This year (2006) - the Christingle Service was held in a candle-lit church on Christmas Eve itself. Words such as "Magical"and "Exquisite" easily come to mind when trying to describe such a special event. This was the first time I had personally seen this particular service, let alone been involved in part. How emotional some parents must have felt watching their children as they worked their way through the lessons and set pieces.

As is now traditional with All Saints' - the flower displays were simply stunning, This one on the East Window ledge above the Alter came courtesy of Cynthia Ponsford , who moved with her husband Ian to Cornwall, 10 days before Christmas.  As many will know, Ian sadly died shortly after Christmas. Both were - during their years in East Garston - loyal supporters of All Saints Church, and with this last gesture, Cynthia asked for white lilies to be put in church on Christmas Day. We were fortunate in having Gemma and Stephanie Lewis (Gemma being a trained florist) to create a beautiful, exceptionally fitting arrangement of the lilies with ivy and yew in the east window, thus providing a perfect backcloth to the alter.

The Christingle service itself was under the direction of The Revd Tony Cumberlidge. After the Children had collected their Christingles, those remaining were distributed among the congregation by Revd Cumberlidge, Sally Wright, Victoria Rabbitts and Tom Highnett.

Mollie delivers a solo version of Silent Night in a Church illuminated only by candle light. Resplendently attired in Victorian dress, Susan Holmes provided the musical accompaniment for the evening

Flowers by Stephanie and Gemma Lewis, Diana Pilling, Mary Lane and Sally Wright. Christmas tree decorated by Christine Thorpe and Sally Wright

The colours of the decorations in church for Christmas, were chosen in line with the liturgical colours of White and Gold that are symbolic of Christmas. These determine the colour of the priest’s vestments, the altar frontal, the book ends and so on. “Gold is symbolic of glory, exuberance, celebration and resurrection, while White additionally represents joy, victory, purity and innocence”.

We therefore decided on pure white flowers and white and gold for the Christmas tree and the other decorations. The windows had already been adorned during Advent with white candles and greenery of ivy and yew. Shannon and Mollie had been instrumental in this. They were asked to use every available candle to decorate the whole church. They set about their task with relish and grouped the candles into clusters, setting the major ones into glass vases to great effect. In all the church was lit at the Carol Service, the Christingle and on Christmas morning by almost 150 candles. The result was spectacular and we received many, many comments to this effect. So thank you Shannon and Mollie.

At this point - we should perhaps remind ourselves just what this occasion was in aid of.

125 Years of Creating  Change for Children

In 1881, Edward Rudolf founded the Church of England Waifs and Strays Society after two children who used to attend his Sunday school were found begging for food on the street. Edward's vision of creating small family homes, where orphaned and destitute children could be properly looked after In a loving environment, started to become a reality.The Cottage home pictured right -was set up in Newbury in 1902 - you can see the family of children of different ages with their House Mother and Father. The Homes were financed by Edward's society, now renamed the Church of England Children's Society, but local community also gave support. They held Pound Days, when people would give pound weights of produce to the home or give £1 donations. ...www.christingle.org

Children and young people of East Garston enacted this now famous story, dressed in Victorian costume. This cameo of Victorian life was interleaved with the traditional Christingle service to great effect. The young people aged 7 to 15 rose to the occasion spectacularly, with dance drama and song, delighting the congregation with their efforts. It was a very moving experience for everyone..The grand total Collected for the Children's Society by this service at All Saints' Church was £450-00