REV. on TV.

For going on 5 years now, I have been unable to get BBC America on the TV. It has been a sore spot for me seeing as it was a favorite of mine before moving from Cincinnati to Portsmouth.

One of the reasons I like the BBC and British TV in general is for the interesting array of clergy depicted in its shows. Whether it was Gerry from the "Vicar of Dibley," or Fr. Peter from "Ballykissangel," or Channel 4's "Fr. Ted," from Craggy Island or any one of the many others, I appreciated the fact that each of the characters had depth.

Unfortunately for TV viewers in the US, clergy are portrayed in only 2 ways; licentious abusers of power, or desperately soft, good hearted fools whose sole purpose in the plot line is to get taken for a ride.

So here is yet another BBC example of a real live priest, who is neither a child abuser nor a simpleton, but a normal human being trying to do the best he can with what God has tossed in his lap...

Here is a review of REV by Bishop Alan Wilson.

Below is a taste of the article by Bishop Alan....

For all its tendency to self-parody and caricature, I like Rev. It’s a noble enterprise. Those who wrote it know whereof they speak. Adam sits in his Church trying to pray the office, wishing God would bloody do something, but secretly suspecting he won’t until his unworthy servant has made it through the next funeral. It’s a ministry that resents all the distractions, until it realises that the ministry is the distractions.

There’s holiness in the unglamorous, haphazard, but profoundly kind and patient way C of E vicars do urban ministry, even in some of the crazier characters vicars encounter. It’s highly implicit, always understated, rarely obvious. Light very occasionally streams in serendipitously, but the grind is always there. You just have to pray for people, and try to help them make the best of themselves, and never give up.

I hope you will take the time to read the article and the web reviews. Sadly, Americans will be unable to see the REV even with BBC America. Who knows why, but it is not playing on this side of the pond right now. Maybe we're not ready for it yet? But here's hoping the DVD's will some day be released.

Members/Non-members

I came across this post from Fr. Steve this morning. Good content and commentary on giving and the Church...here is a taste with the link to the full article following...

I read everything I can from the Alban Institute. Alban is the congregational development research organization par excellence. The following article (I know it’s long, but a very interesting read) came in my inbox this morning. It speaks somewhat to the theology that as church members (those who participate in the work of the Church) we are not owners. The Church is not ‘ours’ as if we could possess the Body of Christ. The paradox of church membership, as Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple once said/wrote, is that: The Church is the only society on earth that exists for the benefit of non-members....

Check out the entire article here...