A reverend ‘ruined Christmas’ by telling 200 children the truth about Santa (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A reverend at a church in Stevenage has ‘ruined Christmas’ by telling hundreds of young children that Santa isn’t real.

More than 200 Year 7 pupils attended a carol concert at St Nicholas Church , hosted by the rector, Reverend Edward Keene.

At the end of the event, Rev Keene delivered a speech on ‘truth,’ during which an angry parent told The Comet ‘He decided the whole of Year 7 needed to know Santa isn’t real, as they are entering the real world.’ 

‘There were tears,’ they added. ‘Each to their own beliefs, but don’t ruin the small bit of magic still left in the world for those who do believe.’

After parents of pupils complained about the rector’s outburst, Rev Keene responded by saying the concert was ‘free of charge’ and that his ‘encouragement to the children was that, now they are at secondary school, to think carefully about what is true and what is not.’

He continued: ‘As the Year 7 children are at, or nearly at the age of 12, I considered it would be acceptable to point out that Father Christmas is not real.’

But parent Steve Shaw hit back and said: ‘This guy doesn’t know about the children’s home lives and situations. Why did he need to say this? Who is he to deliver this news?’

The ‘truth bomb’ came during a carol service at St Nichols church in Stevenage (Picture: Wikipedia)

Another parent, Emma Race, said the announcement had ‘ruined her daughter’s Christmas.’

‘My daughter was upset and confused,’ she added. ‘Lots more children were affected in similar ways.’

Staff at the Barclay Academy, where the pupils attended school, said they were ‘just as shocked’ by the Reverend’s revelation and had no idea he planned to drop such a bombshell on the unsuspecting youngsters.

‘We understand the problems and stress this may have caused,’ the school said, adding that it will contact the church to ensure it does not happen at next year’s carol concert.

Revd Keene told the Comet that he was “taken by surprise” by some of the reactions of parents.

‘As the event to that point had included songs and readings about a range of characters, including Father Christmas and the sleigh, the Grinch and Jesus Christ, I did note that discernment had to be exercised and that some of these are real and others are not,’ he said.

‘At the time, this proved a point of amusement for the children rather than one of upset.

‘The topic of the reflection was aimed at a secondary school audience and would not be the same for a primary or pre-primary one.

‘I will approach the topic differently in the future, as well as apologising for any undue upset inadvertently caused – this was by no means my intent.’

The ‘truth bomb’ comes just a week after a supply teacher at a primary school in Bournemouth was sacked for similarly telling a class that Father Christmas wasn’t real.

She is said to have upset many of the Year Six pupils who left school in the afternoon asking their parents if it was true.

The school emailed a letter to parents ‘apologising profusely’ for the upset caused to their children by the Santa slur.

They said they were ‘deeply disappointed’ with the teacher in question and said she will not be returning to the school.

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Over 200 children were told the truth about Santa during a Christmas carol service.