Christmas 2008
(New Series 14.4)
If I hear another minor celebrity remind us that we should never forget "the real meaning of Christmas", I think I shall scream.
What is "the real meaning of Christmas"? The truth is that there are many possible answers to this question and that we all have our own ideas about what is really important in this "festive season".
According to one of the big supermarket chains, Christmas is all about putting a smile on children's faces. Again, for many people Christmas is principally the time for getting all the family together - for a few hours at least. For many children, Christmas is when you get presents. And then, for quite a few older folks, Christmas is a time for partying.
Even among Christians there are differences of emphasis when it comes to outlining "the real meaning of Christmas". Some will want to focus on a baby born in a stable in Bethlehem and the stories about his birth as told by St Matthew and St Luke. Others will find their inspiration in the words of St John that we read on Christmas Day and which centre on the Son whom God sent into the world of humanity so that we might be blessed as "children of God".
In fact we all make compromises in our celebration of Christmas as we mix the secular aspects of the season with its more sacred associations - and none more so than in the time of Advent, the season marked by the four Sundays which precede the Twelve Days of the Christmas festival itself.
Advent is offered to us as a time of preparation not just for the practical arrangements for the Christmas celebrations, but also for the spiritual. We waste the opportunity of Advent if we just use it to anticipate Christmas itself.
Advent is a time of waiting - a time for expecting. Advent is a time for praying about what it is we are waiting for, what it is that we are longing for - a time when we might pause to think just what it is that we want the real meaning of Christmas to be.
The Vicar
Advent Sunday this year fell on 30th November which is usually the feast of St Andrew, the patronal festival of Swavesey Parish Church.
During the 11.00am service, as well as lighting the first candle on the Advent Wreath, the Travelling Crib was sent out on its journey through the parish. This year, a flock of sheep, knitted by members of the congregation, are accompanying Mary and Joseph on their journey from home to home through the time of Advent. One sheep is to be left in each home visited, to be reunited with the others when the crib returns to St Andrew's on 21st December, the fourth Sunday of Advent.
The 11.00am service that day will also include the Sunday School Nativity Presentation, which this year features the Nativity Musical, Humph the Camel, by Niki Davies.
Also during Advent, we will join with Bethel Baptist Church for the Open Air Nativity on Sunday 14th December at 6.00pm and meet with Father Christmas at the Carols in Market Street on Saturday 20th December at 7.00pm.
The Baby and Toddler Nativity Service (BATS) will be held at St Andrew's on Tuesday 23rd December at 10.30am. All ages are warmly invited to this service.
Incidentally, the rubble finish which today we find so attractive and characteristic of East Anglian churches was never intended by the builders of our churches to be visible at all. The churches were originally all rendered and whitewashed. This certainly made the white churches stand out against the green of the East Anglian landscape.
It is hoped that the next stage of the restoration programme, involving repointing the south aisle and repairing the south aisle west window will begin shortly.
The work already completed to the chancel is being funded by Christ's College, Cambridge, as lay rectors of the parish. The work yet to be carried out will largely draw on the Repair and Restoration Fund, topped up from other sources and bequests.
The acclaimed 'Fens through a Lens' Exhibition will be visiting St Mary's, Fen Drayton for two weeks in early December.
Fens Through a Lens was a local amateur photography competition organized jointly by the University of Cambridge Museum of Zoology, the RSPB and the Wildlife Trust. Entry was free and the closing date was 27 June 2008. There were four subject categories for adults and three age categories for young people. Images had to be taken at local natures reserves.
More than 340 entries across all the categories were considered by the team of four judges: award-winning international wildlife photographer, Chris Gomersall (chair); photographer Roger Slade, Sarah Campbell from Kettle's Yard Museum and Gallery in Cambridge; and Roger Northfield from Cambridge University's Department of Zoology. They were very impressed with the high standard of the entries and the sheer variety of images capturing the landscapes and wildlife on our doorstep.
The exhibition will be on view, free of charge, in St Mary's Church, Fen Drayton from Saturday 6th December until Thursday 18th December. The church will be open from 10.30am until 4.00pm daily.
A big thank you is due to everyone who contributed to the annual St Andrew's Gift Day on 29th/30th November. The total that had been received by 1st December was £1,457.
Practices for the Christmas Carol Services are now well advanced and the singers look forward to seeing everyone at 6.30pm on Sunday 28th December for the Festival of 'Nine Lessons and Carols'. This will be followed by seasonal refreshments.
The Choir will also be in attendance at Conington on 21st December for St Mary's Carol Festival at 6.30pm in the evening.
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