One of the highlights of Christmas for me this year was the Trinity carol service at the Racecourse.  As usual it was a vibrant, moving and lively occasion, but I think that the thing that struck me the most was the fact that the seats were full, including those in the balcony all the way round.  Now, being on the 23rd December, one might expect that a lot of people would be away or with family so I have to admit that I was not expecting to see the venue so full.  Indeed, a Facebook group was set up for the event, inviting members of the church to attend and actually very few committed to being there.

I hope this means that there was space for a lot of visitors, as it was a fantastic service.  It was just very heartwarming to see so many people wanting to reconnect with the true meaning of Christmas.  It wasn’t the only service happening in the town either, meaning that there must have been an awful lot of people at carol services in Cheltenham that night.  Fantastic.  It was so refreshing after seeing the chaotic madness that was Cheltenham town centre in the weeks running up to Christmas, as though people took one night to forget about retail and consumerism and focus on God and His gift of Jesus.