Christmas Resources
The Christmas season presents itself as an opportunity to evangelise! Share your faith this Christmas so as to help lead others to the person of Jesus Christ. To assist you in this task, CASE is delighted to be able to offer you a wide range of seasonal materials. Please see below.
New Resources For 2007!
All the Advent and Christmas resources offered by the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales can be found on a single web page.
Please see: http://www.catholic-ew.org.uk/advent/index.htm
The Golden Compass
The film, 'The Golden Compass,' went on general release on 7th December 2007, and is based on the bestselling novel for teenagers, 'His Dark Materials,' by Philip Pullman. What issues do the books and film raise for religious belief itself? Some Christians have accused Pullman of blasphemy, but is it blasphemy to attack what one considers a harmful idea of God? More
Materials from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: http://www.usccbpublishing.org/
Christmas Plays From Radio Four
In the week before Christmas, Radio Four will run five afternoon plays about the life of Jesus as seen from five characters out of the Gospel of Luke. This drama production should raise lots of issues for listeners and it would be good for churches to know about the plays for conversations to follow. All details are on the BBC press release:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/advent/witness.shtml
Follow the soap star: a modern BBC nativity
The BBC is to
broadcast a "contemporary" nativity play featuring Mary and Joseph as asylum seekers who are instructed to report to the nearest passport office. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/05/nbbc105.xml
(Image: www. movies.groups.yahoo.com)
Resources 2003 - 6
Church Still Needs Generous Evangelisers
Pope Benedict XVI urges the baptised to make Advent and Christmas a time for evangelisation!
Article from Zenit, December 2006
An Ethical Christmas
Our Catholic faith calls us not to subscribe to the consumerism our culture is beset by, especially at this time of the year. In the book of Hebrews we read, “Put avarice out of your lives, and be content with whatever you have” (Hebrews 13:5), and in the words of Archbishop Oscar Romero, “Aspire not to have more but to be more.” See this inspiring article for ideas as to how you can put these words into practice.
The Nativity
CASE has created a dedicated online resource to accompany the new film release, The Nativity Story. The film was premiered at The Vatican and offers a traditional interpretation of the events which led up to the birth of Christ. Why not invite a non-Catholic friend or a resting Catholic to go and watch it with you?
Press Release - Advent Evangelisation: Invite Someone To The Cinema (Word doc.)
Photograph: © 2006 Jaimie Trueblood/New Line Productions
Liturgy Office: England and Wales
Pause for Thought: How can you share the message of the birth of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, in a way that people can understand?
"Christmas is the deepest penetration that the Church has in contemporary culture. It is our duty to seize the moment and reach out to those who sing carols, who send and receive Christmas cards and who link themselves with the Christian story."
Fr Philip Knights, Faith and Culture Comment, CASE Newsletter, Christmas 2005
The Birth of Jesus - a painting by Elizabeth Wang.
Copyright © Radiant Light 2005
Advent Anticipation 
Background information and practical suggestions to help families celebrate Advent first, then Christmas. Advent is all about anticipation; our celebration of Jesus’s birth will be more fresh and meaningful if we take time to pray through the season of Advent first.
Christmas Flier
An easily adaptable A5 size flier that explains very briefly the meaning of Christmas and has space for you to add the times of services in your parish. This would be ideal to distribute to all the homes in your parish; maybe different parishioners could take responsibility for delivering them to different roads?
Christmas Traditions Uncovered
Simple texts to put up on display in your church or school explaining Christmas signs and symbols.
Sharing The Christmas Story
We can't spread the Gospel if we don't know what it is! Simple ideas on prayerfully sharing the Nativity story with children (includes Gospel texts from Matthew and Luke's accounts).
10 Ways to Share the Christmas Message
Evangelistic web page for fans of Disney's, Narnia (web page)
Created by the Catholic Enquiry Office which is run by CASE.
© DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC. and WALDEN MEDIA, LLC. All rights reserved.
Real Christmas
For so many people, Church is an unfamiliar place that seems to have little relevance to their everyday lives. Real Christmas is a project which aims to make the most of people's desire or readiness to reconsider the tradition of singing carols, and to look beyond a Carol Service and see the person of Jesus.
Click here 
for a sample of readymade resources to help attract people to a Carol Service that's being held across the country @6pm on Sunday 18th December, or see www.realchristmas.org for more information.
Community Outreach (web page)
Kristina Cooper, the Editor of Good News Magazine, shares how she brought the true meaning of Christmas to the inner city housing estate where she lives.
Reaching Out to People Visiting Our Church
Ideas about how we can best welcome people visiting our Church during the Christmas season.
Order your Christmas outreach poster
This is a web link to the Knights of St Columba. They annually produce Christmas posters which are widely distributed through Catholic parishes across England and Wales.
Suggested Christmas Parish Newsletter Inserts
Who lies behind the tinsel? (web page)
A web page for enquirers to introduce and explain the Christmas message. This and much more at: www.life4seekers.co.uk
Created by the Catholic Enquiry Office which is run by CASE.
Christmas Resource Websites are as follows:
Disclaimer: CASE is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The nativity story in lego
This is a fun resource for children and young people.
Explanation of the twelve days of Christmas
Visit to the Silent Night Museum in Salzburg
Try out karaoke carols and discover the origins of Father Christmas (ecumenical site).
Christmas e-card 1
Christmas e-card 2
Christmas web resources portal
NOT TO BE MISSED...Brand new Christmas page on the Catholic Enquiry Office website!
This page gives a simple introduction to the meaning of Christmas and is written for non-Catholic enquirers.
Christmas Stories
More Christmas stories.
Churches Advertising Network (ecumenical)
Christian Publicity and Outreach Limited (ecumenical)
Campaigns for Christmas 2006... posters, radio ads and much more!
The Nativity Play at Wintershall
(pdf link)
December 15th -- 19th 2006, at the Wintershall Estate, near Guildford, Surrey.
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