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17th December 2012

Charity, Christmas and the Cathedral

enquiries@canterbury-cathedral.org

The Cathedral, siting in the heart ofCanterbury, is often the focus forcommunity events and celebrations.

December is by far the busiest month of theCathedral calendar for services, and we are

delighted that a number of these are communitycelebrations. Two of the more established are theSt Nicholas Festival Parade and the ChildrensSociety Christingle Service.

Now, in its eighth year, the St Nicholas FestivalParade is a fun and lively community parade,the purpose of which is to welcome the start ofChristmas and raise money for worthy charities.The annual event took place this year on Saturday8th December and saw hundreds of childrenand musicians take part. The great procession

started at Canterburys iconic Westgate Towers atmidday; with Canon Jim Rosenthal dressed as StNicholas. It wound its way through the historiccobbled streets of the city, spreading festivecheer to all, while raisingmoney for charity. Just overan hour into the event,the parade made its wayto the Cathedral and thecelebrations continued intothe Nave, where hundredsof people attended ashort service, led by the

Archbishop ofCanterbury.Music was providedby a variety of talented

community musicians under the guidance of thePeter Cooks Big Bash Music and carols were sungwith enthusiasm and gusto. After the Service,free hot chocolate was provided and St Nicholashanded out presents in the Cathedral shop.

Now in its eighth year as a registeredcharity, the St Nicholas Festival wasfounded to increase awareness of the

life, history and traditions relating to St Nicholasand to raise money in aid of organisations andcharities that benefit young people, both locallyand further afield. Since 2005, it has raisedover 55,000 and given grants to 21 differentchildrens organisations and charities. Each yearthe volunteer trustees nominate the organisationsto benefit from their fundraising but they also

try to give small emergency grants when disasterstrikes. This year the nominated charities areCanterbury Rising Sun Womens Refuge, a grouphelping women and their children seeking refuge

as well as those needinghelp in the Community, andDandelion Time, a Maidstonebased childrens charity helpingthose with extreme personaldifficulties including violenceand self-harming.

The Parades have always

been keenly supportedby Archbishop Rowan

Williams and he has rarely

http://www.stnicholasfestival.org.uk/http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/http://www.stnicholasfestival.org.uk/http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/http://www.stnicholasfestival.org.uk/http://www.stnicholasfestival.org.uk/http://www.stnicholasfestival.org.uk/http://www.canterburywestgatetowers.com/http://stnicholascenter.org/pages/jim-rosenthalhttp://stnicholascenter.org/pages/jim-rosenthalhttp://www.canterburywestgatetowers.com/http://stnicholascenter.org/pages/jim-rosenthalhttp://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/http://home.btconnect.com/bigbashmusichttp://home.btconnect.com/bigbashmusichttp://www.cathedral-enterprises.co.uk/http://www.cathedral-enterprises.co.uk/http://www.stnicholasfestival.org.uk/http://www.stnicholasfestival.org.uk/http://www.stnicholasfestival.org.uk/our-previous-charities/http://www.stnicholasfestival.org.uk/our-previous-charities/http://www.stnicholasfestival.org.uk/our-previous-charities/http://www.stnicholasfestival.org.uk/our-previous-charities/http://www.risingsunkent.com/http://www.risingsunkent.com/http://www.dandeliontime.org.uk/http://www.dandeliontime.org.uk/http://www.dandeliontime.org.uk/http://www.risingsunkent.com/http://www.stnicholasfestival.org.uk/our-previous-charities/http://www.stnicholasfestival.org.uk/our-previous-charities/http://www.stnicholasfestival.org.uk/http://www.cathedral-enterprises.co.uk/http://home.btconnect.com/bigbashmusichttp://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/http://stnicholascenter.org/pages/jim-rosenthalhttp://www.canterburywestgatetowers.com/http://www.stnicholasfestival.org.uk/http://www.stnicholasfestival.org.uk/http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/http://www.stnicholasfestival.org.uk/

7/30/2019 Charity Dec 2012

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17th December 2012

Charity, Christmas and the Cathedral

enquiries@canterbury-cathedral.org

missed one. His wife Mrs Jane Williamshas been the Patron since the charitywas formed and has generously allowedthe use of Old Palace for social events.

One of the objectives of theSaint Nicholas Parade and theFestival charity is to give City and

Cathedral a chance to work together.That is epitomised by the Lord Mayor,Archbishop, and the Dean greeting StNicholas at the Christ Church Gate.

Towards the end of Decemberanother inspirational communityevent will be held at the Cathedral

in aid of the Childrens Society. For more than40 years a Christingle Service in support for the

Childrens Society has been held at the Cathedral.

This year the beautiful candle lit service willbe held in the Nave on Friday 28th Decemberat 15:00, and children of all ages will be verywelcome.

The Cathedral is not alone in its support;last year an estimated 6,000 Christinglecelebrations took place across the

country, raising over 1.2 million for vulnerablechildren. The Christingle is a popular childrens

service -it is estimated that over half a millionchildren take part in the celebration during thetraditional period from November to February.At Canterbury Cathedral, it has traditionallyalways been held on Holy Innocents Day, the28th December. The Archdeacon of Ashford, theVenerable Philip Down will be preaching this yearand pupils from Tenterden Church of EnglandSchool will be participating in the Service.

C

hristingle originated in 1747 as a custom ofthe Moravian Church and was introduced

to the Anglican Church by The ChildrensSociety in 1968. No one knows for certain whenthe word 'Christingle' was first used or fromwhat it is derived. Various suggestions havebeen made. One is that it comes from the oldSaxon word 'ingle = fire' and means 'Christ-

fire or light'. Another is that it derives from theGerman 'engel' or 'kindle' (a diminutive of 'kind'= child) to mean Christ-angel or Christ-child. The

Christingle itself symbolises the Christmas story.The world (represented by an orange) which Godcreated and filled with good things (symbolisedby cocktail sticks with sweets) which sometimesbecomes a dark place by the failure of people tolove another. The world has been transformedforever by Jesus birth, life, and teaching. He is thelight of the world (represented by a candle) andhis love (shown by a red ribbon) demonstrateshow we should love each other.

http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/http://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/assets/files/docs/pdf/home-news/Christingle%20Service%202012.pdfhttp://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/assets/files/docs/pdf/home-news/Christingle%20Service%202012.pdfhttp://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/http://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/assets/files/docs/pdf/home-news/Christingle%20Service%202012.pdfhttp://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/http://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/assets/files/docs/pdf/home-news/Christingle%20Service%202012.pdfhttp://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/assets/files/docs/pdf/home-news/Christingle%20Service%202012.pdfhttp://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/assets/files/docs/pdf/home-news/Christingle%20Service%202012.pdfhttp://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/assets/files/docs/pdf/home-news/Christingle%20Service%202012.pdfhttp://www.childrensociety.org.uk/what-you-can-do/fundraising-and-appeals/christinglehttp://www.childrensociety.org.uk/what-you-can-do/fundraising-and-appeals/christinglehttp://www.childrensociety.org.uk/what-you-can-do/fundraising-and-appeals/christinglehttp://www.childrensociety.org.uk/what-you-can-do/fundraising-and-appeals/christinglehttp://childrenssociety.org.uk/http://www.moravian.org.uk/pdf/christingle.pdfhttp://www.moravian.org.uk/pdf/christingle.pdfhttp://childrenssociety.org.uk/http://childrenssociety.org.uk/http://childrenssociety.org.uk/http://childrenssociety.org.uk/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christinglehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christinglehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christinglehttp://childrenssociety.org.uk/http://childrenssociety.org.uk/http://www.moravian.org.uk/pdf/christingle.pdfhttp://www.childrensociety.org.uk/what-you-can-do/fundraising-and-appeals/christinglehttp://www.childrensociety.org.uk/what-you-can-do/fundraising-and-appeals/christinglehttp://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/assets/files/docs/pdf/home-news/Christingle%20Service%202012.pdfhttp://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/assets/files/docs/pdf/home-news/Christingle%20Service%202012.pdfhttp://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/http://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/assets/files/docs/pdf/home-news/Christingle%20Service%202012.pdfhttp://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/