There are so many different ways to celebrate Christmas, some quiet and contemplative, some loud and more profane than spiritual. To people not familiar with the vast range of forms of worship which are available within Christianity, or able to comprehend the huge range of doctrinal differences which there are, it can be all a bit daunting. Given the commercialism which can get added to the mix and the non-Christian traditions, it is not surprising that some people really do not understand it at all.

Many years ago, driving one Christmas Eve in a taxi in Hong Kong, my non-Christian driver turned down the jingles for a Christmas Sale coming over the radio and turned to me with a very profound question: 'Tell, me, when is the silent night?'

This by way of an introduction to a major row which is threatening to drive all thoughts of silent beauty and love for all men from the hearts of many local residents. On the site of the now unused Walthamstow Dog track, a controversial evangelical Christian group called the Kingsway International Christian Centre is erecting a tent intended to house up to 8000 people for worship during the Christmas and New Year period.

One reason they are using a tent, is apparently that they have been denied the planning permission elsewhere to build the kind of church which could accommodate their congregation. They have, for instance been muscled aside by the Olympics. This feeling of being unwelcome might contribute to their attitude to what they see as a hostile public. They have a large following, allegedly growing rapidly, but are not, on the whole, a very well respected or liked group locally. They also have a strong element of American black culture represented in their gospel-oriented services.

Some residents are concerned about this group because of a track record of holding very noisy services. Others fear that the attendant traffic and parking problems will be severe. The group has also come under criticism for the alleged behaviour of some of its members. It is alleged that they have been known to treat the public services and spaces in the immediate vicinity of their meetings as if they were private property. Credibility issues have not been assisted in my view by a thick-skinned PR approach which includes grandiose and patently unrealistic claims that the event will be televised to reach more countries than have seats on the United Nations. (They seem, unfeasibly, to be including the Vatican in their nation count).

More profound criticisms are directed at the kind of organisation, which has been described as more of a business than a church, one which the Charity Commission has had cause to intervene in in the past, due to "serious misconduct and mismanagement".

Initial reports indicated that there would be three services at the barely breathing Walthamstow Stadium: Christmas Day from 10am to 1pm, Sunday, December 28 from 10am to 1pm, and on New Year’s Eve from 8pm until 'after midnight'.

The publicity posters however now show that the group has a biblical interpretation of 'after midnight' to mean 4.00am, and residents have now been alerted to the in-your-face attitude of the KICC to what is a residential area by their publicity material and website, which promises something akin to an aggressive 'Takeover'. Estimated numbers of attendees have now reached 15,000.

I do not believe that forms of worship should be 'banned', nor that enforcing parking and noise laws should be used as a means of actually stifling freedom of worship. I also tend to be wary of people who want to 'save' people from themselves, in a democratic society where the people concerned have full, if not fuller, access to information than everyone else has, about the nature of group they are a member of.

For all that I find their form of Christianity one I cannot identify with, I do believe that this Church should be allowed to worship. I also believe however they should look very carefully at themselves and think about how it is that they have alienated so many people. That will take some time of course, and I do not expect there will be a shining road to Damascus moment between now and Christmas. Because of this they shall have to be required to abide by very strict limits on the size and volume of this event. Given that at 4.00am it is too late to complain later, the powers that be should be taking all steps now to make sure that these limits are set down clearly and make serious efforts to ensure that they are enforced rigorously by the local authority and the police, if they are broken in any way.

(Updated 30 December 2008)