It was so good to see old friends again. I hadn't realised quite how much I miss them, and they made us so welcome. We had lunch in the church rooms and visited a couple of elderly parishioners while we were in the area. That was good too. They were so pleased to see us.
The Christmas trees were as good as ever; some really innovative trees and almost all with little hand-made figurines to decorate the trees, as well as all the coloured lights. The "angel table" - a snow scene with all sorts, sizes and shapes of angels, and offering prayer cards for anyone who wants one - was beautiful, and very spiritual, as was the tree of remembrance, where people could light a candle in memory of a loved one and add a card with their loved one's name, to the tree.
There were more children's trees this year - play schools, primary schools, Brownies, Scouts, Rainbows, children with disabilities - all had made the decorations for their tree.
In the roof of the church was the night sky at the time of Jesus, with three planets in conjunction, forming the Star of Bethlehem, and lights picking out the constellations, all set in a black background, and very effective.
The Jesse tree, telling the Bible story from Genesis to Revelation in figures and animals winding on a spiral from the bottom to the top of the tree, had a central position and was raising money for a local charity - doing well, too.
Father Christmas was much in evidence as the local primary school had visited that morning, looked at the trees, sung carols, heard the Christmas Bible stories, and received sweets from Father Christmas. Some very happy children!
We'd liked to have stayed longer, but may return this weekend if our granddaughter (aged five in a fortnight) is able to come over. She'll love it - and it's already started our Christmas.
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