Ruth Gledhill - Times Online - WBLG

Nativities with a difference

This is the nativity scene that Britain's Amos Trust is selling online. They call it the 'walled nativity'. It looks more like a fence to me. Perhaps it should be the 'ring-fenced nativity'. As a light-hearted aside here, I must just mention that the Christmas card from Lambeth Palace features - yes, you've guessed it - the Three Wise Men. I'm told I've been sent one, but it hasn't arrived yet. This must count as one more of those inexplicable Christmas mysteries , along with the other mysteries surrounding our Post Office services these days. So if you've had one of the Lambeth cards and could send me a jpeg  to put up here, I'ld be most grateful. For some reason, Lambeth Palace are reluctant to provide this service.

Rowan Williams: Three Wise Men are 'legend'

This is one of the short films that goes with the e-cards that the Church of England is promoting this year, through Facebook. It shows the magi, and it distinctly shows three of them. But according to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, the fact that there were Three Wise Men is nothing but 'legend'. The Christmas cards which show the Virgin Mary cradling baby Jesus, with the shepherds on one side and the Three Wise Men on the other, are guilty of 'conflation', he said. Dr Williams was talking to Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 5. You can read our story on it here, with the additional commentary by Rev Jonathan Jennings. There was also lots about the 's' word.

'Recycle for Warrington'

As we report in our brief news story, English town are being urged to "recycle for Warrington". The Cheshire local authority is the latest to rebrand Christmas in keeping with a tradition of political-correctness that seems to be becoming almost as venerable as the season of goodwill itself. Church leaders criticised the message as "a recycling of the Christmas story too far."

The bishops' tale

This is a tale of two bishops, or rather, of one bishop and one who might be a bishop, both of Southwark. The ShipofFools pilgrimage to mark Tom Butler's heroic journey from the Irish Embassy last year took place on Saturday. 'We kissed the steps of the Irish Embassy and threw toys joyfully over several parked Mercedes as we made our way to the Suchard in Crucifix Lane,' one participant tells me. 'Then followed The Bishop's Tale - a freshly-penned recounting of the events of that fateful night offering another implausible explanation - that the Bishop was feverishly baptising every teddy in sight to ensure they were not called Muhammed. Truly, a Bishop ahead of his time. This, too, was read outside the Suchard.' Meanwhile, a good source tells me that the Dean of Southwark, Colin Slee, is nominated to become the next Bishop of Christ Church, New Zealand. He is over there at the moment, at his own expense. If he takes the purple, we'll miss him. Read on for the tale, ht to one Geoffrey Chaucer.

Teddy Bear: Archbishop of York sells out

Here's another teddy story for a blog stocking filler. If you are stuck for something to give the Archbishop of York for Christmas, try one of these. He's been unable to get one for his own tree because York Minster has sold out. Just 200 of the £6.50 six-inch Archbishops were made in Thailand and were sold out within minutes of going on sale in the Minster shop, as the local paper reports. (Worth following that link, just for some of the comments... ) I understand you can still get the Canterbury Bear of Rowan Williams at Canterbury Cathedral however.

'I need to lose weight' says Archbishop

Strolling through Richmond upon Thames at Christmas, my heart was melted by the hungry eyes of the Big Issue seller outside Tesco. I bought the festive edition, and was rewarded by the unexpected bonus inside of an article by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, revealing all about his New Year resolutions. And the one that surprised me most was his wish to lose weight. Perhaps he has this in common with the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, who as we report wants Catholics to return to traditional practices such as eating less on Fridays in common with the world's poor. Even if Lent doesn't start for another six weeks or so, this is a good time of year, after the seasonal excesses, to remember the traditions of fasting that exist across all the religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.

How to celebrate the 'Good News' - not!

The Good News website is running a q & a on how churchgoing families can cope with the peculiarly "Christian" stresses of Christmas. Do feel free to add your own q & a's below. Here are theirs. Meanwhile, my list of religious blogs and sites is among the year-end list of sites of all subjects compiled by Times Online.

My guests have arrived - what do I do now? Leave one or two tasks unfinished such as cleaning and/or decorating the house, preparing the food and buying the drinks - that way there is plenty to occupy everyone and you are introducing Value Added to the process.

How do we keep warm at Midnight Mass? Delegate to whoever emerges as team leader, asking them to coordinate the distribution of Fishermen's Friends complete with short devotion and Bible passage on discipleship.

St Nicholas visits Sloane Square

It's December 6, the Feast of St Nicholas, and a highlight of our year as we go down to Sloane Square and the wonderful Arts and Crafts church of Holy Trinity Sloane Street for the annual Sloane festival. The little Boy Bishop in this picture is my son Arthur. The girl is the daughter of a real estate executive who happened to be watching from the crowds when, to her delight, St Nicholas plucked her into the carriage. Can you guess who the saint is? Answer below. Meanwhile, thank you to David below for remininding me of the venerable tradition of the Naughty Santa. There is much ho-ho-ho'ing in the blogosphere today over the sinful sacked Harrods santa. Here's one for taster, to see some of the rest click on the Technorati tag at the end of this post.  St Nicholas will be in Canterbury on Saturday and Cambridge on Sunday.

Bid for lunch with Lord Carey in The Times Christmas charity appeal

Lunch with Lord Carey and his wife Eileen, along with the chance to blog as a guest on my blog, is one of the offers up for auction as part of The Times Red Cross Christmas charity appeal. Here, Times editor Robert Thomson explains why he would bid for the chance of an enlightening talk with the former Archbishop of Canterbury on life, death, judgment and other eschatological issues.