Who's Who

Readers are lay people in the Church of England, from all walks of life, who are called by God, theologically trained and licensed by the Church to preach, teach, lead worship and assist in pastoral, evangelistic and liturgical work.

Reader are the only lay ministers in the Church of England. They give their time voluntarily and undergo training that is nationally recognised and accredited.There are now over 10,000 Readers serving in parishes, teams, united benefices and chaplaincies.

Although nationally authorised, the scope of ministry and roles undertaken by Readers differs across the dioceses. In addition, each diocese currently provides its own programme of initial and continued training, which are moderated nationally to ensure consistency in preparing Readers for their office, supporting them and helping to keep them up to date with the latest theological developments and liturgical practice.

A Reader Writes Christmas

I often think that one of the best defining features of "Britishness" is a shared sense of embarrassment. This was something that was brought home to me a couple of Advents ago when a feeble joke on my part was met by a gentle, but nonetheless withering, put-down from an acquaintance who hails from Serbia.

He had just told me that, for the first time since moving to the UK, he and his wife would be spending Christmas here, rather than amongst family and friends in Serbia. Knowing that he had not had the best of years, I tried to lighten the mood by joking that if he got to the sales on Boxing Day he could stock up on presents and food at bargain rates, because the Serbian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas Day on January 7.

The attempt at levity was met with a baleful stare and the response that "We don't celebrate like you": Christmas Day, he explained, was a time for family and friends to share a meal; the presents are handed out in New Year"s Day, but not on the scale that we have here.

Rather than lightening his mood, I felt I'd left it considerably darker, and, in the embarrassing moments that followed I wanted to kick myself for dragging commercial considerations into the equation. As the economic situation is now much worse than it was when I made the initial gaffe, I now feel even more embarrassed by the exchange.

In truth, I have felt for several years now that we have two Christmases; the commercial and the spiritual. And where they both have their origins in a season of good cheer and mutual celebration, for many, this year will not be "happy" in the material sense as job insecurity and inflation hit hard.

In another sense, there is an imbalance between the two Christmases - while the spiritual side seems to be ever more marginalised, the commercial has, until now, gone from strength to strength, with the retail trade measuring a "good" Christmas in terms of the percentage increase in sales year-on-year; feeding material demand in the process. Indeed, this year, one leading retailer has spent GBP 5 million on advertising campaign that features a song entitled Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want.

While preparation for the commercial Christmas demands time, patience and a full wallet, preparation for a spiritual Christmas begins with Advent. A time of preparing ourselves to celebrate the joy of the new at Christmas, so that we can see the power of God's love, not expensive gifts, as what people really need, and that the acquisition of possessions is not the be all and end all.

Perhaps, though, I wasn't too far off the mark after all with my inappropriate comment, because the simple truth of the Christmas message does shine out in unexpected places, as in the first Christmas, where an act of kindness amid the hustle and bustle and demands of this world ushered in the birth of Jesus. A message so well expressed in final verse of a favourite poem:

No love that in a family dwells,

No carolling in frosty air,

Nor all the steeple-shaking bells

Can with this single Truth compare-

That God was Man in Palestine

And lives today in Bread and Wine.

Christmas, John Betjeman.

I wish you a fruitful Advent of preparation that will lead to the joy of a happy Christmas celebrating the birth of our Lord, and with every good wish for the New Year.

David Hyatt.