THE popularity of Christmas jumpers was illustrated last yr in reports from the Lidl supermarket chain that it had sold one every two seconds. Its designs included Christmas trees, snowflakes, candy canes — and its own logo.
This yr, two brothers have launched another for those searching for knitwear more rooted within the Christmas story.
Incarnate Apparel, billed as “Christmas jumpers that time to Christ”, developed by Matthew and Tom James, offers a jumper emblazoned with John 1.5. The words “The light shines within the darkness” appear on the front, while the back completes the verse with “and the darkness has not overcome it”.
A fund-raising campaign on Kickstarter which ran throughout October has raised £3520 — enough to provide 100 jumpers.
“It actually does”
“Last yr, I used to be looking round and realised [that] a lot of things about Christmas, particularly within the UK, are quite separated from the gospel, from what Christmas is about — the news about Jesus,” Tom told the Church Times on Wednesday. “There is an entire world on the market of Christmas jumpers, but most of them have more to do with candy canes and reindeer than what Christmas is definitely about.”
Developing the jumper and securing a manufacturer was a wholly latest prospect for the brothers. Tom, who’s 29 and worships at St Helen’s, Bishopsgate, works in renewable energy, while Matthew is studying for a Master’s degree in architecture. Part of the challenge was to encourage potential customers to start out excited about Christmas in October, Tom said. They promoted the Kickstarter campaign through churches and social media.
“We hope to assist Christians have the chance to talk about Jesus at Christmas,” Tom, who hopes that individuals will ask what the verse means, said. These words were chosen, he said, because “a lot of people, particularly young people, possibly feel that there’s a lot of darkness on the earth.
“People actually need hope; they need light. This is a verse which says, actually, light has come into the world. The light shines within the darkness. Jesus offers light and life. Hopefully, that actually resonates with where persons are at.”
The brothers hope that the jumper may “help normalise bringing Christmas back to the gospel”.
