Comfort and Joy is the Church of England's Christmas campaign for 2020.
The campaign aims to hold together the hope that Christmas will bring joy and celebration after a uniquely difficult year with an acknowledgement that – for those who have lost loved ones or livelihoods, or who are potentially still not able to be together with loved ones – it may be the Church’s role, both nationally and locally, to provide consolation, rather than assume everyone will be ready to join in jubilation. 
As Christmas approaches, we wanted to give you a taste of some of the different ways parishes around the Diocese of Chester are sharing comfort and joy with others. From joyful videos and songs, Nigerian carols, prayer and chocolates, and Christ-centred outreach, parishes across the diocese are finding creative ways to share the Christian faith and Christmas message.
Higher Bebington, Birkenhead
Holy Trinity, Blacon
St Oswald and St Thomas of Canterbury, Chester
Birkenhead Priory, Birkenhead
Oxton, Prenton
Over St Chad, Winsford
St Mary Magdalene, Ashton-upon-Mersey
Crewe Churches, Crewe
St Hildeburgh's, Hoylake
St Mary's, Lymm
St John's, Sandiway
Wirral North Deanery
Higher Bebington, Birkenhead
The Revd Mike Loach, with the help of his son, has been out and about to local schools and businesses to record some Christmas messages. The video he has produced has been shared on social media and is bringing some cheer to the community of Higher Bebington.
Holy Trinity, Blacon
Holy Trinity, Blacon have prepared Christmas dinners for delivery to local parishioners. They have been doing great work throughout 2020 to deliver meals to vulnerable people who might not have been able to get out to buy food safely. But, more than that, Holy Trinity delivers a face, a smile, and a chat, essential ingredients for sustaining life in us all. View on their Facebook page.
St Oswald and St Thomas of Canterbury, Chester
Led by church organist and local community champion, Matt Baker, the church, community, neighbourhoods, care homes, choirs, and the Vicar, Fr Steve Sheridan, have recorded a unique version of the 12 days of Christmas. The whole production was COVID secure, with people remaining in their bubbles throughout!
Birkenhead Priory, Birkenhead
The parish of Birkenhead Priory has gone above and beyond with their Christingle service this year. It was attended by pupils from a local school. View the photos on their Facebook page - as one commentator said: "Best Christingle ever!"
Oxton, Prenton
How to hold a Christingle Service during a public health emergency? This Christmas, one Wirral parish has found a Christingle-workaround which has lit up the imaginations of hundreds of children! St Saviour's Church in Oxton teamed up with the parish's CoE Aided School and the Brownie Pack for a project which offered families Christingle-making packs and a video showing how to turn the ingredients into the fully-formed product. In the end, 250 children received their own Christingle-making pack - a fourfold increase on the number who attend the church's Christingle service in regular years. To see the service, and the Brownies' "How-To" video, visit the parish website.
Over St Chad, Winsford
In the parish of Over St Chad there are sheep and other animals in the church grounds. St Chad's has made quite a feature of their nativity scene this year and is inviting people to come to the churchyard dressed up a shepherd, kings, or angels and post photos to their Facebook page.
St Mary Magdalene, Ashton-upon-Mersey
Troubled waters in Ashton-upon-Mersey, or more accurately, for parishioner Peter McIlhagger. Speaking from his car on a delayed journey to Ireland, Peter shared a video reflecting on the delayed travel arrangements. The thing that comes through in Peter's video is the sense of connection with the congregation and parish team, even when miles apart. This video, despite its poor lighting and grainy footage, communicates brilliantly the super glue that is God and prayer binding us together even though we might be apart this Christmas. View the video on Facebook.
Parishioner Peter McIlhagger
Crewe Churches, Crewe
Incumbent the Revd Dr Oliver Igwe arrived in the UK from Nigeria earlier this year with his wife and three children. He has planned a series of virtual services this Christmas, including a carol service on 20 December and he and his family recorded a Nigerian carol especially for it. You can also listen to Oliver reflect on prayer life in Crewe during the pandemic in an episode of the Chester Box podcast, hosted by Archdeacon Mike Gilbertson and with guests Emily Allen and contributors from two other parishes. Listen to this episode here. Other episodes on the pandemic, everyday faith, and more are available via your favourite podcast player. Just search Chester Box and hit subscribe.
St Hildeburgh's, Hoylake
St Hildeburgh's has received a major boost to their outreach work among the most vulnerable in the Hoylake district. This has been generously provided by Sarah, Duchess of York, and her new charity "Sarah’s Trust". They have received more than than 100 individual bags of children's goodies from the trust, which will be passed to youngsters in need. The Revd Paul Rossiter, St Hildeburgh's vicar, commented: "This is wonderful. Thanks to the enormous generosity of Duchess Sarah and her trust, we can bring Christmas joy into the hearts of some of the most deprived yet deserving in our community. For some locally, these items could be the only gifts they receive this Christmas. Thank you!"
The Revd Paul Rossiter (left) and the Duchess's assistant who drove up with the items
St Mary's, Lymm
At this time of year, the Revd Bev Jameson can usually be found upon a flat-bed-truck in Lymm, leading the carol singing and dancing along with 5000 residents. However, this year, she's teamed up with Lymm Radio which is broadcasting the carols for people to join in with at home. She says: "I will be giving a short reflection as part of the carols and joining in the singing at home, of course."
The Revd Bev Jameson
St John's, Sandiway
In Sandiway, members of the church at St John the Evangelist gave away Prayer Bags to local residents as a way of encouraging prayer. With ‘light’ as the theme, each bag contained various ideas and items to help local people to pray, as well as information about how prayer can help us to, ‘Receive the Light’, ‘Reflect the Light’ and ‘Share the Light’. In all, 180 bags were distributed to local residents who welcomed them with joy and enthusiasm, resulting in many messages of appreciation.
Wirral North Deanery
Wirral North Deanery managed to record a number of different people from around the deanery singing the carol, Joy To the World. With the wonders of modern technology, the voices of all of the individuals were melded together to create the full-bodied sound of a choir at Christmas!