Our theme this Christmas is ‘Follow the Star’. For many years people have used stars to help them find their way. And of course, at this time of year we especially think of those ‘wise men’ in the nativity story who travelled from the East, following a star.

You too can follow the star!

With the help of lots of friends and neighbours, we have hidden 12 stars along a two-mile (ish) circular walk around our community for you to find. Start by downloading a copy of our Follow the Star map. Using the map, search for all 12 stars. Each star contains a letter so when you’ve found them all, you’ll need to unjumble the letters to spell a two-word phrase linked to the nativity story.

When you’ve finished, take a photo of you/your team under the giant star on the tower at St Stephen’s and send it to us at comms@ststephens.org.uk. We’ll choose six finishers at random, announcing the winners at our New Year service at 10.30am on 5th January, who will receive a starry gift.

Also, what about putting up your own star at home.

We’re hoping to create our own ‘starry sky’ throughout our community and to do that we need your help. We’ve made a start by putting up an 8′ x 8′ star on the side of St Stephen’s, as well as a smaller one in the window of St Eanswythe’s on Priory Road. We’d love you to put a star up too…

Please get involved in our starry sky by hanging up your own star at home where others can see it. It doesn’t need to be as large or as grand as ours. You can buy a star or make your own. You can put lights on it or cover it with tinsel. You can hang it outside your house or put it in a window. Just put it somewhere passers by can see it.

Send us a photo of your star.

We’d love to see your star. Take a photo of it and send it to us at comms@ststephens.org.uk.

If you are looking for details of all our Christmas services and events please visit our Christmas page. Or if you’re looking for the Church of England’s ‘Follow the Star’ Christmas campaign, including daily reflections, please visit their website.