Living Brook Benefice (Piddington, Hardingstone and Quinton)

Tweeting Christmas  The midnight mass congregation on Christmas night at St John the Baptist, Piddington with Horton, looked delighted when I invited them to get their smartphones out and tweet the sermon #christmasstartswithchrist. Especially the group in their early twenties who had come straight from the pub and weren't used to going to church. Their pleasure was expressed vocally, and why not? Joining in with the Sermon tweeting project for Christmas challenged me to think hard about what the message was this year. Taking Hebrews 1:1-4 and John 1:1-14 as preaching texts, this was the word that was tweeted by various good people in Piddington church this year. Rev'd Beverley Hollins I f you were unable to get to the midnight mass service, or would like to read it, you can see the sermon in full by following this link http://refillingthejug.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/tweeting-christmas.html

A sure sign that Advent is upon us, heralding the start of Christmas for all of us in this Parish is the annual Horton Christmas Tree Festival. This year's event (on the 1st and 2nd December), saw Piddington Church packed with trees decorated by members of the local community based on the theme of 'films'. The breadth of creativity and interpretation of the theme on display always amazes and is testament to many hours of preparation. The church looked fantastic and a big thank you is extended to everyone involved in putting on the event . The festival finished on a high note with a Christmas celebration of carols and verses , which would have left even Ebenezer Scrooge eagerly anticipating the Christmas!