what is christingle?

[ssd]

is this a new thing?

I'll be making 250 of them on Monday morning, ready for the school service on Tues. Ugh.

Our catholic family used to go to the local C of E church for carol service and christingle every year. Our RC school disapproved mightily so definitely not a catholic tradition. No idea what my parents did to get us in though 😆

when did sweets get added to christingle oranges im 61 and went to a c of e church school and ours only had cloves in them no sweets, the thing i remember about the service is the church smelt lovely cloves and orange are still christmas smells to me

Weirdly, as a child, our Christingle service was never at Christmas, I think it was in February. The church prob decided they had enough to do!

It's not specifically CofE. In fact as a child the only church I knew that did it was Catholic, but now they all seem to.
It's the most popular service of the year, the local church has to do 3 sittings to get everyone in, with over 1000 people coming.

I'd forgotten this existed until I saw this thread. Am rather jealous of dolly mixtures though, we only had lots of cloves and possibly a couple of bits of dried lemon peel and sultanas.

Never ever heard of this before. Atheist with a Church of Scotland background.

It isnt specifically Church of England, but the CofE Children's Society adopted it as a 'thing' some decades ago, so re-popularised it. It is hundreds of years old though.

Weirdly, as a child, our Christingle service was never at Christmas, I think it was in February.

I'm glad this is true of someone else! I remember Christingle at church but I definitely do not remember it happening at Christmas time. I think we used to do it sometime around Easter. I was really surprised when i found a C of E school doing the service at Christmas time and when I commented that I didn't think it was a Christmas thing I was made to feel a right numpty. But maybe I'm not misremembering. Maybe the timing of Christingle is chosen at the vicar's discretion.

If it was in February, could it have been held at Candlemas?

The children’s society page says it can be held anywhere between Advent and Candlemas.

Ours have done Christingle since they were tiny. Our house always has 8 dotted around. A large orange to represent the world.
A red ribbon to represent both the dying on the cross and giving of blood as an act of love to encircle and protect the world.
Sweets and candied fruits to represent the bounty of the earth and Gods generosity to humanity.
A candle to represent the light of the world shining through the winter darkness.

Cloves sometimes to represent healing.
I have such lovely memories of making them with the children. We’ve sometimes been to a Moravia Christingle in Bristol, they sometimes went to local Anglican Church service but usually at home one evening. Then displayed on windowsills and mantelpieces.

I went to a Christingle service for the first time last year and had never heard of it before, either. Atheist, raised Catholic. It’s a C ofE thing, I think,

Our local church also has the Christingle service in February but I have been to one that was held on Christmas Eve as well.

Our church holds two Christingle services on Christmas Eve, one at 3 pm and one at 5 pm. They are really popular and the church is always full at both services.
It's a lovely service, we chat about the true meaning of Christmas and what the Christingle represents, carols are sung and then the Christingles are given out to children and parents who stand around the Christmas tree at the front of church. The Christingle candles are all lit, the church lights are dimmed and we all sing Away in a Manger. It brings a tear to your eye and is absolutely lovely. I took my DS as a baby/child and I've been going to the service for over 30 yrs now.

“It's not the same now they don't use real candles or have dolly mixtures on them”

They still do at our church.

“Aggghh. It was originally a Moravian thing”

I did wonder. The first Christingle service I ever went to was at the Moravian church in Pudsey about 20 years ago. I had never come across it before. Christingle services are pretty mainstream in C of E churches, and are very well attended.

I used to take DD when she was little, and the vicar always played Merry Christmas Everybody by Slade at the end, which we all sang to. It was a riot.

We go to the Christingle service on Christmas Eve. It's lovely.

When I was little (over 20 years ago) they always had jelly babies on the four cocktail sticks, which we were told represented people all around the world. It does seem like a totally weird tradition when you think about it too much but I used to love it! I’m totally atheist now though.

Also never heard of this until this thread. Church of Scotland and forced to partake in all sorts of religious shit while at school. It's a new one on mean.

Do you really all hold a church service for an orange?

And how is it pronounced? Where does the emphasis go?

on me. Obvs....

I’ve never heard of this either. Also in Scotland

Vaguely heard of it , never seen one , made one, been to one. Also in Scotland.

I wondered why there are bits of dried orange stuck to Homebase Christmas wreaths.

A Christingle is a symbolic object used in the Advent services of many Christian denominations. Christingle means 'Christ Light' and is used to celebrate Jesus Christ as the "Light of the World". Used primarily for Advent and Christmas, it is also used for Epiphany.

From Wikipedia

It is pronounced Kriss tingle. The service is usually held during advent and is very child friendly with no long sermon. The children go up to the front of the church to get their Christingles. Once they have them the candles are lit, the church lights go off and everyone sings Away in a Manger. It is very moving.