orth Shields Winter Wonderland The fine John Dobson church of St Columba's North Shields was transformed into a winter wonderland for a seasonal flower festival held over the second weekend of December.
The building was decorated with four large and a dozen small displays of flowers to coincide with North Shields' annual Victorian Christmas Market, taking place in Northumberland Square outside. The displays included white roses, carnations, chrysanthemums, gypsophila, and variegated holly, along with five large white 'snowballs'.
The doors were opened to visitors, who were able to enjoy soup, scones and tea in the church hall, and visit fair trade and handicrafts stalls, in addition to viewing the flowers.
On the Sunday morning, the service took on a Victorian theme. Christmas carols were sung from the Victorian era, and the service featured a costumed Victorian Christmas sketch, based on Charles Dickens' novel "A Christmas Carol". In her sermon, Revd Liz Blair reflected on what she called a "cultural disease" in modern society, whereby people feel compelled to chase after money and success without finding contentment. She challenged the congregation not to ignore the poor and vulnerable, but to rebuild friendships and work for a fairer world. Scrooge had been trapped in a prison of his own making, bound up by the consequences of his past actions and experiences, but God can release us from our fears and help us to make a fresh start, she said.
Worshippers were invited to come back next week to see the Nativity story re-enacted.
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