Keep Sunday stressful

Whatever happened to keeping Sunday special?

It’s 25 years this year since Sunday trading rules were liberalised in England and Wales at the end of August 1994. At the time, a powerful coalition of church leaders, trade unions and others fought to stop it being deregulated even more. The name of their campaign? KSS – or Keep Sunday Special.

But now, for many Christians, it is a case of a different sort of KSS: Keep Sunday Stressful! Looking back it is hard to believe the extent since that time to which Christians in general, and church leaders also, have simply rolled over and into line with the prevailing ethic of seven-day trading and activity.