Infant holy, infant lowly

A bit of a nativity theme today.

First up was the church assembly at St James infant department, led by Andrew and Ania of the London City Mission. Andrew is based at the LCM's Bermondsey Christian Centre (left) in St Anne's parish and Ania is a schools worker, working in  local schools.

They told the nativity story with the aid of a series of beautiful pictures Ania had painted on a roll of wallpaper which she slowly unrolled as she told the story. They held the children spellbound and clearly, from the answers they gave to questions, they had taken it all in.

Later to the church for the infants nativity play. The church looked a picture, candlelit, Christmas tree lights glowing. All the children were in costume and as the nativity story was narrated by a series of very confident narrators, each class sang a carol or Christmas song (with great gusto). There was a good turnout of parents - many taking advantage of St James's ample galleries for a bird's eye view.

At a time of year when the true meaning of Christmas is in danger of getting lost, it was great to see that that is certainly not happening at St James School.

The nativity I think captures everyone's imagination but it is no surprise that it particularly appeals to children - it is about a chilld, after all.

The nativity story is about that most amazing miracle that (in the words of John Betjeman who campaigned for the preservation of St James Church): 'the Maker of the stars and sea became a child on earth for me.'