Ministry Matters

We have received word of a competition to write a new Christmas carol. Full information from Ecclesiastical is found below.

As you may know, Ecclesiastical run an annual Church Competition and this year is no different.  As part of our long-standing commitment to the Church, we’re once again requesting entries for our 2009 competition – The Christmas Factor.

What are we doing?

A survey we recently commissioned revealed that doorstep carol singing has declined significantly in recent years. Of those questioned, only 2% said they will be singing carols door-to-door this Christmas. In addition, almost three-quarters of Britons (73%) said that carollers are less welcome on the doorstep today than they were in the past. The survey also reveals that 19% of Britons said they won’t answer the door if carol singers knock and 3% said they would ask carol singers to leave.

At Ecclesiastical, we want to ensure that the tradition of carols and carolling remains vibrant and relevant to our lives today. This in turn may help increase participation levels and community involvement.  We believe that carol singing helps spread the Christian word and also encourages a sense of community, not to mention putting a smile on many peoples’ faces.

That’s why we’ve teamed up with the ChurchAds.Net and their “Christmas starts with Christ” campaign to bring you the ‘The Christmas Factor’ competition – challenging you to come up with your very own Christmas carol.

What do you need to do?

All you need to do is compose the lyrics and melody of a new carol, no longer than three verses in total, based around the theme of the Nativity. All entries will be individually judged by a panel and the winner will win the following fantastic prizes:

• £1,000 prize money for your church or local church group
• A professionally produced version of the carol
• A performance of your carol on your own doorstep
• Promotion and downloadable version of the carol from ChurchAds.Net

Plus, we’ll aim to get your name in lights with a little publicity for you and your church.

We see the competition as a fantastic way to raise the Church’s message, support the valuable work already taking place in the community and reinforce the core spiritual values of Christmas.

So if you agree with us that carolling should remain a vital part of the Christmas celebration, get inspired…and get composing.

How to enter

Please visit www.ecclesiastical.com/christmasfactor for full details of how to enter and to view full Terms & Conditions.  The closing date for entries is 5pm on 27 November 2009.