Advent has begun, and what better way to begin it at St Mark’s than with a Christingle service?

The idea of the Christingle – where the story of God’s love and care for the world is told through the symbols of an orange, red ribbon, fruit and sweets and a candle – goes back almost 275 years to a church in Germany. These days it is usually associated with The Children’s Society which exists to help children suffering from poverty, neglect and danger in the UK.

Children and adults joined in to make their Christingles at St Mark’s on Advent Sunday and sang the Christingle song which reminds us that the orange represents the world, the red ribbon symbolises the love and blood of Christ, the sweets and dried fruit represent all of God’s creations, and the lit candle represents Jesus’s light in the world, bringing hope to people living in darkness.

There were special prayers too, including this one:

We pray for children growing up in families struggling to make ends meet.

Lord Jesus, it hurts to think about this. Part of us would rather not. We’d rather look away. Help us to reach out, and come alongside them. We thank you for the Christingle and the ribbon that represents your loving sacrifice, wrapping itself around the world.

We ask you to wrap your loving arms around each child in need today. Be close to each one who doesn’t have enough of the basic things they need, who is avoiding telling a parent or carer to avoid causing more stress; or who is frightened of what might happen or of people finding out how hard things are at home.

We ask you to keep opening our eyes to see them and help them, directly in our communities, and through the work of The Children’s Society throughout our country.

Come, Lord Jesus,

Hear our prayer.

For more on The Children’s Society, visit www.childrenssociety.org.uk/