with some good resources for use with children have a look. Maybe there will be a new one for 2017 hope so! Or you could make an advent Calendar in the school hall each class makes a number of A4 sheets, which have a number on one side and a picture on the other. They get turned around in turn as advent progresses ending up with a nativity. Try to avoid the Count down to Christmas calendars that fill the shops let s keep Christmas as a Christian celebration. Las Posadas An ancient Mexican tradition involves children, dressed as Mary and Joseph, visiting homes each day on the run-up to Christmas. This tradition has grown across the globe and is celebrated in one form or another in numerous countries including Britain. A good idea is (run it past the vicar first!) to take the Joseph and Mary figures from your Nativity scene or the Church Nativity scene, or get a parent to make two dolls, and arrange for a different child to take them home each night before Christmas. You could start on 1 st December (in which case you will have plenty of space for volunteers), or you can start on the 16 th, as is the Mexican tradition it s up to you there are no rules. You could make a chart and have families volunteer to welcome Mary and Joseph into their home for a night it will be very popular with the children. Some churches have a special basket for the travellers to go on their journey in and some churches and schools ask that a little treat (maybe a few sweets!) are put into the basket for the next person.

4 The dolls are brought into school in the morning and taken home by another child that evening. Put it in your weekly newsletter so that parents know all about it. The families can take photos of their visitors at home and share with the school. As Christmas approaches the visitors will have been taken from house to house and finally, they could arrive at the church on Christmas morning or a suitable family service at that time. It s a lovely project and one which brings fun and joy to all involved. Why not try it? Advertise your Christmas activities in your local church make a poster! Charity at Christmas time Encourage Parents, staff and children to give at Christmas time. There are excellent charities for you to give out information about maybe in a newsletter. Both Oxfam and Christian Aid will send you catalogues free. How about helping out your local foodbank? Go to and press map to find your nearest foodbank. 13 million people live below the poverty line in the UK. Every day people in the UK go hungry for reasons ranging from redundancy to receiving an unexpected bill on a low income. Trussell Trust foodbanks provide a minimum of three days emergency food and support to people experiencing crisis in the UK. Rising food and fuel prices, static incomes, underemployment and changes to benefits are some of the reasons why increasing numbers are being referred to foodbanks for emergency food. Why not help at Christmas and donate Christmas Food to your local foodbank you won t believe how grateful people will be. Are you having a Christingle? Lots of people leave the Christingle service to the new year discuss this with your minister. Find out all about it and download resources from

5 Carol Singing Can you get your vicar, PCC members, children, teachers, all together to sing around the parish? or maybe invite friends into school for a festive sing. School Christmas Cards A great opportunity to wish everyone a joyous Christmas in a Christian way. Get the children to design the card and have it printed. It s great PR from a Church School. Make sure the illustration has a Christian theme. The children and staff of St John s would like to wish you a happy and peaceful Christmas Instead of all the staff sending cards to each other, why don t you suggest that they send one card for everyone and make a donation to a chosen charity say 2? St Stephen s Day 26 th December Where does the name Boxing Day came from? The name of the day goes back to medieval times, more than 800 years ago, when alms boxes were placed at the back of every church to collect money for the poor. Traditionally, it is on this day that the alms box at every English church is opened and the contents are distributed to the poor. Historians say the holiday developed because servants were required to work on Christmas Day, but took the following day off. As servants prepared to leave to visit their families, their employers would present them with Christmas boxes. Interesting Facts The Christmas boxes were made from clay and were not made in the shape of a box. They were hollow clay balls with a slit in the top.

6 During the late 18th century, Lords and Ladies of the manor would "box up" their leftover food, or sometimes gifts and distribute them the day after Christmas to tenants who lived and worked on their lands. The tradition of giving money still continues today. It is customary for householders to give small gifts or monetary tips to regular visiting trades people (the milkman, dustman, coalman, paper boy etc.) and, in some work places, for employers to give a Christmas bonus to employees (good luck with that one!). Boxing Day is also known as St. Stephen's Day (when Good King Wenceslas looked out). 'Good King Wenceslas looked out, On the Feast of Stephen...' He lived in Rome and was the first man to be killed for believing in the teachings of Jesus. His story is told in the Acts of the Apostles 6: 1 to 8: 2. Some people claim that he shares this day with another St Stephen, who came from Sweden. St Stephen of Sweden is the patron saint of horses. Boxing Day has long been associated with outdoor sports, especially horse racing and hunting. "Good King Wenceslas" is a popular Christmas carol that tells a story of Good King Wenceslas braving harsh winter weather to give alms to a poor peasant on the Feast of Stephen. During the journey, his page is about to give up the struggle against the cold weather, but is enabled to continue by following the king's footprints, step for step, through the deep snow. The legend is based on the life of the historical Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia ( ). In 1853, English hymnwriter John Mason Neale wrote the "Wenceslas" lyrics, in collaboration with his music editor Thomas Helmore, and the carol first appeared in Carols for Christmas-Tide, Neale's lyrics were set to a tune based on a 13th-century spring carol "Tempus adest floridum" ("The time is near for flowering") first published in a 1582 Finnish song collection. It is a good story and one worth looking at with children. Everyone knows the first line but there is some lovely poetry later on in the verses. The lyrics would make a good play for the children to perform. Other Faiths Hanukkah (Jewish ) - 12 th to 19 th December Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights and marks the restoration of the temple by the Maccabees in 164 BCE. Hanukkah is celebrated at roughly the same time as Christmas, but there is no connection at all between the festivals.

7 Bodhi Day (Buddhist) - 8 th December A day when some Buddhists celebrate Gautama reaching enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. Other Festivals and Awareness Days Tree Dressing Day - 3rd and 4th December Tree Dressing Day - Do you really appreciate trees? They've been around since the beginning of time and can be found all around us. Trees provide us with beauty and life: they are the subject of many causes and debates; and descriptions of their lush greenery is often raved about in fiction books. The story goes that in the Himalayas the Maharaja of Jodhpur ordered men to cut down trees that could be used to build his palace. But, a woman who might have been described as an early tree hugger, stood to protect the trees - and was axed down for her efforts! Many other women and children followed suit that day, and two hundred years on people from the area are still fighting against logging companies. Tree Dressing Day has been created because trees are taken for granted all the time. They are cut down without a second thought, and many animals end up losing their habitat. This provides us with a lot less oxygen too - a sycamore can absorb up to three tonnes of carbon per year. Even buying trees is a bigger responsibility than you may think - it's really important to make sure your trees and shrubs are watered and cared for once you've bought them. From the 3-4th December 2017 this festival will celebrate hundreds of ancient customs from all over the world. And there are lots of fun ways you can take part. Dressing trees with ribbons, shapes, lanterns or any other type of decoration that will make them stand out. So remember to use bright colours! Activities like dancing and storytelling are also a great way to celebrate different cultures together. You can also find ancient tree myths and stories at the website as well of lots of ideas for celebrating the day. Lots of good ideas at.

8 Shoe Box Appeals 2017 At this time of year schools all across the country are taking part in the Christmas Box appeal, and the task is noble: ask your child to fill a decorated box with toys and essential items and the charity will deliver them to a child who is living in poverty. It s a tangible, personal way of giving, and it s immensely popular. You may have heard, however, about some shoe box appeals who use the opportunity not only to deliver a Christmas gift, but who also are zealous evangelists and whose agenda is conversion above charity. For this reason it is well worth schools using a Shoe Box Appeal that they are comfortable with and doing just a little research to make sure there is no other hidden agenda. There are many shoe box appeals on the internet but here we have highlighted just a few of them. Please look at their websites and choose one that you are happy with. Fill a Family Shoebox and deliver smiles Our annual Family Shoebox Appeal has been running since 1991 and has delivered smiles to thousands of people in Eastern Europe over the years. In Romania, Moldova, Ukraine and Bulgaria. In fact, we have sent over of 450,000 shoeboxes to over 80 different locations! It's a really simple idea, anyone can get involved, and we are always keen to have more people join our national network of supporters. Your Family Shoeboxes of gifts are given to families who often have to make a choice between buying food or fuel at Christmas time buying presents is just not a priority. Many of these families do not have running water, heating or electricity. Some live in appalling conditions, often living in just one or two rooms, and life for them is a real struggle to survive Operation Christmas Child Operation Christmas Child is the UK's largest children's Christmas appeal and has been running for over 20 years. Thanks to a huge army of volunteers who give their time to help make this come to life, we are able to deliver gift-filled shoeboxes to children in Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. They work with local churches and charities overseas to ensure that your shoebox gets delivered by hand to children who need it most. St James shoe box appeals We were overwhelmed that our 2016 Shoebox Appeal meant around 300 vulnerable people we support received a generous box of gifts, over Christmas. Thank you so much to everyone who donated! Read reactions from staff and recipients on our Shoebox Appeal: The Result post!

9 or, have a look at or Blythswood Care Shoe Box Appeal This is an excellent charity supplying a shoebox present to war torn areas and Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Kosovo, Moldova, Pakistan, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. The 2016 Shoe Box Appeal video, "Give hope to someone in need this Christmas" is available to watch on the website. There is a video for younger children as well, called Shoebox Maker. You can also order a DVD copy from the online registration form, or call if you would like multiple copies. or Trussell Trust Shoebox Appeal Each Christmas The Trussell Trust takes thousands of shoe boxes filled with presents to some of the poorest people in Eastern Europe. Thanks to your generosity in 2016, we received an amazing 11,724 shoe boxes for distribution to poor and marginalised children and families in Bulgaria, and for the first time in Serbia.

10 Yes, Trussell Trust, the Foodbank people, also do a Christmas shoe box scheme. They take hundreds of shoe boxes over to Eastern Europe. Look at the website and see their activities. And finally.. May the joy of the angels, the eagerness of the shepherds, the perseverance of the wise men, the obedience of Joseph and Mary, and the peace of the Christ child be yours this Christmas; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. With very best wishes from the Diocesan Team.