Brighton Elim is readying some giant Christmas trees, Santa and a gaggle of superheroes for one of its most popular community events. Pastor Christy Smith tell us about this year’s Winter Wonderland Christmas fair.
Where can you find Santa, baby Jesus, Spider-Man and a Hornby train enthusiast? At Brighton Elim’s Winter Wonderland Christmas fair!
The annual event has been attracting a crowd each December for the past few years, with local families loving its unique modern and traditional festive mix.
Christy Smith, who has pastored the church since 2010, says the fair came about as the country emerged from the first Covid lockdown.
“My wife Linda came up with the idea to put something on, so a couple of ladies in our church, Tina and Mel, transformed our minor hall with tinsel and Christmas trees for our first one and we had more than 100 people come along.”
The popularity of the event was a surprise. “Initially we thought it was just because of lockdown and because there was nothing else on,” says Christy.
“But then we realised people are looking for somewhere to bring their kids to get into the Christmas spirit. They can’t believe it’s free.”
With this in mind, the church decided to make Winter Wonderland an annual event and the fair has grown and grown. Last year they went all out, with all hands on deck to create an imaginative line-up.
“Our hall is only 60 by 30 feet but we transform it. It’s not just a couple of balloons and strings – the team spend days preparing!
“We have a guy in our church, Phil Mills, who is a Hornby train enthusiast and he built a village around his train sets. We had 15 to 20 Christmas trees inside and cakes and a quiz. We had Spider-Man, a big nativity scene and a really good Santa. Eve- ryone got a free J.John Christmas book too.”
Community connection
Winter Wonderland is popular as a standalone event, but Christy explains it is also one in a series that help the church connect with its community.
“It’s a filter for our Christmas services. Everyone at the fair gets invited to our carol service. We don’t just give out printed invites, but take the chance to wander round and talk to everyone in the hall and tell them they’ll be welcome at our carol service.
“Last year at our nativity service we had six families come who we only had contact with through Winter Wonderland.
“It’s interesting because I don’t think many schools in the south-east talk about or put on a nativity.
“For these parents and grandparents who remember nativities from their own childhoods it was a big reason why they came.”
Other events take place in the months leading up to Christmas too.
“A couple of years ago we started a Light Party as an alternative to Halloween, and we get 40 or 50 kids along to that.
“Then one of our most successful events is our fireworks display, which we do every year.
“That’s a mainstay for us. One year we had 500 people come, though it’s usually between 180 and 250.
“So we have these three events in October, November and December and the whole idea is to encourage people into our Christmas programme.
“At each event people get an invite to the next. We have people who come to all of them every year even though they don’t come to church.”
Sowing and reaping
Christy describes each event as a low-key opportunity for “pre-evangelism”.
“They’re a chance to meet people, to let them know we’re here and to invite them to something else.
“We started doing more events like these over the years, including ad hoc ones for things like the coronation and the Olympics too.
“Sometimes it feels like hard work, but for some people it’s our only chance to bring even the smallest witness to the gospel.
“It’s worth it because what you sow you reap, even if you don’t reap immediately from one event.”
In some cases, though, the seeds sown at particular events can be seen to be growing soon after. Some families have connected with the church as a result of them, says Christy.
“A few primary school children who first encountered us at the fireworks or Winter Wonderland have joined our Monday night kids’ club.
“We get between 25 and 45 kids there each week and the majority of them don’t come to church.”
Bigger and better
This year’s theme – to take full advantage of the Hornby train set – was the Polar Express.
Santa and Spider-Man were back, along with Frozen’s Eliza and three wise men, to make the line-up even bigger and better.
“So many people come to our Christmas events – they’re very popular round here. We’ve done different things over the years, like chestnut roasting and a live nativity. This year will be no different – we always try to do something new.
“For me, the best part of the fair is seeing so many people who aren’t from church enjoying activities which are entertaining but also biblically based. And I love the trains, of course!
“Events like this keep us going – I don’t believe we can expect the church to grow if we’re not doing anything in the community.”
