Christingle Act of Collective Worship: Planning Notes What you will need: A large pillar candle. Matches. A Christingle for each class in school. Copies of the readings to give out to readers (see the end of this resource). Candle templates (see end of this resource). Preparation in advance: Choose pupils to read and provide them with their reading – make sure they are seated in various areas around the worship space. Place baskets of candle templates near the entrance/exit or give them to class teachers for distribution at the end. Play Shalom, my Friend (see slide 2 for embedded mp3 version) as the pupils come into the worship space.

Shalom Peace be with you To be played in the background as pupils come into the worship space.

Christingle 2017

Happy Birthday to you…! Welcome the children and staff. Explain that at this time of year, Christians prepare for/celebrate (depending on when you are delivering this collective worship) the birth of Jesus. Ask the children how they celebrate their birthdays – take two or three answers. Draw their attention to the picture of the Nativity scene. Ask the pupils what they think is missing (Mary and Joseph). Explain that Christians understand family to be a really important part of Jesus’ story.

Becoming family Explain that Christians believe God is love. They believe he sent Jesus to bring hope, comfort and joy to those who feel sad, lost or lonely. Christians see themselves as part of one big family who all follow the example of Jesus in the way they live their lives. (Give the readers their cue to read their bible verses.) When they have finished, ask another child to help you light a large pillar candle (remind them to be careful and to stand back from the flame once the candle has been lit). Explain that Christians believe that when Jesus was born, a light came into the world that offered hope to the hopeless and reminded us all that as a family of human beings, we all have one thing in common: the power to transform lives through kindness and love.

Tell the children that The Children’s Society is a charity that supports vulnerable and disadvantaged children to help bring light and hope into their lives. Every year, they encourage us to celebrate Christingle as a reminder of the hope and light that Jesus brought into the world. Hold up an unlit Christingle and explain its symbolism: The orange represents the whole world: Christians believe God made the world and looks after it; they believe he wants human beings to look after it as well The red ribbon represents God’s love for everyone: Christians believe God treats everyone like family; they believe he wants us to treat each other like family and offer support and love to everyone The fruit/sweets represent the good things God has made: Christians believe God provides us with good things; they believe he wants everyone to be thankful for the good things they have and share them with others The lit candle represents Jesus who brought light into a dark world: Christians believe God sent Jesus to bring hope to those who feel sad or lost; they believe that he wants all people to live the way Jesus lived and care for each other, especially when times are hard Explain that the funny thing about candles is that they can give light without losing light – demonstrate by lighting the Christingle from the large pillar candle. Tell the children that in the Bible, Jesus tells his followers to share their light – all the good things they do, all the love they have – with others so that everyone can have hope (Matthew 5:14-16). Explain that you are going to ask the teachers from each class to come up and light a class Christingle so that the light of love and hope can be shared with everyone in school. (Staff come up and light their Christingles from the worship leader’s Christingle/each other’s Christingles.)

He’s got the whole world in his hand He's got the little tiny baby in his hand.   He's got you and me, brother, in his hand. He's got everybody here in his hand. He's got you and me, sister, in his hand. Remind everyone that the birth of Jesus is reminder to celebrate the importance of family (in its broadest sense) and loving kindness. Explain that the song we are about to sing helps Christians think a bit more about what it means to be part of the worldwide family of Christians. Invite everyone to join in with the singing. [You may like to swop to the Worship Workshop website, which we enable you to play the music and show the lyrics: http://www.worshipworkshop.org.uk/songs-and-hymns/hymns/he's-got-the-whole-world-in-his-hand/]

Let us pray… Invite everyone to join you in prayer: Loving Lord, We thank you for the families in our lives, for those who give us love and hope, We thank you for The Children’s Society as it brings loving kindness to children and young people who feel unloved or without hope. Help us to always be a light shining in the darkness so that we can share the love of God with those around us. In the name of Jesus Christ, the light of the world, Amen. We pray together the prayer Jesus taught us, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen.

Remind the children that we have been celebrating Christingle and giving thanks for the work of The Children’s Society, which brings hope and light to children just like them. Set the children a challenge: ask them to think about the ways in which they can bring light into the world. Tell them to collect a candle template on their way out of collective worship. Explain that, when they get back to class, you would like them to write or draw one thing in their candle that they are going to do to bring light into the world. It could be something to show their love for someone they care for, or something that will bring hope to someone who is struggling or feeling sad. It could be a promise to support the work of The Children’s Society by telling people about it or raising money for it so that they can continue to help those who need hope. Suggest that they could make a display of these promises around their class Christingle, so that every time they look at the Christingle it will remind them of their promise to bring light into the world. (Staff could hand out candle template to pupils or you could place the templates in baskets near the exits for pupils to collect if they wish to.) (As the pupils leave, you could play a song associated with light and hope, such as Shine, Jesus, Shine.)

resources

Love is patient, love is kind…It always protects, always trusts, always hope, always perseveres… (1 Corinthians 13.4-7) Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4.11) …let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, …encouraging one another… (Hebrews 10.24-25) Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. (Ruth 1.16)

I will bring light into the world by