Made from girders? - Church's 'quirky' Advent message

An East Dunbartonshire church is having a ‘fizzy good time' using Scotland's other national drink to celebrate the season of Advent.

Members of New Kilpatrick Parish Church in Bearsden have used cans of Irn Bru to create a special festive calendar in a window.

A new word is hidden within the array of cans every day and so far people have discovered ‘hope', ‘light', ‘glory', 'bless' and 'believe'

Parish minister Rev Roddy Hamilton said the idea had captured people's imaginations and small crowds have formed at the window as they try and work out the meaning behind the display.

"We're doing a quirky Advent calendar this year for the community using Irn Bru cans - being a west coast church, we are using none of that Tizer stuff," he explained.

"A new word is created every day, chosen by our mid-week worship group, and you need to look hard to see it.

"But then sometimes the good news is hard to see and once you see it, you can't un-see it.

"It is a bit of a laugh and members of the congregation have drunk cans and cans of the stuff and are slowly turning in Oompa Loompas."

Meaning 'coming' or 'arrival', Advent is a time of prayer and preparation for the coming of God's Son.

It is also a time when we look outwards to the needs of others, spreading joy with friends, families, local communities and further afield.

Mr Hamilton said the idea is to get people in the wider community talking and thinking about the true meaning of Advent.

"The idea is to find creative crossroads between faith and culture that enable us to have some sort of common ground where we can offer a good news word for the day," he added.

"There has been a bit of a crowd a couple of times as people try and work out what the word is and then someone gets it and helps the others see it.

"A lot of what we do can feel quite alien but perhaps this wee quirky, just for fun Advent calendar for the community can bring a little cheer and a good word for the world."

Mr Hamilton said comments heard from members of the public so far have included ‘I've got it', ‘you know, that's quite cool' and ‘that is a masterpiece'.

Donations are being accepted for the daily window display which will go to support the work of Woman's Aid, which provides life-line services for the victims of domestic violence.

Earlier this year, New Kilpatrick celebrated 375 years of being a parish.

It's motto is "open hearts, open minds, open faith".