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Step by step Christingle

This Sunday we will be having our Christingle service at church in honour of Epiphany.  The service plan at the moment is secret so that we don't spoil the surprise but it will certainly involve the wise men and their gifts at some point!

We've put together a step by step guide to building the Christingle as we will be calling on the congregation to make them as we go along.

Step one
As people arrive they will be given an orange in a bowl (it's important to cut the bottom of the orange off beforehand so that it stands level- important for when you reach the last step!)
The orange represents the world that God has made.

Step two
Stick into the orange 4 cocktail sticks with raisins and small sweets on them.  Again, we've prepared these earlier so people only have to pick up their sticks and stick them in!
The sticks represent the four seasons of the year and the sweets represent the good gifts that God gives us.

Step Three
Put a red ribbon round the middle of the orange.  We cut strips of red insulating tape that people can collect and stick round their orange- much easier than fiddling with ribbons and pins!
The red ribbon represents Jesus's blood and his sacrifice for us on the cross so that we can come into a relationship with God.

Step 4
Everyone collects a candle and sticks it into the top centre of the orange.  Again there is some advance preparation needed here- each orange need a cross cut into the top so that the candle will stick in easily.
Then we all light the candles!

The candles represent Jesus as the light of the world, bringing hope to darkness.

So...
Advance preparation needed:
  • cut bottoms off oranges
  • cut crosses in the top of oranges
  • put sweets and raisins on cocktail sticks
  • cut strips of red insulating tape (on the day, slightly before the service starts, hanging them from table edges so people can pick them up easily)
Everything else is up to the congregation though we tend to explain each symbol one at a time in a little depth and then add it to the orange! 





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