The Diocese of York has produced a Jesse Tree resource to be used during Advent in churches, homes and schools to help children, young people and their families engage with God’s story and understand how the Christmas story fits into the whole Bible.

Jesse Trees are very old Christmas tradition dating back to medieval times, used to help tell the story of the Bible from creation through to the birth of Jesus.

Each day through advent a special decoration or ornament is hung on the tree, telling a story from the Bible.

The name comes from Jesse who was the Father of King David. Isaiah 11:1-4 says,
"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord - and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth."

A branch is a sign of new life and new beginnings; Jesus was a descendent of King David and Christians believe that Jesus is this new branch.

There are sets of large stickers (88mm diameter) available for school and churches to use on a wall display or with which to make decorations to hang on a tree. There are downloadable resources and ideas for collective worship or Sunday services and mid-week clubs on the Diocesan web page for each of the 24 Bible stories.

In addition churches can order an A4 page of 24 stickers and an A3 Jesse Tree poster to give to families. Families can then use the interactive online calendar which gives daily ideas for prayer and activities related to each day’s story.

  • To order sets of stickers, please contact Carolyn Edwards with details of your church/school, how many sets you want posting, and to where.

Go to Children & Youth pages