Primary school children were left in tears when a no-nonsense vicar told them Father Christmas was not real – and livid parents have forced the man of God to say sorry.
Rev Dr Paul Chamberlain stands accused of “ruining” Christmas by angry parents after he told year 6 pupils that “Santa isn’t real”.
He has since apologised after the sermon apparently brought the festive fans to tears.
The vicar was addressing year six at Lee-on-the-Solent Junior School in Hampshire as a visitor from the nearby St Faith’s Church.
He is said to have told them: “You’re all year six, now let’s be real, Santa isn’t real”.
Rev Dr Chamberlain is also claimed to have told the kids their parents were responsible for scoffing the cookies many children leave out for Father Christmas on Christmas Eve.
The vicar was at the school to give a talk about the Nativity.
Now, MailOnline reports teachers are scrambling to inject the magic back into Christmas after it was claimed children were left in tears – and a parent has lodged a complaint against the vicar.
Among one of the measures being taken by teachers is the making of badges for the pupils, emblazoned with the words ‘Lee-on-the-Solent believe’.
Meanwhile, parents have received an email from the school claiming the teachers are now making sure to tell children “all stories and legends around Christmas’ were legitimate.”
One parent told MailOnline: “I don’t know how it can be undone, but I think it’s absolutely disgusting.”
Another claimed “lots of children started crying in class” and many parents have now had to admit to their child that Santa isn’t real when they had not planned to.
They have been left trying to emphasise as much “magic” as possible over this Christmas to counterbalance the vicar’s comment.
All of this has seen the Reverend forced to write to the pupils to say sorry and he apparently confessed his comment was “an error of judgment”.
A spokesman for the Diocese of Portsmouth told the paper: “We understand that the vicar of St Faith’s, Lee-on-the-Solent, the Rev Paul Chamberlain, was leading an RE lesson for 10 and 11-year-olds at Lee-on-the-Solent Junior School.
“After talking about the Nativity story from the Bible, he made some comments about the existence of Father Christmas.
“Paul has accepted that this was an error of judgment and he should not have done so.
“He apologised unreservedly to the school, to the parents and the children and the headteacher immediately wrote to all parents to explain this.
“The school and diocese have worked together to address this issue, and the headteacher has now written to parents a second time, sending them Paul’s apology.”
