THE Church of England has released its annual resources for Advent and Christmas, returning to its theme “follow the star” which has been used for the past two years.
Among the main resources is Follow The Star: The great invitation, which consists of 12 daily reflections beginning on Christmas Eve. Each is from a different contributor, including the Archbishops of Canterbury and York who tell personal stories on the theme of invitation. The reflections are freely available by email, audio, on the app, and in a Church House Publishing booklet.
A short liturgy has been prepared on the same theme, “designed to include the giving out of invitations to or details of special services during Advent and Christmas”, the Church of England website explains.
Other printed materials this year include a prayer bookmark, family prayer card, and an invitation card “for churches to give to congregation members to send or give out to friends, family and neighbours, inviting them to festive church services and events”.
The website says: “With the World Cup final taking place the last Sunday before Christmas and the change in traditions of families since the pandemic, having a more ‘normal’ Christmas will still mean we need to do some things differently.”
As well as a webinar on managing Christmas and Advent, templates, and links for preparing carol services, crib services, and prayers at Christmas are available in a new “Christmas in a Box” resources webpage. Also online, the now weekly national Church of England services will continue for each Sunday of Advent.
New features have been added to the A Church Near You website, including improved social media and calendar sharing. Downloadable hymns will also be freely available on the Resource Hub for all C of E churches, in partnership with St Martin-in-the-Fields and Royal School of Church Music.
The head of digital for the Church of England, Amaris Cole, also pointed to the Church’s new Christmas film, which “follows the many Christmases of one woman. The Church is with her throughout. We hope this powerful message will show those who see it that we can there with them, too.”
She said on Tuesday: “After a series of difficult Christmases, we’ve worked on resources to help churches issue the Great Invitation to their communities this December and welcome people back in — or to attend for the very first time.
“The Church of England’s social channels will be sharing messages of invitation, helpful posts that explain services and traditions to those considering church for the first time, and a range of famous faces sharing their favourite Christmas memories of church.”