So often people complain about the commercialisation of Christmas and so in an endeavour to catch the bigger picture this Advent we asked two church leaders to briefly share with us what they feel about Christmas. Here is one of them. We were going to entitle them “What I like about Christmas” but that doesn’t do justice to either of our guest interviewees. So here is, ‘About Christmas’ from Alun
Talking with Alun Hurd: December 2015: Alun is Priest in Charge of St. Andrews Rochford
Rochford Life: Alun, I get the impression from our preliminary chatting that you are not the greatest fan of modern Christmas?
Alun: I’ve never enjoyed the materialistic Christmas, if I can put it like that. I think it is a product of age and things like that. You remember back to when you were a child and Christmas didn’t come months before the day. Even in December it was only in the last couple of weeks. My dad used to go out, either on Christmas Eve or maybe a day before, down to the market to get the Christmas tree, and the decorations were not put up until at least the last week before Christmas. You’ve only got to look at the Ads now on TV and it’s just become a secular festival in reality.
RL: Does that sadden you?
Alun: Yes, it does. It saddens me because I wonder what people are celebrating now; that’s my problem with it, but at the other end of it, that’s just the way life is today with the church declining in influence in society, but it’s a question of how you try to reclaim the ground, that’s where the challenge lies and that’s why the church has an important part to play in the community, not just because of Christmas but because it hopefully provides a moral and ethical framework for people.
RL: Can the church reclaim it?
Alun: I don’t know, to be quite honest. Certainly we the clergy do our bit and that’s why it is good for clergy particularly to be involved in the community so the presence is there. The reason why I’ve done so much chaplaincy work – I’ve been a hospital chaplain, a further education college chaplain, an army chaplain, a sea cadet chaplain – is because you have an entry into those places as a religious person that wouldn’t normally be afforded to other people, and although I am not going in there preaching, because that would scare everybody off, you go in there and you earn people’s respect by just being there, and that’s the essence of chaplaincy work, and that in a sense is what I think the essence of being a parish priest is, just being there, and you try and make the connections, but as far as Christmas is concerned it has not gone yet but I think the erosion is visible.
RL: At Christmas time do you preach the Nativity?
Alun: Oh yes, absolutely, otherwise there would be no point in going to church would there. I did Nativities at Barling and Rochford schools this week and they both had nativity stories within their presentations, which doesn’t always happen, but it was great to see that still happening because they are still getting the Christmas story. It has been diminishing in a lot of schools, but that’s life, but I still think it’s a good thing that they have that story because although it may not be explained in great depth, at least it is a start, and that’s why I’ve always had a great commitment to schools work, either as a governor or going in and taking assemblies or being involved on going on trips, because you are making connections for the church, meaning God, and into the community.
RL: Can I ask how Christmas impacts your family life?
Alun: Well I am divorced and have two grown up sons, and I’m about to get married again. For me now, with my sons living in Surrey, as a single person the majority of the day is spent on my own and I don’t mind that. But last year I didn’t finish ‘work’ until four o’clock because I went visiting people taking holy communion and so by the time I got back I was so tired I just went to sleep, and then got up later and had a meal and so on. Obviously I have had family Christmases in the past and it’s been good fun but I think a lot of what goes on at Christmas is mainly for children, the magic is for children. If I had family here it would be very different but the thing is I’m a ‘professional religious’ and your focus is on serving people with a Crib Service, Midnight Service, or the Christmas Day Service, or visiting the hospital, so you are almost outside of what is going on elsewhere because you are focusing on your work. By the end of the day I hope I have done the best for my people but it is a relief to get through it. One of the best bits, at least when I was in Wakering, was when it was gone mid-
RL: Wow. That is a completely different perspective on Christmas from that which normally comes through. Thank you so much for sharing so openly about this aspect of life in the Anglican ministry. It was not what I expected. Thank you for being here for the people of Rochford, as well as those in Barling and Wakering. To wish you a happy Christmas seems rather trite in the light of what you have been sharing, so have a good Christmas and again, thank you for being there.