Christians in Britain have criticised the government for not giving more prominence to marking the new millennium as the two-thousandth anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ.

So one church in the East End of London -- the Kingsway International Christian Centre -- is staging a big celebration at the London Arena with some of the world's leading gospel singers taking part.

The church's Nigerian-born pastor, Matthew Ashimolowo, said the event was expected to be bigger than the opening of the Millennium Dome, where, he said, Jesus had been given a small corner of one of fourteen themed zones.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service