VILLAGERS will be asked to create their own stained glass windows at one of dozens of special Christmas events happening in churches in south-east Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Artist and St John's worshipper Carol Madgwick with a window design in St John's Church, Rowlands Castle

The Rev Helen O'Sullivan, priest-in-charge of Brighstone, Brook, Mottistone, Shorwell & Chale, has a horse-drawn carriage ride at last year's Brighstone Christmas Tree Festival

Worshippers will welcome thousands of extra visitors and newcomers to events from carol to Christingle services, Christmas tree to crib festivals, festive concerts and children’s Nativities, as we remember Jesus’ birth.

Churchgoers from St John’s, Rowlands Castle, have embraced a new type of festival after holding Christmas tree festivals in previous years. They’ll invite community groups to design stained glass windows inside their church from December 9-16 as part of the ‘St John’s Created Windows Festival’.

Local businesses, churches, St John’s C of E Primary School, and community groups will each be given a perspex frame that fits one of the 16 windows in church and invited to paint them. Those designs will then be back-lit and displayed in church during the week.

Others who visit during the week will be invited to paint part of the ‘window’ which will fit over the church’s large west window. The Nativity-inspired design is by local artist and St John’s worshipper Carol Madgwick. On December 16, the painted window will be placed on top of the original west window and unveiled after a morning service led by the Archdeacon of Portsdown, the Ven Trevor Reader.

Other events throughout the week include a Christingle service at 3pm on December 9, which will mark the official opening of the festival; viewing and painting between 10am-5pm from December 10-15; a Victorian evening at 7.30pm on December 15; and a Taizé-style service to close the festival at 4pm on December 16.

The money raised from this event will be divided between the church and St John’s C of E Primary, which is fundraising for an Outdoor Worship Area. The church is also helping to fund this project, which will include space for pupils to pray, reflect or spend time in quiet in a natural setting.

The villages of Brighstone and Mottistone on the Isle of Wight will host their 16th Christmas Tree Festival this year. More than 100 trees decorated by local organisations will be on display in five different venues over four days from December 6-9.

Hundreds of visitors will pack St Mary’s Church, the Methodist Church, Wilberforce Hall and the Reading Room in Brighstone and Mottistone Church, to view the trees, listen to carols and other musical treats and to enjoy refreshments.

The festival kicks off with the lighting of the Earl Mountbatten Hospice tree at 7pm on December 5, and each venue is open from 10am-5.30pm for the next four days. The High Sheriff of the Isle of Wight will light the tree of celebration in the Methodist Church at 3.30pm on December 6, and Brighstone C of E Primary School will hold their Christmas fayre in the school on the Saturday.

St Mary’s Church will host the ‘Rhymes and Chimes of Christmas’ at 2.30pm on December 9, and at 7pm that evening there will be a ‘Star of Wonder’ concert in the same venue in aid of island charity Love Russia. And on December 16 there will be a concert by the Sandown and Shanklin Military Band in aid of ABF – The Soldier’s Charity, from 7.30pm.

Other highlights include a Traidcraft stall, lace-making demonstrations, horse-drawn carriage rides and craft fairs. The trees will remain in St Mary’s, Brighstone, and the Methodist Church until Boxing Day. For more details, see www.bxtf.co.uk or ring 07429-622865.

Families in Emsworth will have the chance to try 24 different activities on the 24 days leading up to Christmas as part of the ‘Emsworth Adventure Calendar’.

St James Church organises a different event each day to help villagers share the spirit of Christmas – a variety of fun activities, spiritual events and ideas to help raise money for charities or to help the needy. Almost all the events are free of charge.

The list includes learning how to ring handbells, writing Christmas cards to send to the lonely, gathering foodstuffs for the local Foodbank, making gingerbread men, carol-singing in local pubs and a tea party for children’s teddy bears. It’s the third year this has happened.

It’s just one of the ways in which the congregation at St James Church is at the heart of its local community. For details see: www.emsworthadventurecalendar.org.uk.

There will be a ‘Live Nativity’ in Holy Rood Church, Stubbington, between 10am-1pm on December 15. Children will be able to stroke real animals in the stable, and see churchgoers dressed as the characters Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, angels and wise men.

The journey through the Nativity story will take people through the church and garden, and coffee and mince pies will be available in the church, along with Christmas craft for the children. For details, ring 01329-661154.

Worshippers at St Cuthbert’s Church, Copnor have created a sheep trail as part of their Christmas celebrations. Twelve cuddly knitted sheep have been hidden in the local community for families to discover.

Church members have knitted the sheep and placed them in shops along Tangier Road and in the library. And they’ve put together a trail leaflet which lists the names of the places where you can find the sheep between December 1 and 14. Those leaflets are available in St Cuthbert’s Church and Alderman Lacey Library from December 1. All completed entries will be entered into a prize draw.

St Mary’s Church in Alverstoke will host a Christmas Tree Festival from December 7-9. It’s the fourth year it has done so, and this year’s will feature more than 70 five-foot trees decorated by local community groups. More than 500 singers, musicians and bell-ringers will enhance the event with regular musical numbers.

More than 2,500 visitors came last year. It’s open this year from 11am-7pm on the Friday and Sunday, and 11am-6.30pm on the Saturday. Entrance is £3 for adults, £2 for concessions and free to under-16s.

All Saints Church, Catherington, will also hold a Christmas Tree Extravaganza from December 8-9. The church will be open from 10am-6pm on the Saturday and 1pm-5pm on the Sunday so visitors can see decorated trees. For details, contact the All Saints parish office on 023-9259 3139.

St Peter’s, Bishops Waltham, will hold a Crib Festival from December 7-8. Nativity scenes ranging from exotic foreign creations to treasured family possessions will be on display on December 7-8 from 10am-4pm. It begins with mulled wine and mince pies from 5.30pm-8.30pm on December 6.

It happened for the first time last year, when more than 40 cribs were on display. This year an extra invitation has gone to local schools and young people’s groups to exhibit displays of collages. Entrance is free.

And worshippers will once again be asked to remember asylum seekers, the homeless and vulnerable families this Christmas. Churches Homeless Action (CHA) is holding its voucher scheme again, which enables churchgoers and others to buy gift vouchers for those who would otherwise not receive any Christmas presents.

Over the past nine years, £83,000 has been raised in this way and distributed via local groups who work with vulnerable people. Last year the figure was £14,000, the largest ever achieved.  Churchgoers are advised to buy £5 vouchers from Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Argos and send them to All Saints Centre, All Saints Church, Commercial Road, Portsmouth.

They will then be distributed to groups such as Havant Women’s Aid, Portsmouth Churches Housing Association, the Roberts Centre and St Simon’s Church at a carol celebration at St Mary’s Church, Fratton, at 12noon on December 21. These groups will then hand them out to their clients, so they can buy their own Christmas gifts.

CHA chair Canon Bob White, vicar of St Mary’s, Fratton, said: “With the difficult economic situation, more people than ever are homeless or living in temporary accommodation and have no money. We get wonderful feedback about the difference your generosity makes to so many individuals who often receive no other gifts at Christmas. We hope that many of you will continue to support this valuable work.”

For search for your nearest Christmas and carol services, see: www.achristmasnearyou.com