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More than 120,000 copies of Church House Publishing’s #FollowTheStar booklet were sold – 50% more than the figure for #GodWithUs in 2017. The reflections written by Revd Dr Isabelle Hamley, chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury, were very positively received and widely used in print, our app and Alexa Lesson 2: What you believe should determine how you behave. Be willing to put feet on your faith; then get going and follow the star;
Last Christmas, churches across the Diocese of Gloucester extended ‘The Great Invitation’ from the Church of England to Follow the Star to their local church in person once again. Digital promo planner, blogs and bitesize videos from Digital Labs to support churches in using the digital resources available. Centuries later, singing is still central to how millions of people celebrate the good news of Christmas. Singing and hearing carols can enable people of all ages to get in touch with the wonder and the truth of the Christmas story.It could be that you’re hoping to see an increase in the attendance of children and young people at your services and events. Or perhaps that more people in your local community will engage with your Christmas content this year. Whatever your goal is, make sure you are clear on what you’d like to achieve, and then ask yourself how the Join the Song resources can help you to meet this goal. How can you use digital platforms to help you get the word out?
After the success of the #FollowTheStar Campaign in previous years, the Church of England is returning to this popular theme for 2022. This year’s theme – Follow the Star: Join the Song – highlights how singing can help draw us closer to God and each other through the journey from Advent to Epiphany. Amazed as they are, the shepherds take up angel’s invitation and hurry to Bethlehem. And it isn’t long before the shepherds are singing, too, praising God and sharing the good news of Jesus’ birth. The partnership with BBC Sunday Worship and Daily Worship resulted in millions of people hearing the #FollowTheStar reflections The theme of this year's Christmas campaign is Follow the Star: Join the Song. Inspired by Luke 2.20 (GNB) it highlights how singing can draw us closer to God and to each other as we journey from Advent to Epiphany and celebrate the birth of Christ. Read more on the campaign story here.Christmas 2023’s digital resources unwrapped: join the Digital Labs team for an interactive session looking at the resources available for this year’s Christmas campaign. Sign up to join this webinar, held on Wednesday, 11 October.
Three webinars are being organised to help churches make the most of the new resources in services, schools, or at home, with both children and adults. One of my friends in North Carolina tells of her brother’s family driving into Thomasville [NC], where their cousins and aunts and uncles were, for a Christmas season get-together. As they passed by the Episcopal church where a manger scene was in the yard, her 5-year-old nephew asked about the meaning. “That is Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus, there in the manger,” Jean’s sister-in-law explained. The call to “join the song” is linked in the material to the praises of the shepherds mentioned in St Luke’s Gospel 2.20 on their return from meeting the newborn Jesus.Now that the majority of the resources are available, here is a question for you to ponder on: what would be best thing that could happen within your church this Christmas? Lesson 4: Do not worry about what gifts you bring; each is appropriate in its own way as you follow the star. This year’s Church of England Christmas theme – Follow the Star: Join the Song– highlights how singing can help us draw closer to God and each other through journey from Advent to Epiphany.
Learn how to use Join the Song with under-18s: Find out how you can engage under-18s through singing our new setting of The First Nowell. Learn about the resources available for under-18s and get practical ideas for using them in schools, church or at home. Sign up to join our webinar on Wednesday 27 September.
Lesson 3: Scripture is a wonderful resource if you want to know God’s direction for your life; get good directions, then follow the star; The Church of England is running the following webinars to help you get the most out of this year’s campaign:
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