{"id":3193,"date":"2025-12-23T15:44:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T15:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/?p=3193"},"modified":"2025-12-23T15:56:36","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T15:56:36","slug":"behind-the-nativity-scenes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/2025\/12\/23\/behind-the-nativity-scenes\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Nativity scenes"},"content":{"rendered":"

May the lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting
\nFrom morning prayer in Advent<\/small><\/h3>\n

Working in a church<\/a> as Christmas approaches means doing two jobs at once. <\/p>\n

One task is to continue our walk through the liturgical year. Now is the season of Advent, metered out on Sundays with the lighting of candles on the Advent wreath. Familiar readings and themes tell of preparation, of gathering. Advent does not have the austerity of Lent. Nonetheless, liturgically at least, we are not rejoicing. Not yet. The Church of England liturgical book of the Seasons<\/a> reminds us that <\/p>\n

\"Decorating<\/a>

Decorating the church.
\nvia @stmaryhornseyrise<\/a> on Instagram<\/p><\/div>\n

The characteristic note of Advent is\u2026expectation rather than penitence<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

then dryly understates<\/p>\n

The anticipation of Christmas under commercial pressure has also made it harder to sustain the appropriate sense of alert watchfulness.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We as a staff team at St Mary\u2019s Hornsey Rise<\/a> try to sustain our alert watchfulness daily at Morning Prayer. There, the lectionary draws from the prophets and the readings speak of the yet-to-come. But the reality is, with Morning Prayer completed, we start work in a church building that has been decorated and ready for Christmas for some time. We fuel ourselves with coffee and leftover festive snacks, and switch gears.<\/p>\n

The pressure is not only commercial. It is also practical. We will welcome many guests during the coming weeks. They will have expectations.<\/p>\n

Who is this King of glory?
\nFrom Psalm 24<\/small><\/h3>\n

After Morning Prayer, our other task begins. The day gives way to school visits requiring us to retell the Nativity story. We host dozens of local school children and get everyone involved. We use coloured pens, Duplo bricks and a giant star made of tinfoil. <\/p>\n

\"Decorating

Decorating angels heralding a message of peace.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Building

Building the Nativity scene out of Duplo.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Follow<\/a>

Follow the star.
\nvia @stmaryhornseyrise<\/a> on Instagram<\/p><\/div>\n

We hotfoot it up the hill to the local primary school to host our stand at their Christmas fair, distributing hot chocolate and flyers about our family church events.<\/p>\n

\"Hot

Hot chocolate outreach with colleagues.<\/p><\/div>\n

By the middle of the month we are preoccupied. We assemble Santa\u2019s Grotto in the church hall and come together to write the script for the Christmas Eve Nativity. <\/p>\n

\"Santa<\/a>

Santa in his grotto at the Christmas fair.
\nvia @stmaryhornseyrise<\/a> on Instagram.<\/p><\/div>\n

Our morning prayers become petitions for energy for ourselves as church workers. By this point we are flagging with the demands of the season. <\/p>\n

We are unprepared for the coming of your Son<\/h3>\n

I have noticed a pattern. I am always a wreck at this time of year. I find Advent disconcerting. The cause, I think, is this splitting – between alert watchfulness<\/em> and the already-here<\/em>; a season of preparation in which I am required to be already prepared. <\/p>\n

The Right Reverend Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, Bishop of Chelmsford, speaks of the liminality of Advent<\/a> in The Times. She writes <\/p>\n

Advent is a call to rejoice in the space of overlapping truths and realities, as we hold both the darkness of the world before Christ and the joyous light of His coming and salvation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I find it hard to hold onto any space at all with a schedule this packed.<\/p>\n

\"Fitting<\/a>

Fitting in some bellringing<\/a> during Advent.<\/p><\/div>\n

In early December we turn the church into a cinema and screen The Muppet Christmas Carol<\/a><\/em>, serving hotdogs and popcorn. <\/p>\n

A week before Christmas it unexpectedly fell to me to help prepare Christmas lunch for forty people. The Vicar left instructions, and departed to lead a funeral, with the rest of the staff team in tow. The deceased was a member of the church community whom I had never met; he was held before God. That day the overlapping truths and realities came sharply into focus. During the celebratory all-staff, all-volunteers, all-who-wants-one Christmas feast, we raised a toast to the deceased. Thanks to God for and from everyone. And presents for all. <\/p>\n

\"Christmas<\/a>

Christmas presents for all.
\nvia @stmaryhornseyrise<\/a> on Instagram.<\/p><\/div>\n

Discernment process update<\/h3>\n

During the summer<\/a>, I completed multiple rounds of paperwork and meetings. I seem to have gotten through those stages just fine as in autumn I was assigned to a group with other candidates in the same situation. This group, led by two clergy, involved discussing different aspects of our experiences, faith and calling. The group sessions had two purposes: for candidates to become more comfortable talking about these topics, and to make sure we know what it is we are in for. <\/p>\n

My astonishing takeaway from the group sessions is that despite my experience of calling having been sudden and my having been following Jesus for only a few years, in a group of other candidates I do not stand out as naive nor inexperienced. An immersive approach has paid off: working and worshipping in a number of churches since 2023 has given me a range of experiences to draw upon. <\/p>\n

The group stage is complete. In the New Year I will be matched with a clergy person for some 1:1 meetings and ongoing discernment. In due course I will prepare for the first of two rounds of assessments. <\/p>\n

See you next year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May the lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting From morning prayer in Advent Working in a church as Christmas approaches means doing two jobs at once. One task is to continue our walk through the liturgical year. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[191,152],"tags":[170,197,156,157,198,9],"class_list":["post-3193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogging-by-candlelight","category-faith","tag-bellringing","tag-christmas","tag-discernment","tag-faith","tag-jesus","tag-musings-on-life-and-death"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3193"}],"version-history":[{"count":51,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3244,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3193\/revisions\/3244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}