Why do we eat CHRISTMAS CAKE?

These rich fruit cakes were a sensible celebratory food as they didn't spoil quickly, and could therefore be made in advance to have in ready for guests whenever they arrived, or could be taken on a journey to give as a gift, in days when travelling was a slow process. The fruitcake as we know it today evolved from plum cake recipes in England.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Monday 5th January - Friday 9th January:

Week of prayer, seeking the Lord's guidance for 2009. Times to be advised.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Each child is helped to take an orange (representing the World) and insert four cocktail sticks into it (representing the four seasons). Fruit, nuts and sweets can then be attached to the cocktail sticks to represent the fruits of the Earth. A red ribbon is then tied around the centre of the orange as a reminder that Christ died for us all. Finally, a small lighted candle is placed on top to symbolise Jesus Christ, Light of the World.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Saturday 3rd January:

Michael & Kathy House invite everyone from church to join them in their home for a New Year's coffee morning between 10.30am and 12 noon.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

What is CHRISTINGLE?

The first Christingle service was held in Marienborn in Moravia in 1747, when the pastor, John de Wattville, wanting to find a new way of telling the Christmas story to children, gave each child a lighted candle tied with a red ribbon. He asked them to relight them at home and place them in their windows to show the Light of Christ to passers by. The tradition was kept alive by the Moravian church and in the United Kingdom was adopted by the Children's Society in the 1950s as a way of raising awareness of their work. Many churches and schools now hold Christingle services any time from Advent to the end of the Epiphany season.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Saturday 3rd January:

Michael & Kathy House invite everyone from church to join them in their home for a New Year's coffee morning between 10.30am and 12 noon.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

By the late medieval period the singing of Christmas carols had become a tradition. St Francis of Assisi (around 1220AD) promoted the use of carols to spread the Christmas message by translating songs sung in Latin into languages spoken by ordinary people in Europe for use in formal church services.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.