THIS Christmas, why not join us at church as we celebrate the birth of Christ with joy and wonder.

St Cuthbert's Christmas Tree Festival

Our cathedral carol service

THIS Christmas, why not join us at church as we celebrate the birth of Christ with joy and wonder.

Our churches are hosting plenty of Christmas services where you can join in the traditional carols, hear the Bible stories around Jesus’s birth and see the Nativity story re-enacted.

Come and listen to Bishop Christopher as he preaches in Portsmouth Cathedral from 10.30am on Christmas Day. There is also a Communion service at 8am and Evening Prayer at 4pm.

You can also listen to Portsmouth Cathedral Choir singing as part of the Morning Service on BBC Radio 4 from 9am on Christmas morning. The service was recorded earlier in the month. It features traditional carols including I Saw Three Ships, interspersed with contributions from naval personnel aboard HMS Protector, which is spending its winter in the South Atlantic

And from 10am on Christmas Day, Express FM will broadcast the service of carols held on board HMS Warrior earlier this month.

It's been a busy time at the cathedral, which held three identical carol services and two crib services this week to cope with the demand. Portsmouth Cathedral Choir led the singing at carol services on December 21, 22 and 23, while the youth choir Cantate helped to lead crib services on Christmas Eve.

Our cathedral choir joined with 150 schoolchildren to sing in Newport Minster and sung on board HMS Victory in the Historic Dockyard for the Second Sea Lord’s carol service. They have also been in Belgium for a series of concerts culminating in their contribution to an event marking 100 years since the ‘Christmas truce’ in the First World War. 

Every evening since Armistice Day, apart from during the Second World War, there has been a simple ceremony of remembrance at Menin Gate in Ypres. On December 14, the 20 boys and 12 men of our cathedral choir sang two compositions – Howard Goodall’s Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep, and For The Fallen – as part of the Act of Remembrance.

Closer to home, the 18th annual Brighstone Christmas Tree Festival was held between December 11-14, with more than 130 trees spectacularly decorated in six venues across Brighstone and Mottistone. Although entry is free, any donations are given to local and national charities, and almost £80,000 has been raised in previous years.

Among the highlights of the festival were the lighting of the Isle of Wight Hospice Tree with Jo Blackburn, the chief executive of the Earl Mountbatten Hospice, at St Mary’s Church. There was also carols with Brighstone Primary School and the lighting of the ‘Tree of Life’ by the Isle of Wight High Sheriff Claire Locke at the Methodist Church. 

The ‘Star of Wonder’ concert at St Mary’s raised money for the island charity Love Russia. And there were carol concerts, handbell ringing, refreshments, mulled wine, lacemaking and much more throughout the festival.

The Alverstoke Christmas Tree Festival happened in the same week – from December 12-14. It’s now looked on as a major annual event in Gosport, with 70 individually-decorated 5ft Christmas trees in St Mary’s Church.

Each was decorated by local charities, businesses, public offices and voluntary organisations. And more than 900 musicians performed, giving their time freely throughout the festival.

St Barnabas Church in Swanmore also hosted a Christmas tree festival on the same weekend. Each tree was decorated to reflect a Christmas song, and there was an opportunity to vote for your favourite. On the Saturday there was also a country market from in the Paterson Centre.

There were two concerts on the Friday and Saturday evenings. On December 12, the church welcomed back Ben Smith, the tenor who sings with Only Men Aloud and performed in the church in June. This time he was singing with a string quartet and soprano Julia Hamon. 

Then on December 13, the ever-popular Eastleigh Fusion Choir made its fourth appearance at St Barnabas, singing a mixture of popular, semi-sacred and Christmas music. 

St Peter’s Church, Titchfield, hosted its first ever Christmas Tree Festival and bazaar that weekend too.

The many visitors saw the beautifully-decorated trees, bought original Christmas gifts and heard seasonal music. St Peter's puppets, West Hill Park Choir, Pan's Ablaze orchestra from Titchfield Primary School and the pianist Charles Timberlake all took part. It ended with a traditional Nine Lessons and Carols on December 14.

A massive £3,356,93 was raised throughout the weekend for St Peter’s Church and Friends of the Homeless in Fareham.

And there was also a two-day Christmas tree festival at St Cuthbert’s Church, Copnor, featuring 24 decorated trees, musical entertainment, craft for children and refreshments. Father Christmas also visited both days.

The new Berewood Community Ministry, serving the new housing to the west of Waterlooville, held an outdoor Christingle service on December 8, which included local schools, carol-singing and mulled wine. 

And they launched their first ever Messy Church in the new Berewood Primary School on December 6. Families dressed up as a Nativity character for a photo in the stable, and enjoyed bacon butties and craft.

Worshippers were asked to give generously again to the appeal run by Churches Homeless Action to make Christmas special for someone in need. The scheme enables us to buy £5 vouchers from shops such as Tesco, Argos and Sainsbury’s, place them in Christmas cards and give them to one of 12 agencies dealing with the homeless, vulnerable families and asylum seekers in Portsmouth, Fareham, Gosport and Havant.

Those vouchers are then given to those who might not receive any other Christmas gifts and allows them to buy something special for themselves. The scheme has been running since 2003 and has raised more than £110,000.

Canon Bob White, who chairs Churches Homeless Action, said: “We can’t solve all the world’s problems, but a £5 supermarket voucher with a personal message can make a big difference to someone who is homeless and on their own over Christmas.

“The generosity of local people is amazing – £13,000 was raised last year – and thanks to the help we get from local churches and First Wessex Housing, every penny donated goes direct to homeless people.”

As part of CHA’s awareness raising work, the charity has lauched a new website and worked with the city council’s Ask Sherlock service to provide a new web-based list of services in the city that can help those who are homeless. To discover more,  see www.churcheshomelessaction.org. 

On Christmas Eve, St Francis Church in Leigh Park was full of the magic of Christmas.

From 9.30am to 11am the church hosted a special glitter and glue family fun event, and at 5pm there will be tea and mince pies followed by the Crib Service at 5.30pm. 

The church will be decorated with sparkling, glittering snowflakes made by the children of St Francis youth group The B’Uzz.

"Everyone is welcome at St Francis all year round," said the vicar, Jonathan Jeffery.

"And throughout December we host hundreds of people here. But, even so, lots of people don’t feel comfortable with traditional Sunday services, so we are always looking for new ways to bring what we have into the heart of our Community. 

"Christmas is a very special time and we like to make the most of it!"