I spoke to somewhere between 850 and 900 people at Newcastle University CU’s Carol Service tonight. “Standing room only” is the best way to describe the attendance at Jesmond Parish Church, which has only 800 chairs. Students found ingenious ways to get in. About 14 stood for the entire service in a stairway leading to the gallery. I did the talk in 3 parts, and each time I got up to speak I half-wondered whether maybe they would have got fed up of standing through the entire service and gone home, but no they stayed for the whole thing! There were stirring performances from the New Vocal Ensemble and also the University Brass Ensemble who did a tremendous introduction to “Hark the Herald.” I got some encouraging vibes during the talk. Part 1 was mostly humorous material, then in Part 2, I was focusing on the claims of Christ. And then Part 3 was a re-enacted presentation of a “What’s the point of Christmas?” talk. One of the things I loved about last night is that before the start, the students held lanterns to light the way, literally, from the University Library to the Carol Service venue.