Celebrating 50 years of Christingle at Guildford Cathedral

Published on: 30 Jan, 2019
Updated on: 30 Jan, 2019

People of all ages from across Surrey and beyond celebrated the half-century of The Children’s Society on Sunday, January 27 at a special service in Guildford Cathedral.

A young girl holds up her Christingle orange. Photo: Children’s Society

Record numbers of Christingle services have been held across England to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first Church of England Christingle service. Thousands of churches, schools and communities have marked the milestone. As the final week of events approaches, Canon Paul Smith said he was delighted to lead the event in Guildford.

Christingle, named after the oranges lit during the service, can be celebrated anywhere between the beginning of Advent and the end of the Christmas season. The service at Guildford was close to the festival of Candlemas, which is 40 days after the birth of Jesus and marks the day when Mary and Joseph took the infant Jesus into the Temple to dedicate him to God.

The Christingle service was introduced to the Church of England by The Children’s Society in 1968. This anniversary year, more churches, schools and cathedrals than ever are holding services.

Matthew Reed, The Children’s Society chief executive, said: “The Christingle fundraising tradition is a lifeline for the charity and we’re enormously grateful to all our supporters for helping us to work with more than a million children over the past 50 years.

“Sadly, there are a million more young people living with several serious problems today and we hope that our 50th anniversary services will go some way to supporting them.”

Louise Kenyon, acting head of Schools & Family Learning at the cathedral, said: “We were thrilled to work with The Children’s Society to celebrate 50 years of the Christingle by holding this beautiful family friendly service in the cathedral.

“Like most Christingle services, ours was interactive and everyone was given a Christingle to take home with them. We were delighted that the Cathedral Boys Choristers sang for us at this service, and BSL interpretation was available, to make it truly accessible for all.”

The money raised through Christingle Services for The Children’s Society helps provide direct support to vulnerable children and young people who may be living in poverty, experiencing mental health issues, living in care or just about to leave the care system or at risk of sexual or criminal exploitation