Our final video of #SouthwarkAdvent follows the children at King’s School in Kew as they decorate large cardboard models of wise men for this year’s Journey to the Manger at Southwark Cathedral.
‘Journey To The Manger’ is an annual gathering in Southwark Cathedral organised by Southwark Cathedral Learning Centre and Southwark Diocesan Board of Education.
Year 2 children (6 and 7 year olds) come to the cathedral from Church of England schools across the diocese to together, as part of the diocesan Church school family, spend this day in Advent exploring the Christmas story. Each class brings with them a life-sized figure of a character from the Christmas story who is used through the day as a visual prompt for thinking reflectively about the part that each of them plays in the story of the first Christmas and an associated value that they bring to the story.
This year, taking part were 175 children from The Kings C of E Primary School, Kew; St. Faith’s Church of England School, Wandsworth; St. John’s Church of England Primary School, Shirley and St. Margaret’s C of E Primary School, Plumstead. At the beginning of the day, the children all gathered together to hear a retelling of the Christmas story as imagined in ‘On Angel Wings’ by Michael Morpurgo. In their classes the children then travelled around the cathedral visiting stations for each character, hearing in detail the character’s part in the Christmas story and making an art and craft gift to remind them of the value that that character brought to the story. As the children went on this journey, they collected their gifts in their pilgrim bag.
The journey and day culminated in all the crib figures coming together to form a nativity scene in the centre of the cathedral with the children gathered around the nativity, taking part in a Collective Worship. As the afternoon began to dim outside, in the candlelit cathedral this was a deeply reflective and spiritual moment, helping everyone to feel, in Advent, the peace and hope of Christmas, as they journeyed to the manger.
The crib figures are staying in the cathedral throughout Christmas for visitors to see and also be encouraged to reflect on the wonder of the incarnation.
