The West Parish Congregational Church’s 2023 Christmas tea.

BETHEL  — The West Parish Congregational Church’s Christmas craft fair, sale, and tea is a yearly staple of the community, bringing in locals for snacks, tea, hot chocolate, and last minute gifts for friends and family. There is also the well known cookie walk, where a bag can be filled with baked goods. But where do all those funds go?

The church does many fundraisers across the year for various charities. The most well known and advertised of these is the spring sale for the Smile Fund. Other fundraisers are done for various church missions, including service within the community. However, the Christmas tea, possibly the largest of these events, is the one fundraiser that goes directly to the church.

“It’s the one big fundraiser we have every year to help the budget,” said Diana York, the church’s secretary. The proceeds help with the church’s various upkeep costs that allow them to stay open and pursue all the other service projects that they engage in the rest of the year. “We’ve got to keep the doors open if we want to do all the other things,” said York.

Along with supporting the church, the tea is a chance for the community to come together in more ways than one. Many of the items for sale have been donated from local families. The church put out a request especially for jewelry for the ‘tiny treasures’ table, so that unused and forgotten jewelry could find a new home. Aside from that, there is the promise of delicious food that is free for all to enjoy.

The only paid part of the event is the cookie walk and the items for sale. Despite being held in the church, the actual event has no religious connection, meaning that even those who want to keep their holiday purely secular can still enjoy some tea, snacks, and socialization.