FOLLOW MARY’S JOURNEY on BLACKHALL’S NATIVITY TRAIL
🎄🎄 and enjoy our Christmas Tree Festival as well 🎄🎄
THURSDAY 19th DECEMBER 2024 (5.00-7.00pm)
FRIDAY 20th DECEMBER 2024 (4.00- 7.00pm)
SATURDAY 21st DECEMBER 2024 (10.00- 12 noon) (Tree Festival only)
(Crafts and the tearoom will also be available on 21st)
This Christmas something very special is happening at Blackhall St Columba’s. Many members of the congregation are working very hard to produce our second community Nativity Trail and we can’t contain our excitement. We have made some changes from last year and we hope they will make the Trail even better than before. Come along, bring your grandchildren, children and friends and support this event. You won’t want to miss it! Get your diaries out and note down the details.
Our doors will be open wide on 19th, 20th and 21st December (at the above noted times) to welcome everyone, young and not so young, to come into the church at the heart of the Blackhall community and experience for themselves our “Follow the Star: Mary’s Journey Nativity Trail”.
We will be spreading the Good News by hosting this interactive exploration of the Greatest Story Ever Told using the church itself and all its halls and buildings. We want members of our community to join us in finding out the true meaning of Christmas in a novel and exciting way as they hear the Angel Gabriel’s message and go, with Mary, on a journey to Bethlehem. You will follow the star and discover the shepherds, King Herod and some busy innkeepers on the way until you finally reach the stable with Mary and Joseph and discover for yourselves the most wonderful gift we have ever been given.
As if that wasn’t enough, we are also planning to offer a Christmas Nativity Escape Room for the older children who come along. There may even be a more advanced one for the adults! 🔎
In addition, we will be serving Christmas treats along with teas, coffees and juice in the sanctuary and all our little visitors can enjoy making crafts in our craft area before taking home a small gift from their visit to the trail. This year, we also have a wonderful Christmas Tree Festival running at the same time in the sanctuary. Come along and find out its theme and see for yourself the beautiful, inventive and creative decorations. Add to all of that some carol singing and you have a truly special event. There couldn’t be a better way to start your Christmas celebrations!
Ferryhill Primary and Blackhall Primary are coming along earlier on during the days of the event and there is no reason why some older members (unaccompanied by any children) shouldn’t come along in the afternoon or evening and see the fantastic scenery created, enjoy hearing the Christmas story acted out by our cast and generally join in the fun. So don’t let age be a barrier to coming along.
I would like to express my thanks to all those involved with this project whether you have said “yes” when asked to do something specifically, whether you have volunteered your services or whether you have supplied props, materials or monetary donations. Your willingness to help has been a wonderful example of what can be achieved when we all work together. Many of you lent us items last year and we will be in touch soon to see if we can borrow them again. Thank you all in advance.
There are a few more things that we are needing to ensure the experience is the best we can make it. Please have a look at the list below and, if you could donate/ lend any of these, that would be brilliant. Please just let Shona Cook know how you can help by emailing her at shonacook505@gmail.com or by calling her on 07981 970054. If you don’t have any of the things on the list but would like to contribute, a small monetary donation would help us to buy any of the things we can’t source.
Last year, we welcomed about 300 people from the community through our doors in one day. Let’s double that number this year. So come on Blackhall, let’s show them what we can do to spread the Good News this Christmas, “to glorify God…to proclaim Christ…..to serve others”.
WISH LIST-
Several sets of battery operated fairy lights
Large beanbags for sitting on
Old, dark coloured sheets