This is a text-only version of an article first published on Wednesday, 4 December 2019. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
On Thursday morning residents of Barton and Sandhills will woke up to find over 500 knitted and wooden angels visited the neighbourhood.
As people left for work and as children walked to school, they found on their doorsteps, garden gates, street signs and fences, a Christmas gift in the shape of a small angel decoration.
For the past few months, members of St Mary's Church and others have been busy planning for this Christmas surprise to bless the community, create some festive spirit and share a message of God's love.
The young people have been busy decorating the wooden ones and the older ladies have been busy knitting, one particular hero knitting 75 herself.
Each angel has attached a label with a link to a special website , where intrigued recipients found a video with members of the church explaining what it's all about.
They say they are giving away these free gifts because they love Barton and because they believe God loves Barton too. In the Christmas story, angels appeared proclaiming the good news of great joy, they proclaimed the birth of Jesus Christ! It is hoped that this angelic visitation will also be good news to the local community, declaring that there is a God who loves them and a church throwing open its doors to welcome the community and wish them a Happy Christmas.