Advent Carols

Traditional Eucharist from the Book of Common Prayer.

We are delighted to welcome our children and families to our ever-popular Christingle Service and Nativity Play at St Barnabas.
Amidst all the hustle and bustle let us take you back over two thousand years to a cold, starry night in Bethlehem and, with a cast of thousands (well, maybe a few less!), we will tell you the real story of Christmas.
We invite the children to take the parts of angels, shepherds, kings, good sheep, unruly sheep, donkeys, etc. to gather around the crib and sing carols. We have some costumes available or do come dressed if you would prefer. Please contact Carolyn Bourton on 01306 881364 if you have any queries about any of this.
The Christingle Service follows this short play when the Christingle oranges are distributed and the church is filled with candlelight – always a magical moment. As usual the retiring collection will be sent to support the work of the Children’s Society.

The Church of St Barnabas has a particular connection with Archbishop Edward White Benson who devised this service of Nine Lessons and Carols when he was Bishop of Truro in 1880. He became Archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 until his death in 1896.
He was an undergraduate at Trinity College Cambridge with George Cubitt MP, the First Baron Ashcombe in 1892, who built this church in 1859.
Archbishop Benson conducted the marriages of George’s and his wife Laura’s four daughters at Ranmore – Mildred in 1883, Mary in 1884 and Beatrice and Adelaide in 1891. The Archbishop was a family friend and it may not be too fanciful to suggest that he might have brought his new service to Ranmore. In 1897 the four daughters donated the brass altar cross, which is displayed at every service, in his memory.

Rev'd Caroline Lazeny will preside at Holy Communion
as a Zoom service at 7.15 p.m.

Traditional Eucharist on this special day