How To Find Your Nearest Carol Service This Christmas

You can decide where to go for your local carol service based on what facilities and bonuses such as mince pies are on offer. Reuters

Your nearest carol service will be just a click away when the CofE launches its latest campaign to bring people to church.

AChristmasNearYou.org will go live next month and provide details of December services across the UK under the mantra "a perfect Christmas includes a Church Christmas".

Brits will be able to pick and choose between their local churches based on whether they offer mince pies and mulled wine with their carols. Other criteria such as parking, wheelchair access and the availability of sign language will allow people to find a service that's right for them.

Parishes are being encouraged to register their services, mince pie-offering and other bonus features with the CofE's new website in an effort to attract more people to church.

The scheme comes after the latest Church statistics showed a boom in church attendance at festivals like Christmas while regular Sunday congregations have slumped to an all time low.

Official figures from the CofE showed an almost 10 per cent decline in weekly attendance over the past five years. But last year Christmas services jumped by almost five per cent compared to 2011.

The Church will launch its latest website with a social media campaign under #JoyToTheWorld. There will be four videos starring Gogglebox vicar Kate Bottley, comedian Paul Kerensa, Matt Woodcock and chaplain to the speaker of the House of Commons Rose Hudson Wilkin – each talking about a moment of Christmas Joy in their lives.

Rev Arun Arora, director of communications for the Archbishops' Council, said: "We think a perfect Christmas includes a Church Christmas. No matter how good the dinner or how expensive the present, a deeper joy is to be found in Church at Christmas.

"Whether it's midnight mass, a nativity play, a carol service of the joy of welcoming the Christ child on Christmas day, the best kind of Christmas involves a visit to Church.

"Using digital to publicise the range of services we offer complements the usual parish work of placing leaflets through people's doors, using social media and digital tools to encourage people to look up their local services online or mobile."

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