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The Bishop of Birmingham

At the start of advent 2008, Rt Revd David Urquhart was joined by dozens of worshippers was at Lifford Lane Household Recycling Centre.

The aim of the twenty minute service was to point out that Christmas message is about more than consumerism and material wealth, a particularly important theme in the current economic climate.

Speaking to BBC WM's Siôr Coleman, the Bishop explained: "At the start of advent we're reminding people that we need to wait for the coming of Jesus. We also need to wait before we waste things. People are already bringing things to have them recycled."

The Bishop was joined at the service by Christians from local churches, staff at Lifford Lane and by Mark Dowd of Operation Noah, a nationwide action group.

"It's about turning our backs on lives of consumption," said Mark. "We've been consumed by consumption at Christmas. Instead of remembering the simple message about God becoming flesh and being born in a stable, we seem to spend weeks and weeks worrying about credit cards and getting lost in shopping malls.

"So really the message is to keep Christmas simple, particularly at the time of the credit crunch when people are hard pressed anyway. This is a year above all years to go back to that simple message."

The service - Saturday 29th November '08

The Green Giveaway hosted at Birmingham Cathedral after the service encouraged visitors to recycle presents – not simply leave them unused gathering dust.