We have held two Christingle services this year. One on Monday 12 December led by 6SS for the Juniors in St Nick's and the other on Wednesday 14 December led by 6BS for the Infants.

Christingle is a celebration of the birth of the Baby Jesus and a celebration of light and love. Christingle services began in Moravia over 250 years ago. The idea is to spread the light of Christmas.

Bishop John De Watteville wanted to find a way to tell children in his village about Jesus, and about God's promises. He took an orange the next time he went to see the children in his village. He showed them how round the orange was and full of goodness. He explained to them that it was like the world that God had made – big and round and full of goodness.

Then he pressed four little sticks into the orange to be the four seasons of the year – spring, summer, autumn and winter – and onto the sticks he pushed some sweets and fruits and nuts. He explained that these lovely things remind us of all the gifts, such as Joy, Peace, Love and Hope that God has given us.

Next, he took a small candle and pushed it into the top of the orange. He told the children that the candle tells us that God sent his son, Jesus, to be the Light of the World – to shine God's special light into all the places and hearts that were dark. Carefully he lit the candle so the children could see that God's light really does make a difference in our dark world.

Finally, John told the children that Jesus loved everyone so much that he died for us on the cross. He said that Jesus' love stretched right round the world to include absolutely everybody. The four little sticks in the orange could also be thought of as representing the four corners of the Earth, North, South, East and West. The minister gently wrapped a red ribbon round the orange to show Jesus' love going round the world.

The minister had made the first Christingle. Today, this service takes place in many churches throughout the world.