The coming of Christ
Our parish of Withycombe Raleigh Exmouth has 3 churches within it. At the beginning of December our church All Saints had a Christingle service followed by their wonderful candlelit 9 carols and readings. It’s a beautiful atmospheric service with the strong messsge of Christ’s coming and birth. A wonderful beginning for Advent. The parish church of St John’s the Evangelist has many services during the run up to Christmas. Several local schools have their Christmas carol services there along with the local scout groups and a pre-school Nativity. It was lovely to see so many young people taking part and celebrating Christmas with carols and readings and enjoying the wonder of Christ’s birth especially the little ones! Our church of St John in the Wilderness had their usual 3 Christingle services on Christmas Eve. Sadly the numbers were down in comparison to the numbers before the pandemic but we are hopeful that next year we will see a return to the pre-pandemic numbers. St John the Evangelist had a crib service on Christmas Eve in the afternoon. This was very well attended due to The Reverend Judy’s sterling work and outreach in local schools over the past 12 months. All 3 churches had midnight mass services which were enjoyed and appreciated by all those who attended.
