Dear friends,

Well, Christmas is almost upon us.
Tomorrow morning we have a Traditional 9am Communion Service, and then our second Christingle Service at 10:45am.

On Christmas Eve at 2:30pm, we have our first Family Carol Service, including the arrival of The Travelling Crib! After that, our second Family Carol Service at 4:30pm, with our Church band, and a larger musical group with some from the school, and of course, Jonathan on the Organ.

Then at 7pm, our traditional 9 Lessons and Carols Service with Jonathan on the Organ accompanied by the St. Wilfrid’s Singers.

And finally on Christmas Eve, our Midnight Communion Service, which starts at 11:30pm.

All our Christmas Eve services will be candlelit, so come and enjoy the special sense of reverence and warmth together at this time.

On Christmas Day we meet at 10:45am for a Family Communion Service.

The main thing I would like to stress at this time is that these are great services to invite other friends and family to. Many will come from the community anyway, but how about going out of your way to invite one or two along that wouldn’t normally come to our Church? Recent research suggests that there are a lot of people out there just waiting to be invited to Church, you’d be surprised! I’ve invited my friends from the tennis club. How about you?

Likewise, for our Ceilidh, starting at 7:30pm on New Year’s Eve!
Loads of people love a good Ceilidh and are often at a loose end on New Year’s Eve. There will be some live music as well as the Ceilidh, refreshments, and lots of dancing. What could go wrong?!

Looking ahead to the New year, Rev. Sue McWhinney will be speaking on Sunday 5th before beginning her time at St. Johns in Farsley to cover when their vicar retires. This will extend beyond Easter.
Please come to encourage her in this.

There’s lots going on, both before and after Christmas, and do pray for the witness of the Church in all of this.

Blessings,
Phil