Christingling

Lovely, lovely time with the good folks of St Andrew's Sandon celebrating Christngles & raising money for the Children's Society.

A Christingle is used in the advent services & consists of:

an orange, which represents the earth;
a red ribbon around it representing the blood of Christ;
dried fruits skewered on cocktail sticks pushed into the orange, representing the fruits of the earth and the four seasons; and
a lit candle pushed into the centre of the orange, representing Jesus Christ as the light of the world.

The base of the candle is commonly wrapped in tinfoil representing the metal nails driven through Jesus' hands and feet during his crucifixion.

The word "Christingle" comes from the German Christkindl, originally a German custom with origins in the Moravian Church. At Christmas 1747 in Germany, Bishop Johannes de Watteville thought about how he could explain the love of the Jesus the Christ child (Christkindl in German) and what Christmas really means to the children in the church. He decided to make a simple symbol to express the message of Christmas in a fresh and lively way. Pastor Johannes de Watteville gave each child a lighted candle wrapped in a red ribbon, with a prayer that said "Lord Jesus, kindle a flame in these dear children's hearts".

In 1968, John Pensom of The Children's Society adapted and introduced Christingle services to the Church of England.