Well, it was a very full Christmas in our own church and the various activities we shared in with the other Tadley churches!

We started the Christmas period with one of the largest Carol services we’ve had at the Community Centre, and it was great to see so many new faces there. It was rather early this year, but was a wonderful evening. We all appreciated the telling of the Christmas story by an all-age cast, and there was a real buzz as we enjoyed refreshments afterwards.

Then there were the Tadley Christmas Angels! 1,400 knitted angels arrived in Tadley, Pamber Heath and Silchester over a couple of weeks and we were all surprised by the positive response to them. This was a great project undertaken by Churches Together Around Tadley, in which we took part. I do have to confess, though, that it didn’t feel quite such a good idea at 5:30 in the morning as I got up to help distribute them around the town.

21st December saw the Churches Together Living Nativity. This was preceded by the Lantern Procession and then a dramatic presentation of the Christmas story by the leaders of the various churches in Churches Together Around Tadley (CTAT). There were live animals, the Tadley Band played carols and Old Meeting United Reformed Church provided superb refreshments afterwards.

Then on Christmas Day we had our annual Christmas Morning Service with carols, thanksgiving and the annual Preaching Challenge. The children are invited to bring along a present and challenge our pastor to preach on it.

Also on Christmas Day a number of our members kept busy running the Christmas Day at the Ambrose Allen Centre. They cooked Christmas Lunch for about seventy people at this CTAT Event. This event provides a great Christmas Day for people who would otherwise be on their own, or for people who would prefer to spend Christmas Day in a larger group.

It was a very full, busy, and joy-filled Christmas!