Thousands of worshippers will squeeze into packed churches around the diocese this Christmas to celebrate the birth of Christ.

Many are holding additional carol services or organising special events to cope with the demand, with candlelit services especially popular.

Portsmouth Cathedral is holding three identical carol services for the first time this year, to cater for more than 2,000 worshippers who are expected. A Service of Lessons and Carols, each featuring Portsmouth Cathedral Choir, will take place at 3pm and at 7.30pm on December 22 and at 7.30pm on December 23.

The cathedral’s master of choristers, David Price, said: “We discovered last year that two carol services just wasn’t enough, even with 750-800 people at each. There are also people who prefer not to come out in the evenings, and we’re expecting 500 at the afternoon service.”

The experience fits in with the national picture – the latest statistics show Christmas attendance figures up by seven per cent since 2001, with cathedral services especially popular.

There will also be two identical crib services – in which the Christmas story is told as figures are added to a nativity scene - in the cathedral at 3pm and 4.30pm on Christmas Eve. The cathedral choir will also sing carols at a special, ticket-only service at the top of the Spinnaker Tower at 4pm on December 23.

Children will be able to stroke real animals as Holy Rood Church, Stubbington, stages a real-life version of the nativity. Families will be encouraged to walk through the nativity story both inside and outside the church, from 9am-2pm on December 15.

Worshippers will dress up and talk to visitors as if they were the characters involved in the traditional story, including Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, angels and wise men. Families can then go outside and see a stable, complete with the kind of animals that witnessed the birth of Christ. Donkeys, sheep and other farmyard animals will give a flavour of what it must have felt like to be in a first-century stable.

Visitors can round off their visit with coffee, squash and mince pies. It’s the second year that the church has staged such an event – last year’s was very popular. For more information, ring 01329-661154.

Worshippers at St Matthew’s Church, Blackmoor, will also be inspired to think of the reality of the nativity scene. Their porch will be transformed into a life-size nativity scene during December, thanks to the work of a group of creative women.

They’ve been working since August on life-size versions of Mary, Joseph, two sheep, a donkey and other animals. It’s a three-year project, and they hope to add shepherds and kings to the scene over the next two Christmasses.

Assistant curate the Rev Wendy Mallas, said: “I thought about the fact that a lot of people come to church for Christmas services, and thought it would be lovely for them to walk through a nativity scene.”

The group made the bodies of the animals using chicken wire and paper maché. A wooden structure was put together to create the human figures. Among the visitors are likely to be elderly people from residential homes, who will be welcomed with tea and mince pies.

Many of the special Christmas activities across our diocese are for children and families. The ‘J Team’ holiday club will meet at St James Church, Emsworth, from 10am on December 22. And ‘Cosmic Christmas’ is a family Christmas show being staged at St Wilfrid’s Church, Cowplain, at 7pm on December 21 and 22. It’s free of charge.

There’s also free Christmas fun at Westbrook Church, in Westbrook Hall, Tempest Avenue, Waterlooville from 12noon-3pm on December 22. Children can wrap free gifts for mums and dads as well as making cards, decorations, and costumes for the nativity.

St Mary the Virgin, Rowner, in Gosport, is one of several churches where adults and children are encouraged to dress up for the popular Christmas Eve crib service.

The rector, the Rev John Draper, said: “We usually have some newborn babies as well, in which case there is a competition to be the baby Jesus. The atmosphere is relaxed and informal, and everyone gets into the mood and the Christmas spirit.”

Children and adults will be encouraged to dress up as angels, shepherds and animals for a ‘Nativity from Scratch’ at St Mark’s Church, Wootton, at 10am on December 23.

The Christmas story will be told by puppets at St John’s, Purbrook, at 10am on the same morning. Young children will dress up for the crib service there at 4pm on Christmas Eve.

The crib service at 4pm on Christmas Eve at St Nicholas, Bedhampton, also includes a nativity tableau for the children. And there’s a special ‘Goodnight service’ for excited children at 6pm on Christmas Eve at St Peter and St Paul, Hambledon.

Many shoppers appreciate hearing Christmas carols as they do their shopping. Churches Together in Fareham join forces to sing carols in Fareham shopping centre on December 22.

There are carols around the pond in Buriton at 7pm on December 14, with the Liss Band, while late-night shoppers in Petersfield are serenaded from 6.30pm the same night.

The choir from Holy Trinity Church, Cowes, will lead the ‘Lights of Love’ service, in aid of the Earl Mountbatten Hospice, outside the Painters Arms at 7pm on December 14, followed by carols in local pubs and clubs.

Worshippers from St John’s Church, Rowlands Castle, will also sing hymns in their local pub at 7.30pm on December 20. Carols at the Fountain Inn includes free mulled wine and mince pies, as well as a visit from Santa.

There is community carol-singing in Yarmouth Square at 6pm on December 15, and at Church Post Office on Hooke Hill, Freshwater at 6.30pm on December 18. Worshippers from Freshwater will also hold a Messy Day on December 21, between 10.30am and 3pm in Freshwater Parish Hall.

One of the highlights at St Helen’s, in St Helens, is the Christmas concert by final year students at the Guildhall School of Music, at 7.30pm on December 21. Mezzo-soprano Camilla Bull and her friends will perform. Tickets cost £5 at the door, and all proceeds go to the church restoration fund.

Anglicans will be among the worshippers at an ecumenical carol service at St Michael and All Angels Roman Catholic Church in Leigh Park, at 7pm on December 23.

And worshippers will also be helping the less fortunate this Christmas. Gift vouchers donated by churchgoers will be given to homeless people, asylum seekers and victims of domestic violence, so they can buy themselves Christmas gifts. The formal hand-over of the vouchers will be at a carol service at St Mary’s Church, Fratton, at noon on December 14. Last year, gift vouchers to the value of £7,000 were donated.