Joyce Bush, president of Worcestershire Mothers’ Union and Volunteer Co-ordinator at Blakenhurst Prison is to be featured in the Church of England’s first official online Advent Calendar – www.adventstories.org.

The website marks the first time the Church of England has launched a national initiative using the web to explore the meaning of Christmas and to highlight the deep significance of the festival for millions of people across the country. The calendar draws together a range of real-life stories about what Christmas means to people today – from a paramedic in Carlisle, to a donkey sanctuary owner in Oxfordshire, to an estate agent in Tunbridge Wells – in a way that is accessible to people of all ages.

Joyce will be featured on Friday 8 December, talking about what Christmas means to her. She writes: “Christmas for me is about finding a balance between my family and my Christian Ministry – I’m lucky to have such an understanding family! Alongside other Mothers’ Union members, I visit Blakenhurst prison several times during the week before Christmas and New Year, spending up to a day there each time.

“It is a very poignant time in prisons and there is much depression and sadness. The chapel is staffed and open right through the Christmas period and is well-used, by those of all faiths and none. For me the Christmas story is all about hope and new beginnings and this is the message that we try to bring to the prisoners – helping them feel that all is not lost.”

Advent is about slowing down and taking time to think about the ‘why’ of Christmas, not the ‘how’. On each day of Advent, a virtual ‘window’ will be unlocked for visitors to click open, revealing the personal words and a portrait photograph of Christians specially interviewed for www.adventstories.org. From stories of joy at coming to faith, to stories of pain at being separated from loved ones, the calendar aims to present glimpses of how the celebration of the birth of Jesus impacts on people today.

Behind each window, visitors will be encouraged to find out where their nearest church is through the ‘A Church Near You’ website, and will also be able to explore more about Christianity through a link to the ‘rejesus.co.uk’ website. Through these elements, the calendar’s designers hope to offer visitors a range of options for discovering more about the real Christmas story.

www.adventstories.org will be live until Epiphany – the ‘official’ end of Christmas, on Sunday 7th January 2007. The Church expects more than 100,000 people to visit the calendar over that period.

ENDS.

The Diocese of Worcester is one of 44 dioceses in the Church of England. It covers an area of 671 square miles and includes parishes in the County of Worcestershire, the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, and a few parishes in northern Gloucestershire, south east Wolverhampton and Sandwell.