We are pleased to share information from over two hundred activities across the United Kingdom that took place in November and December in 2023 which emulates the serving and ministering as Jesus did.
A carol concert was held on 3 December at the Portsmouth Stake Centre, in conjunction with Havant Rotary to provide presents for children in the local area. Over 350 members attended the concert from across the Stake and donated over three hundred presents. The event was attended by the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, Councillor Tom Coles, and Graham Smith, the President of Havant Rotary, was on hand to receive the three hundred gifts. The next day, Church representatives met with Havant Rotary and three food banks (Emsworth, Havant and Waterlooville) who were overwhelmed to receive the gifts to split between them, for local underprivileged children.
Across December, many of our wards and branches hosted carol concerts, piano recitals, blood donations, served as collection points for goods for charities and refugees, as well as ‘welcoming spaces’ on weekday mornings. Weekly warm hubs were open to the public to pop in, stay warm and enjoy social interaction with hot chocolate, toast, and other refreshments. In some units clothes and household items were made available, and one group of refugees received hats, scarves, and gloves. Meeting houses were also used for teaching English as a second language, to host interfaith meetings and welcome fostering support activities.
Many of the Christmas carol concerts were attended by civic and interfaith leaders, many of whom also took part in the services. Some concerts and nativity festivals served as opportunities for the collection of food donations, including one for a charity for vulnerable people in the local city centre. Some congregations invited local school groups to see the array of nativities. One building was used for the town’s orchestra to practise. Stake Choir members from Leicester Stake took the carols out into the community to sing at 14 different residential and care homes throughout the Christmas period.
Some wards invited local bands and choirs to sing with them, and recorder groups to perform. Many units utilised the ‘Light the World’ templates on their invitations and posters for the Christmas activities, and St Albans Stake Primary Presidency invited members to participate in a ‘Special Week of Small Acts of Kindness’, to reach out and bless the lives of others. Subsequently some primary children and their leaders sang carols to elderly and housebound members to share in the Christmas joy. One Primary group in Scotland provided a presentation to a local care home for residents and carers, with the local Nuns also joining in.
Some served in the community as individuals, in one case offering to be ‘Father Christmas’ in a drop-in centre for asylum seekers. Some served as groups, delivering soup or meals for those in need. Other projects included helping a dog rescue centre move premises, landscaping riverbanks, painting schools, putting together toiletry bags for a women’s refuge centre, making handmade angels and other Christmas ornaments, donating food parcels and clothing and toys in Christmas boxes for the homeless and less fortunate children.
Hull Stake collected for a ‘Winter Jacket Appeal’ for ‘Help for Refugees’, to keep the refugees and asylum seekers warm over winter. One ward donated hampers to the charity ‘Changing Lives on Your Doorstep.’ These were given to families in need. Another ward built and packed two hundred ‘Happiness Boxes’ to go to a charity whose focus is to provide nutritious food for children in poverty. Aberdeen Ward participated in cooking and serving meals to one hundred people in the city, working alongside those of other faiths.
In one stake they made sure that 100+ children seeking asylum received a Christmas gift. Sisters were busy crocheting, quilting, sewing, making handmade blankets, papooses for babies, teddy bears and knitted premature baby cocoons, and ‘vegetable’ decorations. Other members participated in sponsored runs for foreign children in need. Sisters made baby blankets and hats and gave nappies and baby clothes to a local maternity clinic. In Edinburgh Stake, over one hundred members teamed up with ‘Save the Children’ and Amazon to help organise the delivery of essentials and comfort packs for 2000 children.
Norwich Stake members also donated beds, mattresses, pillows, appliances, clothing and toys towards Ukrainian families and orphaned children. One stake organised a Christmas Party especially for Ukrainian families and children, and over 50 Ukrainian Mothers attended. Another ward invited those attending the Ukrainian Saturday School to join their ward Christmas party, where over 80 Ukrainians joined in!
Many members and friends assisted with Poppy Appeal collections in town centres, supermarkets, and other public spaces, whilst others provided help to the local Royal British Legion by counting monies. Many ward leaders laid wreaths at local Remembrance Day events. Twenty-two units invited their MP, Mayor, or other civic and interfaith leaders to participate in Christmas and Remembrance Devotionals.
Belfast Stake held a fireside to commemorate Remembrance Sunday with attendees from Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI), local MPs, members of the city council.
A large number of service projects were undertaken by Youth and YSA, many working with local charities. This included providing supplies for the homeless, donations for local food banks, collecting tins and non-perishable items for a local Home Start, gifts for Blackburn’s Women’s refuge, and making up packages of hygiene and other essential items for a local baby bank. Some youth already volunteer on a quarterly basis to serve in a local Refugee Centre to help sort clothing. Chorley Stake invited its young people to record themselves reading newspapers for residents of a local blind home to hear.
There was an increase in use of social media as leaders and members shared messages of events, activities, and inspirational messages to the community. Stake ‘Light the World’ Facebook groups were used to encourage more to share how they were lighting up the world. To help encourage all members to get involved in the ‘Light the World’ initiative this year, Rebecca Ballard (Special Media Specialist in the Belfast NI stake) took on the task of posting 1 item per day on their stake social media featuring a member or missionary serving from the stake and sharing one of their favourite ways to serve.
Many Stake Presidencies and Communication Directors sent Church Christmas Cards to MPs, Lord Mayors, Sheriffs, journalists, and other civic leaders to thank them for their service and to share our faith and hope through Jesus Christ. Other meetings took place with council leaders, Mayors and MPs including Government ministers.
These wonderful and unselfish actions demonstrate that the true spirit of Christmas abides in the hearts of our members. The light of Christ so touches our lives as to cause us to reach out in love toward others, irrespective of faith, race, or circumstances to help our brothers and sisters feel of God’s love through following His son Jesus Christ.
We thank all the Stakes and the Communication Directors and Stake Presidencies and High Council members for their service and contributions to this article.