Methodists gear up for great Christmas giveaway

Shops are already stacking their shelves with Christmas cardsand presents, hoping to make a profit from early-bird shoppers. Butthe Methodist Church is encouraging people to give a free gift totheir friends and neighbours this Christmas.

'A Gift of Christmas' is a brand new booklet from the MethodistChurch that celebrates and reflects on the story of Christmas. Itincludes Bible passages, stunning images from the MethodistCollection of Modern Art, prayers and reflections from a variety ofauthors, including John Byrom, Valerie Collinson and GrahamKendrick. It's the latest in a highly successful series thatincludes 'A Gift of Peace', which has already sold nearly 15,000copies.

"The birth of Christ is the greatest gift ever given to humankindand we want to celebrate Christmas by sharing that gift withothers," said Deacon Eunice Attwood, Vice-President of theMethodist Conference and a contributor to the booklet. "A Gift ofChristmas is an inspiring and engaging resource for churches to useto help their communities engage with the spirit of Christmas. Lastyear our Circuit literally gave away thousands of booklets, andwe're really excited by this new publication."

'A Gift of Christmas' is designed for churches and individuals togive away and is also ideal for small-group and personalreflection. It can be purchased from www.methodistpublishing.org.ukat the price of £5 for 50 copies. A free nativity play script,written by Revd Howard Mellor, and a PowerPoint presentation of thebooklet will both soon be available to download for free from here.
The booklet also includes excerpts from new Christmas hymnsfeatured in 'Singing the Faith', the new Methodist hymn collectiondue to be published next summer.