It's not about the numbers... it's never about the numbers... I will do it if only one person comes, if no-one comes... but this year, despite ourselves, we got the numbers...

In a year when we broke through the 'need fifty glasses for communion' ceiling, a year when, having closed our no longer viable Sunday School, we suddenly have around a dozen children attending fairly regularly, the numbers have continued to astound and bless us.

For the first year in recent memory, our nativity tableau (Pop-up, Messy Nativity) had as many, if not more, children as/than adults.

Our Community Carol Festival soared close to treble figures, at least half of whom were not part of our - and possibly any - church.

Lessons and Carols saw a small numbers of visitors, whilst Carosl by Candlelight attracted many.

I only have numbers for Christmas Eve, 32 (around 16 being visitors or occasional attenders), and Christmas Day, 34 (of whom around 12 visitors or occasional attenders), both of which were incredible (perhaps literally as well as figuratively) not least as only around six of us attended both services. For a church with a covenanted membership in the twenties, that's pretty amazing.

So, no, the numbers don't matter, and I would still do it all even if no-one showed up, but I think that for this small church,  Christmas 2025 is one to be justifiably proud of, as we have welcomed dozens of people into our midst to share in the fun, festivity and faith of Christmas.