Over 1,000 children take part in primary schools Advent service
Children from primary schools across the Archdiocese gathered at St George’s Cathedral for the annual Advent service
Over 1,000 children from primary schools across the Archdiocese of Southwark took part in the annual Advent service organised by the Education Service.
The beautiful and lively service saw the children act out the Nativity story, with readings from the Gospel and a reflection on each story. The Nativity story included the Annunciation, the Visitation, Joseph’s dream, the Road to Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus, the shepherds in the field, the shepherds visiting Jesus and the journey of the Wise Men. Between each Bible story, the children sang Christmas carols including O Come O Come Emmanuel, Silent Night and We three kings of Orient are.
Before his reflection and blessing, Archbishop John Wilson said “what a joy it is to be here today” and thanked all those who worked so hard to make the service such a success, especially the children who took part in the Nativity story.
In his reflection, Archbishop John asked four children to join him on the sanctuary and used Christmas hats to get the children to reflect on the “best kind of Christmas hat”.
The Archbishop explained that the best Christmas hat is “a crown of the Newborn King”, worn by “the Lord Jesus” who we “celebrate and anticipate” at Christmas. The Lord Jesus, Archbishop John said, is “the King of kings, the Lord of Lords, he is God’s Son, born for us of the Virgin Mary”. Most of all, Archbishop John said “he is the King of hearts, because he loves us”.
Archbishop John wished the children staff gathered a Merry Christmas. Archbishop John said:
“I want to wish each of you, your families, your loved ones, and those you will be with over Christmas, every blessing and joy in the peace and hope of the Lord Jesus – the new born Prince and King of Peace”.
Angela Cox, the Director of Education, thanked the schools for making the Advent Service such a special occasion. Angela said the annual service “is an important part of our Christmas preparation”, as we “reflect on the importance of our faith”.
Children from across the schools have been collecting toys and gifts for children supported by the Catholic Children’s Society. Toward the end of the service, children from the various schools presented gifts they worked hard to collect. Greg Brister from the Catholic Children’s Society thanked the children and staff across our schools for their generosity and “for caring, for helping and for giving hope to children and families”.
At the end of the service, Archbishop John said:
“May Almighty God bless you in these days of Advent and over Christmas, and bless your families and loved ones”.
Congratulations to the Education Service and St George’s Cathedral for organising such a beautiful service and thank you to all the schools who took part.
