A Kent church is giving away 1,000 free tickets to single-parent families to see the new Disney film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, which opens in cinemas across the country next week.

|PIC1|The director of worship at St Luke’s in Maidstone, Ross Hughes, assured that there were absolutely no strings attached in the offer, reports Church Times, but that the tickets were a free gift to those who might not otherwise be able to afford to see the film.

St Luke’s has set up a special Narnia website, whoisaslan.net, giving background information on the film based on the classic children’s book by C.S. Lewis, and with a ticket-booking facilities for members of single-parent families to apply.

Mr Hughes added that there would be no checks made on whether the people applying for the tickets were from single-parent families, but that it would be taken on trust.

He said the give-away was not another attempt to fill church pews but about putting the Christian message in the news.

|AD|“All too often, the news is about gay bishops and women bishops,” said Mr Hughes. “The Church has done for Jesus what Jaws did for swimming lessons. We are trying to change that with these big campaigns.”

St Luke’s is getting further engaged with promoting Christ through Narnia by running a stall at the local Odeon cinema in Maidstone where cinema-goers can ask questions about the film.

The Methodist Church has also launched a special webpage to coincide with the opening of the film with tips and ideas on how to use the themes of the film to discuss Christianity with children.

The Catholic Enquiry Office, part of the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, has launched a new section on one of its websites for the release of the film.

The website, life4seekers.co.uk/Narnia, features a number of Narnia-themed resources, including recipes for Turkish delight, competitions and articles.

Coventry Cathedral will also open a Narnia-themed grotto for visiting children from Monday, where children will receive “golden tickets” giving free entry to see the film in Coventry over Christmas.