Hi...And blessings to you all at Churches Together in Plymouth.

Why am I contacting you? Well, last Christmas (2010) something so miraculous happened in Cardiff that we want you to know about it. I have already spoken with Paul Smith at the Plymouth Methodist Central Hall, and he and other city centre church leaders have already shown a real interest.

What happened in Cardiff was this... All the churches of all denominations linked together to bring the Nativity Story into the heart of the city. We were open, every day throughout December - just like Santa's Grotto. We made Christmas - The Story into an "event". People could take twenty minutes out of their shopping to sit quietly and watch a spectacular, live performance of the classic story - told using a mix of adult actors, puppets, professional music, lighting and costumes - then back out into the hustle and bustle of the city.

300 volunteers from Cardiff churches - from the Roman Catholic Cathedral down to the smallest Gospel hall - came together to make it happen. Over 5,000 people came and watched. They were entranced and moved, and told us that their Christmas had been enriched by the experience. Junior schools came on school trips - nearly a thousand children were involved. People of all faiths and backgrounds came - and they all enjoyed themselves. We put on 180 performances

This was the gift of the churches of Cardiff to the people of Cardiff - given freely, without strings. We'll be giving the gift again this December, and on into the future.

Please visit our website, www.the-story.org.uk, to find out more. There are lots of pictures there and a mass of information to enhance what I am telling you here.

So why did we do it?

There are two reasons: The loss of the nativity story from our collective Christmases is catastrophic. A generation is growing up for whom this story is as irrelevant as Yule - 36% of 18-25 year olds do not know where Jesus was born. Fewer than 2% of Christmas cards have a nativity theme. Only 44% of junior age children can link Jesus to Christmas - though this figure is over 70% in Northern Ireland. It is the job of the churches - not the schools or the media - to keep this story at the heart of our celebrations

The second reason is that we were convinced that the idea came from God, and that we are all called to play our parts. And what a joy that was! Co-incidence after co-incidence came to speed us on our way. Here's an example... Our puppets were made by our designer, who, though retired, is as skilled as any puppet-maker in Britain. The arts officer of the Bible Society came to Cardiff to see how we were getting on. He was to report back to his colleagues - but first he had to spend a fortnight in the Far East. We were disheartened. He had been so enthused by the puppets - but would that enthusiasm last till he got back? Half way through his trip he boarded a plane in Hong Kong. Three women came to sit with him. The women were part of a Cardiff Methodist Puppet ministry team. At that stage only about a dozen people on the planet had seen the puppets - and four of them were sitting together, talking, on a plane in Hong Kong. Needless to say, Luke Walton of the Bible Society, did not forget us!

We are hoping that the churches of other towns and cities will want to give the gift of this story, too. We are hoping that you will want to share the delight of working alongside all the other Christians in your neighbourhood, and that you will exprience the deep sense of peace and joy that we all received as our Christmas bonus.

Everything we have done is replicable. Music and sound track, information on recruiting volunteers, organising school trips, rehearsal schedules, health and safety, events insurance, design, costume making, lighting and technical services, set building, stewarding, publicity... We have figured it all out for you. We have even put in place a method of fundraisng which will work anywhere. The Bible Society are backing this venture, and hope to support it wherever it happens.

We do hope that the Christians of Plymouth will catch the vision... It's a big venture, but unbelievably worthwhile.

Bless you for reading all this. Do get in touch if you want to know more - we will be delighted to hear from you.

Sally Humble-Jackson

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