Tis The Season

As we descend into the British summer, then population readies itself for sun, sea, ice cream, and sunburned skin. There is promise of a period of glorious weather for all to enjoy. However, some are looking even further ahead. There are those who have seen past the summer, even past autumn. They have placed their sights on winter and the coming of Christmas.

One organisation by the name of ChurchAds (http://www.churchads.net/) are preparing themselves for the festive season...at the beginning of June. This has been organised around their latest poster campaign. For this they use an image of am ultrasound image of a foetus with a halo on its head. They have entitled it 'He's On His Way...Christmas starts with Christ'. The justification for this my ChurchAds is that only 12% of Adults in the United Kingdom are aware of the details of the Christmas Story. The 2010 campaign is a follow on from their 2009 efforts of similar intent. For that they used an image of the nativity scene set in a bus shelter. The reasoning however behind their latest venture is that many parents-to-be brandish images of ultrasound scans, which ChurchAds identifies as a celebration of a coming birth. In turn it has been associated with the celebration of the coming birth of Jesus Christ which is as many believe the purpose of Christmas. The Daily Telegraph quotes The Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell, the Bishop of Reading, as saying: ''For many parents pregnancy gets real when you see the image from the ultrasound scan. It tells you something is actually kicking off."

Christian posters can be seen in every niche of the nation. In the Scottish city of Perth posters encouraging others to follow the teaching of Christ can be found in various places. However, these pieces of propaganda are given credibility by their reference and quotation from The Bible. Such established scriptural authority should not be sniffed at, not even by the most sceptical of observer. Never the less, perhaps ChurchAds have taken this down the wrong path. Through their latest poster campaign, they are using an image which is close to our hearts. By this I am not referring to the idea of Jesus, but rather that of an unborn child. With all due respect, they are exploiting the love a parent has for their baby rather than a believers love of their saviour. They would succeed more through guilting the populous than truly winning them over. What is worse is that they have begun this campaign over six months before Christmas. This will distract many from their summer enjoyments and loose others to the throws of Yuletide fervour. Perhaps in October their efforts would be less in vein, however they feel that now is the time for action. Contrary to this, now is the time for relaxation and summer fun. The challenges of filling the churches for Christmas service can wait, for now is the time to celebrate the finer weather we have been blessed with. Jesus Christ has to wait for one truly meaningful day a year...I'm sure he can wait a little bit longer for you to stir up the mob.