With the world’s eyes on Qatar, there’s a huge rumpus brewing in the clergy circles I move in – both face-to-face and on social media – about a suggestion by the Church of England that the World Cup Final on 18 December somehow trumps the last Sunday in Advent and that therefore traditional carol services that would normally take place on that day should be rescheduled. I am now wondering what all the fuss is about. The construction the always-happy-to-be-outraged had put upon this advice was that one of the two most important English religions – the National Health Service and professional football – had scored a goal against Christianity and Church of England calendrical propriety while ecclesiastical goal keepers were still in the locker room talking, as usual, about sex.