Church to post true meaning of Christmas

Published on Tuesday 10 December 2002 00:00

THE first Scotland-wide advertising campaign to publicise the real meaning of Christmas will be officially launched tomorrow in Edinburgh’s Waverley station.

And the Scottish Episcopal Church plans to place hundreds more of the ground-breaking posters in train stations and churches across the nation in the run-up to December 25.

The posters show one of the three kings looking down in horror at a price tag left on his gift of gold to the baby Jesus. The slogan reads: "Losing the plot? Give yourself a break at church this Christmas." Organisers see the campaign as a counter-balance to advertising efforts that claim big-name retailers are synonymous with the spirit of Christmas.

Church leaders today insisted the campaign was not a killjoy attempt to stamp out presents and parties around the festive season, and said it more of a light-hearted bid to restore the balance and remind people of the real reason for the celebration.

"We’re not trying to take the commercialisation out of Christmas," said the Most Rev Bruce Cameron, head of the Scottish Episcopal Church. "Shopping for presents and parties can be great fun. I enjoy that aspect of Christmas myself. What we’re trying to do is to restore the balance and put the Christmas message back into our celebrations."

The Scottish Episcopal Church joined forces with the Churches Advertising Network (CAN), a group of Christian media professionals, to launch the campaign in Scotland. Hundreds of posters will also appear in train stations across England and Wales.

Train stations were chosen for the campaign to catch people on shopping excursions and on the way to Christmas get-togethers.