A CHURCHWARDEN WRITES ….. 

 Lighting up for Christmas at St Mary's Church, Hitchin's 'other' Trees and Oranges with candles. 

St Mary's is preparing for the busiest few weeks of the year as the traditional countdown to Christmas begins with Advent this Sunday. 

Seasonal preparations are under way, as the Advent crown takes shape and a large and very heavy conifer was delivered to the Churchyard. Hitchin's second largest tree (apart from the one in the Square) will need a group of 'strongmen' from the choir to fix in place on Sunday evening, after the Advent Carol service.  

Throughout the week the tree will be decorated by Margaret, head of our flower arranging team, with thousands of lights and shiny baubles. Her amazing hard work creates a wonderful display, with the finishing touches of flowers and lights around the building added in time for Christmas Eve by our volunteers. If you are in town do not miss visiting the Church over the next few weeks when you will have a chance to see how the beautiful interior of St Mary's looks even more stunning at this time.  

But this is not the only exciting development of the week, as for the first time in 60 years we are able to improve the lighting in the Church. After 1,200 years managing with candles, which dripped wax on the worshipers from on high, gaslights were introduced in the 19th Century. You can still see a black cast iron post at the back of the church where one was fitted. The existing electric powered candelabra dating from the 1960s have served the Church well, but things have moved on and this week local specialists Oliver Russell Electrical and Optime lighting, working with our Fabric volunteers have started upgrading our installation.  

They have installed two bespoke chandeliers to increase the lighting in the central nave area. This project has involved site visits to ensure that the electrical wiring could be renewed and adjusted to suit the new requirements. They tested to check the smart lighting capabilities could be replicated on site, giving the church much more freedom and flexibility with the dimming and sequence functions of the newly installed lights. This will help not only for our services, but for orchestras and performers hiring the building. If you see the new Hitchin Winter Festival programme (Hitchinfestival.co.uk) you will appreciate how much the Church is used! (link to Festival programme Nub article?) 

When the first candle on our beautiful crown of holly and ivy is lit, the season of Advent begins. On following Sundays as each of the others lights up in turn, we look forward to the final central candle flame being lit at midnight on Christmas Eve. Christmas can then begin in earnest, and celebrations continue for twelve days until Epiphany when we mark the arrival of the Wise Men and their gifts at the stable in Bethlehem.  

School Carol services, our Advent Carol service, the Choir lunchtime concert and a host of other concerts and events will take place until the highlight of the Christmas Eve and Christmas day services is reached. Around 3,000 people on average attend these special services around Christmas time, with many thousands more visiting the Church over the weeks leading up to them. (Link to our what's on poster)  

Oranges galore from Webb's Grocer shop in the Churchyard will be given out at our family Christingle Service this Sunday at 10am, and we will be showing our support for the Children's Society. The orange represents the world. The red ribbon (or tape) symbolises the love and blood of Christ. The sweets and dried fruit represent all of God's creations. The lit candle represents Jesus's light in the world, bringing hope to people living in darkness. Afterwards a donations will be taken: 

Please consider giving generously to the Children's Society:  

On Sunday evening our candlelit Advent Carol Service takes place at 630pm, join us if you can for this wonderful spiritual and musical service with historic carols and anthems sung by the choir.  

Further updated details of our services, opening times and events are found on our public Facebook page @StMarysChurchHitchin   . 

Further information is found on our website: 

You can follow us on the following platforms: 

www.facebook.com/StMarysChurchHitchin 

Instagram stmaryschurch_hitchin 

heartofhitchin.com