Easter Facts and Resources for Lent and Easter

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Chocolate Facts

• Sales of dark chocolate have almost doubled in two years, growing 96 per cent to £85 million.
• On average, each person in Britain eats approx. 10.2kg of chocolate per year.
• The confectionery industry is worth over £5billion in the UK alone with chocolate making up £3.5billion.
• The first chocolate factory in Britain opened in 1657.
• J.S. Fry and Sons developed the first solid chocolate bar and it went on sale in 1847. Cadbury Brothers produced their first bar of chocolate in 1849. Both bars would have been made from dark chocolate as milk chocolate was not available until after 1875 when Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter developed the process for making the sweeter lighter version of chocolate.
• According to market research completed by Neilsen chocolate sales are up year on year by more than 36%
  
• The Ivory Coast in West Africa is the world's leading producer of cocoa - supplying 43%.
• Thousands of children are being forced to work as slave labour on cocoa farms in West Africa. According to International labour Organisation figures, 12.000 children have been trafficked from countries like Mali and Burkina Faso to the Ivory Coast.
• Chocolate is biggest selling Fairtrade product in the UK with sales in 2010 of £342m, more than four times the £84m sold in 2009.
• The largest chocolate rabbit was created in South Africa in 2010 by artist Harry Johnson. The rabbit was over 12 feet tall and weighed 3 tons. After being exhibited in a specially constructed chilled Perspex box it was eaten by 250 disadvantaged children.
  

Easter Egg Facts

• Eggs were traditionally used in pre-Christian festivals as the symbol of new life, purity or fertility. Later customs concerning eggs were linked with Easter because the egg provided a fresh and powerful symbol of the Resurrection and the transformation of death into life.
• The Real Easter Egg, an Easter egg that explains the Christian meaning of Easter is on sale for Easter 2011. The makers have received 70,000 orders for the egg since it was launched in September 2010. The egg will be on sale in some branches of Morrison, Waitrose, and Co-op. The Real Easter Egg company were reported in January 2012 to be disappointed with the size of the advanced orders for their eggs from major supermarkets this for Easter 2012. The eggs sold out very quickly in independent retailers in 2011.
  
• Decorating and colouring Hen, Duck or Goose eggs for Easter was the custom in England during the Middle Ages. The household accounts of Edward I, for the year 1290, recorded an expenditure of eighteen pennies for four hundred and fifty eggs to be gold-leafed and coloured for Easter gifts.
• Papier-mache Easter eggs started being produced in England in the 18th century and then the first chocolate eggs appeared in the 19th century with the earliest ones being completely solid
• The first chocolate Easter egg was produced in 1873 by Fry's.
• The most famous decorated Easter eggs are those designed by Peter Carl Faberge. In 1885 the Russian Tsar, Alexander III, commissioned Faberge to make a special Easter gift for his wife, the Empress Marie.This first Faberge egg was an egg within an egg. It had an outside shell of gold and enamelled white which opened to reveal a smaller gold egg. The smaller egg, in turn, opened to display a golden chicken and a jewelled replica of the Imperial crown.The Tsar and Tsarina were some impressed with their gold that they ordered the Faberge firm to design further eggs to be delivered every Easter. In later years Nicholas II, Alexander's son, continued the custom.
• The auctioneers Christie's sold a diamond encrusted Faberge egg in November 2007 for £9m.
• Approximately 80 million chocolate eggs are sold annually in the UK.
• The most popular chocolate egg worldwide is Cadbury's Creme Egg, they first went on sale in 1971.
• Easter chocolate sales make up 10% of Britain's annual spending on chocolate.
• £280million was spent on Easter eggs in the 4 days leading up to Easter 2008.
• Spending on Easter confectionery increased by 22.5% in 2010 in John Lewis stores.
• A survey by Friends of the Earth(FoE) Scotland has revealed that in some cases for every £1 spent on Easter eggs consumers could be spending the same amount or more again on packaging. In 2007 FoE estimated that 4370 tonnes of cardboard and 160 tonnes of foil waste was created by the packaging used to protect Easter Eggs.
• Dietitians are warning that eating five Easter eggs (the average given to most children) plus the bars included with them, could see youngsters doubling their recommended calorie intake for a week, risking becoming hooked on chocolate, plus seeing their weight increase by several pounds within days. The recommended daily amounts are around 2,000 calories a day for an average 11-year-old boy and 1,500 for a girl, but many could be eating up to 10,000 calories over the Easter period.
• A giant Easter egg made by Duc d'O Belgian, weighing 4.5kg and measuring 2 foot 6 inches is for sale for Easter 2011 priced at £169.95.
  

• In 2009 Selfridges had an egg containing a Gold Bullion Britannia coin for sale for £1,000, billing it as "the ultimate alternative investment for chocoholics".

• One of the most expensive eggs on offer in 2006 was the unique Diamond Stella Egg - a chocolate egg laden with diamonds - which came with a £50,000 price tag.
• Easter eggs for 2010 went on sale in Tescos on New Years day 2010
  

Easter Shopping Facts

• The traditional boost that Easter gives to retail sales was especially noticeable in 2010 with sales increasing by 6.6% in March 2010 this was highest rise in retail sales for four years and was attributed to good Easter trading figures.
  
• According to the Greeting Card Association 2010 report 21.9 million Easter cards with a retail value of £14.8 million were sold in 2009.
  

All the above statistics from a variety of sources including the Daily Telegraph 3rd July 2008 and 12th Jan 2012, Guardian 22nd March 2008, Guardian 18th Feb 2011, Mail Online 31st December 2008, foodproductiondaily.com, packagingnews.co.uk, uk.news.yahoo.com, London Evening Standard 13th April 2010, chocolateexpert.co.uk,  chocolate-emporium.co.uk, ekklesia.co.uk, Waitrose.com, politics.co.uk, thecalendercompany.org, chocolate-week.co.uk, worldrecordsacademy.org

Belief in resurrection

Nearly half of the population believes that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, according to a new survey commissioned in Wales Theos the public theology think tank..The findings challenge the widespread view that Easter is seen as little more than an opportunity to indulge a taste for chocolate.

• 60% of the people questioned believed that the resurrection at the heart of the Easter story is true with 35% believing Jesus rose physically from the dead and 24% said they believed it was a "spiritual resurrection"
• 44% said that Jesus died for the sins of the world.
• 26% the Easter story had no meaning today.

Reported by walesonline.co.uk on March 15th 2008  a copy of the full research results is available here:

http://campaigndirector.moodia.com/Client/Theos/Files/EasterTables.pdf 

A recent survey by the University of Exeter involving 500 children aged 7-14 in a variety of schools found a high level of confusion and lack of understanding about the person of Jesus and Christianity.

• While nearly half the children were 'Christian' and nearly a third were Muslim the only thing most of the children were agreed on was that Jesus had a reputation as a caring person.
• Fewer than one in ten believed that Jesus was, or is, God.
• A third found Him "a bit confusing" and more than a quarter thought him "hard to believe in".

Professor Copley, a former teacher who led the research, which is designed to help with the production of teaching materials for use in RE lessons said: "They weren't anti-Jesus. The best way of summing it up is 'pallid respect'. They thought He was important but He didn't excite them."

The majority of children's understanding of the events of Easter proved particularly hazy. This is not helped by the fact that many children started learning about Christianity from their school nativity play and not only concluded that Christmas was the most important festival, but struggled to understand the resurrection particularly - even when they had spent a whole term looking at it. Many resorted to the language of magic to describe this and other aspects of Jesus' ministry, linking the miracles with the magic tricks of Paul Daniels.

Many of the other children with no faith were guarded in how they spoke about it, describing it as "too fantastic" or saying there was "no evidence". In reference to the Resurrection, one boy asked: "If he rose from the dead, how come he ain't here now?" Others wanted to know why Jesus didn't help them today, and why he doesn't "come down" and tell everyone He is true. "There is a perception that the Church and Christianity has an image problem and is perceived as, at best, outdated and, at worst, weird," the report says.

A sample of their answers to some of the questions were as follows:

Q: Why is the cross an important symbol for Christians?
A: Because he was crossified on a cross... Jesus was crusified to replenish our sins... Because he hang himself

Q: Why do you think Jesus chose fishermen like Simon and Andrew to be his disciples?
A: Because he liked fishing. And fishing is a wise sport.... To fight for him

Q: According to the Bible, why did some people want to arrest and kill Jesus?
A: Because everybody thort he was a wizard.... Some for shopping the cheats, and one for money.... Because he heeled people on days he shouldn't.... They thought he would become rich

Q. What do Christians celebrate on Easter Sunday?
A: Chocolate.... When he rowed into Jerusalem waving palm trees... Christmas

Reported in The Times 30 September 2006

How Americans describe Easter

In a recent  USA wide study by the Barna Group a representative sample of American adults were asked to describe what Easter meant to them.

• 67% mentioned some type of theistic religious element e.g. Christian holiday, celebration of God or Jesus, Passover
• 42% said the meaning of Easter was the resurrection of Christ or the death and return to life of Jesus
• 13% said they did not know how to describe Easter
• 8% said Easter meant nothing to them or that they did not celebrate the occasion
• 93% of evangelicals said Easter was a religious holiday
• 3% describe Easter as a celebration of spring or a Pagan holiday

Reported on the Barna Group website March 2010. More statistics and observations from the survey are available from: www.barna.org

Top 10 Easter Worship Songs 2008

Do you have a favourite Easter worship song? Here are a top 10 of favourites from churches in USA

1. Christ the Lord is Risen Today

2. Mighty To Save

3.My Redeemer Lives

4. My Saviour Lives

5. Happy Day

6. All The earth Will Sing Your Praises

7. In Christ Alone

8. Amazing Grace

9. Jesus Paid It All

10. He Lives

from research done by PlanningCentreOnline.com reported on LeadershipJournal.net

Lent Resources

Tearfund Carbon Fast
Join the church's response to climate injustice this lent and help lighten our global neighbours' load care for God's creation with a carbon detox.
http://www.tearfund.org/Campaigning/Carbon+Fast+Lent.htm

Words for Lent
Words for Lent is a lively, fresh and often adventurous approach a series of readings from Luke's gospel, with 40 readings, comments and prayers for the period of Lent.
shop.christianeducation.org.uk/add/9781905893409

Lent for Everyone
Part of the Big Read 2011 from Big Bible. Lent for Everyone is a guide to Matthew by Tom Wright. Small group resources will also be available.
bigbible.org.uk/2011/01/tom-wright-lent-for-everyone-matthew-is-here/

Lent resources from Re:fresh Book
A small selection of quality resources for Lent.
www.refreshbooks.co.uk/lent2011.htm

Why Does Easter Matter?
A DVD based family or group study series for Lent.
ukstore.friendsandheroes.com/acatalog/Friends_and_Heroes_Resource_Packs.html

Mission and the Cross
A Lent study course from CMS
www.cms-uk.org/GetInvolved/Forchurches/Morechurchresources/LentResources/tabid/323/Default.aspx

World Vision Lent study guides
Guides available for adults and young people.
www.worldvision.org.uk/server.php?show=nav.2645

Easter Resources

SGM Lifewords
Video, audio and text resources for a creative approach to your Easter celebrations. Free but donations requested.  
www.sgmlifewords.com/easter/

Easter Cracked
A  resource for the whole of the Easter season covering such things as craft, drama, events and service outlines. A book to help churches maximise on outreach opportunities at Easter time. Also features all-age events for Passover and Good Friday, plus assembly outlines and ideas. £9.99
www.scriptureunion.org.uk/ProductFolder/EasterCracked/9704.id 

Tyndale House Easter Videos
Tyndale have produced a series of three short films giving an insight into the experts' evidence for the events of Easter. The videos are available on Youtube.
www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/resources2

The Passion
 The Passion resource pack contains all four episodes of the BBC's highly acclaimed series on a two-disc DVD set together with time-saving, easy-to-use teaching and church resources on CD-ROM. £19.99
www.biblesociety.org.uk/products/518/49/the_passion_the_film/ 

Damaris Trust Easter resources
Damaris offer free resouces including videos and a Countdown to Easter calender. They are also offering free access to the Easter themes in their subscription service Tools for Talks.
www.damaris.org/easter#toolsfortaks

Easter Teaching Resource
Teaching resource for ages 7 - 11 from CMS and the London Diocese. Free
www.cms-uk.org/Resources/Easterschoolsresource/Easterschoolsresourcedownloads/tabid/337/Default.aspx 

Traidcraft Easter Pack
This is a pack of ideas for churches to use during the Lent and Easter season www.traidcraft.co.uk/Resources/Traidcraft/Documents/PDF/General/church_easter_pack.pdf

Easter in Cyberspace
www.easterincyberspace.com/