What will you be serving at your festive services this Christmas? I have just taken delivery of a bulk purchase for our church – ten 2 litre vacuum jugs. This is so we can serve Spiced Cranapple, a non-boozy mulled wine, after our carol service and after the Christmas Cracker service on Christmas Eve. With the jugs I’ll be able to mull the spices into the drink at home first and then take the hot beverage over to the church next door. We will also be providing mince pies, of course. And tea and coffee and biscuits too, for those not so keen on the festive delights. For the school carol service this morning I have two large choccie cakes with star sprinkles and some festive iced biscuits made with mixed spice.
What about you. Do you serve alcohol or not? With alcoholism and its attendant evils an ever-present problem in our parish, serving alcohol in church is something we tend to avoid. Do you mass cater with Asda mince pies or ask folk to bring their own, whether homemade or not? Time for a bit of sharing. I’ll close this poll at the weekend – I think we should all have our catering plans fixed by then.
The Vicar's Wife 
Something I have just discovered. Tesco will not let you order more than 10 boxes of mince pies online. Or rather, they will let you order more but will only deliver 10. At least, this is what happened to me, and it is mildly frustrating.
I think I may just pop out to buy some mince pies…
Richard, a Churchwarden over in sunny Solihull
Because the village Carol singers kick off with mince pies and mulled wine the weekend beforehand (all home made of course: the village ladies would die rather than buy a mince pie), we try and do something different after the Carol Service, which will be this weekend.
As it is in the morning, ending at 12 noon, we will have Sherry and my home made Sloe Gin, with apple juice for non-drinkers – who, it must be said in a village where everyone can walk to church, are mostly the kids. (While there may be, behind closed middle-england doors, some individuals who drink too much, it’s not really an issue here and so I have no doubts about serving alcohol.)
To eat, there will be crisps, nuts, savoury stuff – though this year I’ve helped the vicar’s daughter with her school trip fundraising plans and bought a gingerbread house from her so we will also have that, mainly for the kids’ enjoyment.
I confess that the Carol Service refreshments are part of my ‘come to church’ marketing campaign, and an effort to make it a ‘must do’ event as well as an act of worship.