THOUSANDS of people joined our regular worshippers to celebrate Christ’s birth – in a

variety of ways.There were Christmas tree festivals and crib

services, Christingles and carol concerts. Special Christmas events and services told the story of Jesus’ birth with performances of the Nativity that included real animals and babies.

And millions of people were able to follow Bishop Christopher’s Christmas morning sermon via Twitter. His sermon was published on the social network in bite-sized chinks as he delivered it in our cathedral.

The 16th annual Brighstone Christmas Tree Festival raised an impressive £7,251.79 for charity, as visitors from across the Isle of Wight and beyond flocked to see trees decorated by 133 different local organisations. This means the festival has now raised around £70,000 over the 16 years it has been running.

The trees filled five venues – St Mary’s Church, the Methodist Church, Wilberforce Hall and the Reading Room in Brighstone, and Mottistone Church – for five days in December.

Among those providing trees were Brighstone Handbell Ringers, who decorated their tree with photos of themselves ringing bells, the island charity Love Russia, whose tree included babies’ bootees, and the 1st Brighstone Sea Scouts, who made a tree out of recycled cans.

Prabhakar Gondhalekar, from the Isle of Wight’s Amnesty Group, was among the visitors. He said: “I’m fascinated by what I’ve seen - the talent and imagination involved.”

And Delia Blackman, from Brighstone Handbell Ringers, said: “The festival is getting bigger and better every year. When you open the door of the church, there is a real ‘wow!’ factor. It’s magical and shows real creativity.”

The festival also included music concerts, services and other festive events. The island’s High Sheriff, Nick Heyward, switched on the lights on the tree of celebration outside the Methodist Church

after a carol service with pupils from Brighstone C of E Primary School.

Organiser Chris Goodman said: “The event has been a resounding success. This has been down to the tremendous support that we have received from the commercial sector and the media. Not forgetting the tremendous input from the exhibitors, who really went the extra mile to present some fantastic displays this year, and the wonderful team of helpers who work tirelessly to ensure the success of the festival.”

Meanwhile, the Church of England released figures for its Christmas Twitter campaign that saw clergy and lay people tweet about Jesus on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was the first time the C of E had used social media for an orchestrated national campaign.

There were almost 9,000 tweets that used the campaign hashtags #ChristmasStartsWithChrist or #CSWC with an average of one tweet every 10 seconds from 11pm on Christmas Eve until 11pm on Christmas Day. The cumulative reach for the 8,878 tweets was 9.6 million Twitter users across the world.

Bishop Christopher’s sermon from Ports-mouth Cathedral was tweeted in 140-character

segments from @CofEPortsmouth, alongside sermons from Archbishops Rowan Williams and John Sentamu, and Archbishop-designate Justin Welby. You can read Bishop Christopher’s sermon in full on www.portsmouth.anglican.org/christmas.

The Rev Arun Arora, director of commun-ications at the Archbishops’ Council, said: “This was the first time the Church of England has adopted Twitter for a Christmas initiative and we are delighted with the results. To see so many people communicating the joy of Christmas with a shared message of #ChristmasStartsWithChrist was a cause for rejoicing.”

One figure mentioned in Bishop Christopher’s sermon was that 75,000 children would wake up homeless on Christmas morning. Children from All Saints Church, Newchurch, were inspired by the same statistic to organise a crib service to raise money for the charity Shelter.

The Junior Church there spent three weeks writing and rehearsing a script, adapting costumes and making masks before the service took place on Christmas Eve. The service was led by the older two Junior Church members, and the Nativity performance highlighted Mary

and Joseph’s search for accommodation before taking refuge in a shelter. The service raised £240, which was sent to Shelter’s Christmas appeal and is expected to help 12 families receive the advice they need to keep their homes.

Two lucky schoolchildren were delighted to win a Nativity sheep trail competition organised by St Cuthbert’s Church in Copnor. Elsie-Rae Moore, 5, and Maisie Kithakye, 9, managed to spot 12 cuddly knitted sheep which had been hidden in shops and the library in Tangier Road.

Thirty-one children completed the trail and were entered into a prize draw to win one of two books telling the story of the first Christmas. Elsie and Maisie were presented with their prizes by the vicar of St Cuthbert’s, David Power.

David said: “The children had a lot of fun following the trail and got quite excited when each sheep was discovered. It was also good to have the involvement of the local shopkeepers and the Alderman Lacey Library. The story of the birth of Jesus can be all too easily overlooked amidst all the rush and bustle of this season, so this is an enjoyable way of helping families discover afresh the heart of Christmas.”

The sheep were knitted by church members.

The prizes were kindly donated by The Acorn and the Vine Christian Bookshop in Southsea.

At St Alban’s Church, West Leigh, six-month-old Star Reber was given a starring role during the crib service on Christmas Eve. The Rev Karina Green held him at the end of a re-enactment of the Nativity to make the point that Jesus had come as a real baby.

“It was lovely to be able to hold a real baby as I spoke about Jesus,” she said. “Star had been baptised in the church and the family come fairly regularly. But they were a bit gobsmacked as apparently she usually cries with new people and I’d never held her before. But she didn’t even want to go back to her parents.”

And generous worshippers contributed more than £10,000 for homeless people, vulnerable families and asylum seekers to buy Christmas gifts through the scheme run by Churches Homeless Action (CHA).

CHA chairman Canon Bob White said: “Once more I am overwhelmed by the generosity people have shown. It is a simple scheme that aims to show the care and respect we have for our fellow men and women and seeks to share with them the precious gift of choice.”

Above: Jacob and Ziva Penn at the Brighstone Christmas Tree Festival; right: Elsie-Rae Moore,5,

and Maisie Kithakye, 9, winners of the St Cuthbert’s Nativity Trail with vicar the Rev David Power; centre: Susannah Cater and her four-year-old son Charlie at

the carol service at St Jude’s Church, Southsea

8 9featuresfeatures

Far left: High Sheriff Nick Hayward with children from Brighstone C of E Primary School; left: Kathy Thomson at the Brighstone Christmas Tree

Festival; above: children from All Saints, Newchurch, in their crib service; right: the Rev Karina Green at the crib service at St Alban’s, West Leigh

BISHOP’S CHRISTMAS DAY SERMON - VIA TWITTERPortsmouth Diocese @CofEPortsmouth 25 DecBishop: “Why have we come to mark extraordinary event 2,000 yrs ago that seems to have little to do with us?” #ChristmasStartsWith Christ

Bishop: “As we worship or as you read on #Twitter let’s ponder both discontinuity & attraction of #Nativity.” #ChristmasStartsWith Christ.

Bishop: “Jesus’ arrival among us in humble stable shouldn’t make us glib about poverty – other people’s or ours.” #ChristmasStarts WithChrist

Bishop: “This morning, 75,000 children in our country wake up in emergency accommodation, as Jesus did.” #ChristmasStartsWithChrist

Bishop: “Christmas signals divine solidarity with vulnerable children - and invites us to be vulnerable too.” #ChristmasStartsWithChrist

Bishop: “Despite our security, few of us don’t feel prey to decisions of others & vulnerable to

uncertainty+fear” #ChristmasStartsWithChrist

Bishop: “Before a helpless vulnerable baby, born far from home+security, we can worship with honesty about our deepest fears.” #CSWC

Bishop: “Jesus’ 1st visitors = shepherds, misfits who seemed to eschew conventional town/village life for fields” #ChristmasStartsWithChrist

Bishop: “Those most visibly excluded+ marginalised in our communities are clearly dignified by God as today’s successors to shepherds.” #CSWC

Bishop: “We’re also successors to shepherds, but less noticeably. Most of us have at times felt left out while others seem fulfilled.” #CSWC

Bishop: “We’re welcomed this am with shepherds, as we offer our lack of confidence and feeling of not belonging.” #ChristmasStartsWithChrist

For full sermon see: twitter.com/CofEPortsmouth

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