Having been brought up in a Welsh Baptist chapel, ‘advent’ meant nothing at all to me. Some twenty years of formal ministry and three degrees in theology later and I’m still rather perplexed. No matter. It’s got something to do with the period running up to Christmas – though probably not ‘counting down the number of shopping days left’.

As part of their pre-Christmas preparations the Children’s Society – a children’s charity closely connected to the Church of England – have released a poll conducted by Gfk NOP about our attitudes to Christmas in the UK. The good news is that only 3% believe that the most important aspect of the season is giving and receiving presents and a whopping 86% think it’s become too commercialised. And I totally agree (as long as I get that iPad, Helen). Encouraging, too, is that 67% believe that spending time with family and friends is the most important thing.

Of more concern to the church, however, is the fact that only 10% place the religious significance of the holiday on the top of their agenda. And this figure comes down to 4% for those between the ages of 25 and 34.

Surprised? Maybe the pollsters were unlucky in their sampling and managed to phone the Dawkins household. Twice. Or maybe that 70%-of-people-in-the-UK-are-Christian figure often bandied about isn’t that accurate after all.