Archbishop's Christmas Message in The Mail on Sunday

The Archbishop of York meeting Curate Paula Pye, Lynn Graham and Rev Wendy Sanders who are helping to look after victims at Christ Church, Cockermouth

When I was growing up in Uganda there was, for me, a gold standard when it came to receiving Christmas gifts. There were three words I searched for on my present as an assurance of its quality. And those words were 'Made in England'.

They carried with them a certain guarantee that the item upon which they were emblazoned was a thing that would last.

To own such a thing was a matter of pride because in doing so you had 'the best'.

That was back in the Fifties but for me those associations still hold true.

The Archbishop of York in Campaign T-shirt at Corus, Redcar

Although now, as a man, I see that those three words, 'Made in England', mean something more. Now I know that the pride I felt in receiving is one that is more than equalled by the pride of the communities brought together and shaped by manufacturing and industry.

Over the past year I have met many people and visited many communities which have inspired me to think about such things. As Christmas approaches, I find the reflections particularly poignant and significant, bound up as they are in the notions of tradition, identity, community and sharing.

For many, this has not been an easy year and for some the prospect of the New Year is one viewed with trepidation because so many of their values and traditions are under threat.

Two weeks ago I visited Teesside, the home of Corus, one of Britain's largest steel plants. My visit came shortly after the news that the site is to be mothballed and 1,700 local employees are to lose their jobs.

When I was Bishop of Birmingham we had the collapse of Rover, so I have seen the effect such an event can have on a community, and when that last car rolled off the production line I knew it was never going to reopen.

That is why I visited Corus to add my voice of support to the workers fighting to find a way to keep the works open. Once it is closed, it is too late. Once that industry disappears the community goes with it and pride and a sense of greatness quickly after.

People in Teesside are angry and disappointed about the closure, especially when just a few days earlier staff had been told by the owners what a good job they had been doing and to have a 'prosperous New Year'.

People should be angry, but they should not give up.

As we look forward to the coming year, we should pray for those at Corus and in the local community for all that lies ahead.

We should be proud of our workers and the contribution they make to our country.

Because 'Made in England' - or, more likely these days, 'Made in Britain' - is more than a stamp of provenance. It is a stamp of identity as a nation. Too often these days political correctness creeps in and makes people fearful of standing up and proclaiming pride in their country, in what it has been through and what it is and can become.

Some would even have us believe that the mere mention of 'Christmas,' risks offending those from other faiths and minority groups in Britain. They suggest we should say, 'Festive Greetings,' or 'Happy Winterval'. No we should not. We should shout 'Merry Christmas' from the rooftops.

As a nation, the Christian vision has shaped our traditions and laid a firm foundation and given every citizen the reason for working hard and being a good neighbour. Manufacturing and industry is part of that. And so, in the most meaningful way, it is part of the spirit of Christmas - a spirit that should live all year round, one not concerned with a surfeit of disposable goods but with togetherness, lasting quality and the righting of injustices.

When we choose something of quality we are turning away from products too often manufactured by workers exploited and in abject poverty and under conditions that disregard the environment. We need to take pride in our status as a country which produces high-quality food and products for us here and abroad, otherwise there is a risk we will become a nation of shopkeepers selling other people's goods.

We need to stand up for our manufacturing and remember the value of things, and not just throw them away.

I can hardly think of a better time than Christmas to remind ourselves of such things.

The spirit of those who lived through the Second World War, who rebuilt this country and allowed us to experience a golden age of prosperity, still beats in the hearts of the nation today. Fair play, British values and community togetherness abides.

In the misery and suffering that followed the floods in Cumbria, I saw at first hand that community spirit embodied.

Churches Together spearheaded the relief in Cockermouth. People went out of their way to support others and get the area back on its feet. But they were not just rebuilding infrastructure. They have been setting in place new relationships and partnerships for the challenges of the future.

Perhaps this might sound like a sombre Christmas message but it is really, I hope, a timely one of caution and optimism.

For most of us, Christmas is a time to be with our families and to value what God has placed around us. There is nothing wrong with that.

It is a good thing for those who have children to enjoy them opening their presents under the tree. We should enjoy eating our Christmas meal; we should gladly watch the Queen's Speech. We should enjoy The Great Escape, or whatever the latest blockbuster is, on the television; and we should enjoy the time shared playing with the latest family board game or video console. Make the most of this precious time.

However, when we sit on the sofa tucking into our chocolates, think of those who manufactured them and the farmer who produced the cocoa beans. When we open the presents on Christmas Day, let us think of those who made them and the people who gave them to us.

And when we think of everything bound up in those gifts, the communities they came from - both spiritual and social - spare a thought for the places in the world where injustice is rife and poverty all but unchecked.

This Christmas it seems families are as strong as ever. But we should not restrict our sense of community spirit to times of crisis such as Cockermouth and Corus; rather, we must tap into the goodness in people - as well as the good things we have - as part of our daily lives.

We should take time to remember those who are going through difficult times - financial, emotional, spiritual - and should celebrate what we are and what we can become; as individuals, communities and as a nation.

The trick is not to give in to cynicism. That, surely, is the embodiment of Christmas and the self-giving love we see in the Saviour of the World should be our support and our example.

Have a blessed Christmas.

This article originally appeared in the The Mail on Sunday 20 December 2009. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1237211/ARCHBISHOP-JOHN-SENTAMU-Corus-Cockermouth-proud-Made-Britain.html