ANGELA YOUNGMAN reports on the work of three Methodist churches in the UK city of Colchester to draw attention to the message of God’s love at Christmas…
Norwich, UK
Angels have been proliferating fast in the city of Colchester, Essex, in the east of England.
A trio of Methodist churches are using hundreds of hand crafted angels to attract attention to the Christmas message and invite people to attend carol services.
Rev Chris Preece (left) and Rachel van Steveren with some of the hand-made angels. PICTURE: John Jones.
The idea surfaced in early autumn when Rev Chris Preece, Superintendent Minister at the three churches known as The Ark (Highwoods Methodist Church), The Well and Castle Methodist Church, was considering ways of inviting people to carol services.
“The idea of knitting and crafting angels in various ways came about through a conversation between myself and a colleague, Rachel van Staveren, on the way back from a meeting,” said Preece. “We were thinking of a simple way of being able to share God’s love with others at Christmas. We chose angels because they are messengers of God, and are in the Christmas story.”
“The idea of knitting and crafting angels in various ways came about through a conversation between myself and a colleague, Rachel van Staveren, on the way back from a meeting. We were thinking of a simple way of being able to share God’s love with others at Christmas. We chose angels because they are messengers of God, and are in the Christmas story.”
– Rev Chris Preece
“We both got excited by this and each knitted an angel ahead of the church service the following day. We spoke to the congregation at The Ark and the idea got started. The congregations at The Well and Castle also got hold of the idea and the heavenly host began to develop. I’m the minister at all three churches and once it was mentioned, it took a life of its own and people really got behind it.”
Angel numbers began to multiply rapidly. Between September and December, people attending the three churches have made more than 250 angels of all kinds. There have been Ark Angel coffee mornings enabling angel creators to meet up and have a chat. The range of angels has reflected the varying skills and interests of people within the congregations.
“There have been knitted, paper folded, paper cut out and even 3D printed angels. It has been a lovely way of bringing people together and to recognise that everyone has their own skills and gifts,” commented Preece.
Rachel van Staveren said she had making the angels.
“I’ve really enjoyed making angels over the last couple of months, as have all of the knitters, stitchers, folders and cutters. I think we’ve all been thinking about the people who will receive them; we’ve included them in our prayers and we know that the Holy Spirit will travel with our angels. We just want people to know that our church is their church.”
The Ark, The Well and Castle Methodist churches have placed prayer trees beside the altars and people can take an angel from them to give to others. All the angels are being given away as invitations to carol services. People can put the angels on their trees as a lasting memento.
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“There are people making angels who may not be the people who are giving them out. The angels are being given to friends, neighbours and people within the community. It has become a whole community thing, and we have all gone sort of angel mad!” said Preece.
The response has been tremendous. Quite apart from the number of people going into the churches to see the knitted angels, or are being given angels as invitations, the story of the angelic host has attracted considerable media attention. Stories have been appearing in the local media, encouraging people to take part.
“The angels are popular,” Preece said. “They are being used as a way of inviting people to come to the carol service and other Christmas events at the churches. They are helping to bring people together and to share God’s love in the local community with the meaning of Christmas as part of it. This is the first year we have done this, but we hope we can do something similar next year because it has been a really nice way to bring everyone together.”
