Trinity At Four Brings Back Magical ‘Follow The Star’ Trail
Trinity at Four brought some magic to Holy Trinity Church last week with the return of the ‘Follow The Star’ Nativity trail. The event, which took place from Wednesday to Saturday, was a fresh and interactive way for families to experience the Nativity story.
The event first took place last year, and was such as success that the team at Trinity at Four decided to bring it back again. Families who took part were taken on a journey through the Nativity story, meeting characters along the way in their quest to follow the star. This year, attendees on Saturday 11th were lucky enough to meet donkeys as well!
The trail began at a bazaar stall in the churchyard, where families were greeted by a Wiseman and given a trinket box to carry on their journey to Bethlehem. The groups were guided on their journey by the Wiseman, encountering an angry King Herod and a friendly shepherd as they went.
The real magic began inside the church, where an angel welcomed the travellers and told of the Saviour’s birth. The church then rang with song as a heavenly chorus of angels was projected onto a screen. Families made their way across to Bethlehem — a village of tiny paper houses all lit up with electric candles. The houses, created by children from local schools, twinkled with light, and drew gasps of wonder from all who saw them.
At last, the travellers made it to the star, where an innkeeper took them to see Mary and baby Jesus in the stable outside. After taking time to speak with Mary and deliver their box full of gifts (gold, frankincense and myrrh), children were given a goodie bag and an activity sheet to take home.
Peter Greenman, Children’s Minister at Trinity at Four (and a very convincing King Herod), said, “It was lovely to be able to run Follow the Star again this year and to see 85 families enjoy and experience the nativity story in a different way. It was great to see children and adults alike engaging with the different characters and hearing the message of Jesus’ coming into the world that first Christmas. The ‘wow’ when people first saw the twinkling lights of the Bethlehem paper houses made by local school children was always a highlight of the tour!”
Sam Brewster, Minister at Trinity at Four, said, “We were really pleased with the event. In particular, it was humbling to see so many people from our church family freely volunteering at a busy time of year to set it all up, welcome people, and act the various parts. It’s a wonderful expression of people coming together to share the most significant message of good news there is for our world today.”
