Using their growth fund of £500, Fressingfield Parish put on an angel workshop that took place on Saturday November 1. All ages were invited, and craft supplies and refreshments were provided.
There were over 40 in attendance, and the workshop had a lively atmosphere as people each painted an angel to take home, as well as 40 for a crib service to give to the toddlers.
Some people also took some home to distribute among neighbours. Attendees were asked to put them somewhere that could be seen from outside their home on Advent Sunday.
Each child in the local primary school was also given an angel, as a gift from the church.
At a family@church service for Christ the king, everyone was given a white painted angel on string with a piece of card on. During the service people wrote prayers on the angels. People came and hung them on a tree as part of the prayers and we left the tree in the lady chapel over Christmas. An angel prayer tree was also put up in the village hall which people wrote prayers on and hung on the tree, and there was much talk about angels across the village.
The crib service was the first since before covid was a huge success, and the children loved the angels. The people who came to the workshops really enjoyed it, many of which never come to church.
The Carol service was also a full church with many from the village – the angels certainly drew in more people to attend.
Building on from the success of the workshops, Fressingfield are going to try and encourage the people who attend coffee break (once a week service which offers coffee, biscuits and a chat for anyone who is lonely and would benefit from having someone to talk to) to come along to the Easter Garden and potentially create a prayer that they can participate in.
