Three churches in Colchester have taken on a divine challenge this advent, crafting over one hundred and fifty angels as invites to their Christmas services.

Members of the Well methodist Church, Ark Methodist Church and Castle Methodist Church in Colchester created the knitted and origami angels in a bid to reach out to their community.

Minister Chris Preece told Premier Christian News there is Biblical significance to the fuzzy creations: “Angels are God's messengers, so we thought ‘Let's do something with that, and create some angels’.

“Two of us both knitted an angel to get everything going. And everyone sort of grabbed hold of it.”

She said that the project spread across the three churches, each of which she is minister to.

“We've had knitted angels. We had an Ark angels coffee morning where we made paper folding and cut-out angels. At Castle, someone's just bought a 3D printer, so they've done some 3d printing of some angels. We've had knitting going on across all of the different churches. We've gone angel-mad!”

Preece said it’s been an opportunity for the church to share their creativity, and different skillsets. “What's so lovely is that there are those in the churches who can knit and craft and do different things, but they may not be the people who were then sending the angels out.

“We're encouraging everyone to take an angel, but we're sending them out with invitations to the Carol service, and different Christmas events, so that people can have that opportunity to come and hear the real message of Christmas.”

Preece told Premier that she hopes other churches will feel inspired to reach out to new people, who may have never heard the Gospel.

“Christmas is a time when it easier to invite people into church than other times. Let’s be bold, let’s be brave. Let’s get out the invitation. Then, it is for God, through the Holy Spirit, to work in the hearts of people.”