It’s that time of year when churches around the diocese host their annual Christmas Tree festivals, with hundreds of people milling in and out of the building, enjoying the seasonal celebrations.
But while the current restrictions have put a stop to that, a number of communities are taking innovative steps to continue the tradition in a more creative manner.
Over in Barrow-upon-Soar, Holy Trinity Church has launched its Christmas Tree Festival online, featuring 44 different trees thoughtfully designed, crafted, dressed-up and computer generated, by members of the village community.
Despite the changes, an impressive number of local clubs, church groups and businesses have got involved with the ‘virtual festival’, including the village primary school and pre-schools, the Guides, Brownies, Scouts and Beavers. There are also many organisations taking part this year for the first time, enabling the church to forge new relationships with its wider community.
Alongside the Christmas trees and videos from the groups explaining what they represent, the website features a whole host of other material, such as an art competition and raffle.
Churchwarden Jez Bowman and his wife Vicky are active members of Holy Trinity and, alongside others on the church’s Christmas Tree Festival Committee, have been integral in the evolution of this annual fundraising event.
Vicky, who chairs the organising committee, explains: “This has been a very difficult year for so many people and although we cannot hold the Christmas Tree Festival in the church this year, we wanted to continue the festival tradition and create a sense of normality for our village community.
“Many people had to challenge themselves to do things differently, but we have a fantastic selection of trees to see,” she says.
There’s no denying a lot of hard work has gone into making the virtual festival a success.
“We started planning in June and had two scenarios – a virtual festival and a Covid-safe festival in the building, which involved an exhaustive risk-assessment we’ve shelved for next year!” explains Jez. “It became apparent when they announced the last lockdown that we’d be forced into this situation.”
As well as setting up the website and individual pages, Jez has spent many hours putting together videos for those organisations less tech savvy, while the church organist has recorded more than an hour of carols on his organ at home to accompany the virtual experience.
“There’s been a great deal of learning, but I’m enjoying it and it will benefit us next year when we hope to use this technology alongside the trees in church and create a dual festival,” says Jez. “Although I was taking a lot of work on, at no point was I ever worried about not being able to finish in time. God’s provision and the support of others has seen us all through.”
As Advent begins and the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ draws ever closer, what could your church be doing creatively this Christmas? Could you be engaging with your community in new and different ways?
Jez says: “It’s about being bold enough to do things in a different way, and to challenge what might have gone before. You can apply this mentality to so many things, and we recognise that as we go through the Shaped By God Together process there will be, and has to be, change.”
Vicky agrees. “There has always been that sense of God’s guiding hand, knowing it was right to go ahead, no matter how different things seemed,” she says. “It’s been liberating, and we’ve had to say ‘what will be, will be’, but whatever you do, don’t be afraid to fail.”
While there’s no escaping the fact that some people, particularly the elderly and those shielding, haven’t been able to get involved this year, or similarly access the festival online, the church is hoping to have a video and material on display when the building can be opened again
The Barrow Christmas Tree Festival will be available to view online until January 6th 2021, but the official close and raffle is being drawn on December 5th. www.barrowchristmastreefestival.com
Are there innovative new ways that your church might be able to fundraise (the Generous Giving Team would love to chat with you about how to set up online giving) and connect with the local community? Where are the fresh opportunities for you? What doors might God be opening?