So what is a ‘Christingle’?
Christingle celebrations have been taking place for over 50 years. The Children’s Society first Christingle service took place at Lincoln Cathedral in 1968, but Christingles themselves go back much further to the Moravian church in Germany.
At a children’s service in Marienborn in 1747, Bishop Johannes de Watteville looked for a simple way to explain the happiness that had come to people through Jesus, and created a symbol — the Christingle — to do this.
Christingle services are joyful celebrations that brings families and communities together to share the light of Jesus and spread a message of hope.
Christingle celebrations are named after the Christingles that are lit during the service. Christingles are oranges wrapped in red tape, decorated with dried fruit or sweets, with a candle on the top.
Christingles are usually held from the end of November through to February (Advent to Candlemas), with Christmas Eve being a particularly popular time for services. The one at All Saints Church Marlpool is Held on Christmas Eve.
During the service, each person takes a Christingle and the candles are all lit as they are lit the light they give symbolising the light of Christ and bringing hope to people living in darkness.
Each element of a Christingle has a special meaning and helps to tell the Christian story:
- The orange represents the world
- The red ribbon (or tape) symbolises the love and blood of Christ
- The sweets and dried fruit represent all of God’s creations
- The lit candle represents Jesus’s light in the world, bringing hope to people living in darkness.
We use any collection we get to support the work of the Children’s Society
And the Children’ Society?
The Children’s Society provide specialist support that empowers young people to make positive changes and rediscover their hope. Children want a future they can look forward to and the society are there to make sure they get it. Working alongside young people, their families and community, they will not rest until together, step-by-step, they have created a society built for all children.
Young people come to the society when they have low self-esteem. When they’re living in families who can’t afford the next meal, the next size up in school uniform. Or when there’s no one else to lean on.
Refugee and migrant children land in this country alone and look to The Children’s Society for guidance to achieve the life they dreamed of. To have a settled home, a secure job and starting a family. They’re not asking for too much.
The Children’s Society see teenagers in their services who want to quit using drugs or alcohol. Who are looking after mum, dad, or their siblings more than they bargained for. Or who have been taken advantage of and find themselves carrying drugs to far away towns, or having sex with strangers.
Often, the hope inside them has taken a battering, it might only be hanging by a thread. But the society know it’s there.
Young people come to the The Children’s Society when they need someone to talk to, for therapy, sometimes just a bite to eat. To help with their court case, to talk to their mum, social services, their teacher, to sometimes not talk at all. We work with young people for as long as it takes and we’re with them no matter what.
They also listen to their needs and campaign and lobby on their behalf. We want to make sure they are heard at local and nation government level. They know better than anyone what will make all the difference.
The Children’s Society take inspiration from the courage and hope we see in young people every day, fuelling our belief that a good childhood is something every young person deserves.
For more information check out the Children’s Society webebsite The Children’s Society | UK children’s charity (childrenssociety.org.uk)
