A church is reaching out to the community to remind families of the true meaning of Christmas by hiding decorated rocks with images of the baby Jesus.

The congregation from Earls Hall Baptist Church, Hobleythick Lane, Westcliff, has painted 1,000 rocks for their community to find as a creative way to reach out to people this Christmas.

It is a festive take on the 'Love Rocks' that so many people have enjoyed in the past. The idea is that once people find a rock they take it home and upload a photo to social media which allows others to follow the discovery of these little treasures.

They do this using the hashtag #ehJesusRocks

Rev Tom Vernon, minister of the church said: "We hope people will have fun finding a Jesus rock as they are out and about and that they will keep the rock as a gift with our love. But also, that it will help us to think about where Jesus fits into Christmas amongst everything else that goes on at this time of year." 

The rocks are already causing quite a buzz around the area with families from both local primary schools joining in with the search, but not only young families, people of all ages.

If someone is fortunate enough to find a Jesus rock, as well as getting involved on social media, they are invited to bring their rock to the Jesus Rocks Celebration at the church on December 22 at 4pm.

For more information visit www.earlshall.com