Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Kirk leader critical of Christmas adverts

Post Thumbnail

The head of the Church of Scotland has attacked the false image of Christmas portrayed in glitzy TV adverts.

The Rt Rev Susan Brown, Moderator of the Kirk’s General Assembly, said “people don’t like the party being dampened by what is the reality of the lives others live.”

She added that so much “cultural and social baggage” had “entwined” itself into the festive celebrations it was hard to now tell “what is truth and what is fiction.”


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter


Rt Rev Brown, who famously officiated at the 2000 wedding of Madonna and film producer Guy Ritchie and baptised their son Rocco, is minister at Dornoch Cathedral in Sutherland.

She said: “People’s reaction to Christmas and all the hype that surrounds it can be like a certain yeast extract: people either love it of they hate it. That goes for those who have faith as well as for those with none.

“I have to say clearly though, that it’s not the message of Christmas that’s the problem.

“The notion of God with us and among us, is amazing, wonderful and jaw-droppingly humbling.

“The problem is all the cultural and social baggage that has grown up alongside the good news of the birth of Christ.

“Much of it has so entwined itself around the celebrations that it can be hard to tell what is central to the faith and what is not: what is truth and what is fiction.

“Adverts on our screens portray happy families round a Christmas tree, all smiling and looking like models, the children with a pile of presents at their feet and the dog and the cat wearing Christmas hats at a jaunty angle, curled up in their respective blankets.

“A picture that is so far from what is the reality for so many of us.

“It’s the fact that for many families, there may not be enough money to buy presents. Or a tree. Or food.

“While for others, Christmas Day is a long, lonely endurance test because it’s full of memories of people who are no longer around.”

Writing in next month’s church house magazine Life and Work, Rt Rev Brown said for others home “is no more than a cardboard box in a shop doorway.”

“That’s the other thing about Christmas. People don’t like the party being dampened by what is the reality of the lives others live,” she said.

Jesus’s birth was celebrated best when its message speaks to the “very real fears and failures, disappointments, grief and despair of very real people.”

“Donning party hats and Christmas jumpers alone, is not going to do that. Using the Christmas period to reach out to the lonely however, to offer space to the upset, to feed the hungry and look for ways to house the homeless will,” she said.