In the last few years, I’ve become more aware of Christingle celebrations, which use oranges, candles, red ribbons and sweets to reflect on Jesus Christ as light of the world. It seems to have stemmed from Moravian churches in the mid-18th century but to have started growing in popularity in the UK from the late 1960s, when it began to be used to turn charitable focus to The Children’s Society.

St Clement’s in Oxford had been running one very close to Christmas for a few years and my new church has tended to mark it on the first Sunday in December, which is one of our monthly ‘All Age’ events. Normally, we would pass round pre-assembled christingles and pray as we gradually lit the candles (appropriate safety measures in place!). This year, the risk isn’t fire but COVID-19 so no handing things round and standing close enough to light the next person’s candle. Instead, we asked our community to create christingles in advance and film or photograph them.

You can see the results in this video, set over a version of the Tim Hughes song Light of the World (Here I Am to Worship) performed by the ASTAD worship team (and pieced together by me – again, restrictions limit our ability to gather a band in one place). Enjoy!