Last year we ran our first ever Christmas Tree Festival in St John’s from December 5th  - 8th.   Corin led the planning team.  I was co-ordinator and was helped by an assistant and many able and hardworking church members.  We organised ourselves into teams with specific responsibilities.  The team looking after the main body of the church liaised with charities, organised positioning of the trees and electrical link up for lights and generally kept an eye on security and were available to talk to visitors. The front-of-house team. did welcoming, gave out programmes, and ran some fund raising stalls. 

 

The kitchen team planned and served teas, coffees and light lunches.  All this was underpinned by the church office team who did correspondence, printing and publicity.  There were 20 charity trees, including 2 schools in the parish, and the church looked lovely.  We enjoyed a good rapport with the charity personnel and got to know them better. On Friday evening the annual carol service for Guide Dogs for the Blind was held in the church and was very well attended. 

 

At the morning service on Sunday our prayer time was set aside for wandering around the church at will and stopping by each tree to offer our own prayers for that charity.  In spite of our lack of experience the event went smoothly and was a happy occasion.  It was good to open up the church to so many visitors.