I'm a Church of England parish priest - AMA

[whyhere]

Baptisms, weddings, funerals, Sunday worship, belief in general - I'm at your service 🙂

If God doesn't exist would you feel betrayed and like your life has been built around a false assumption?

What temperature do you wash your vestments?

Do you conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies and if not why not?

Have you ever performed a marriage ceremony and thought "they'll be divorcing in a year"?

Did you have ‘a calling’?

Do many in your profession lose their faith and still continue?

What do you think about churches keeping up numbers of worshippers through people attending to access schools?

Do you actually believe in God?

Baptisms, weddings, services etc all happen on the weekend. What do you do during the week? Would you say your job is more than, less than or equivalent to a full time job?

Where does your experience of priest-life sit along the Vicar of Dibley (life and heart of the village) to Rev (Urban "oh lord why hast thou forsaken me!) continuum?

Has anyone come to you for help because they believe they have evil spirits in their house, or think that someone has been possessed?

How much does it wind you up when people think your job is just on Sundays😃?

With all the admin, legal stuff, lots of evening meetings making long days, annoying people in PCC meetings, trying to keep the balance between progressive and traditional sides of the church, financial worries and the mental burden of just"being there" for people, often at the most stressful times if their lives...how do you keep your sanity, and how close to burnout do you feel?

Do you believe in heaven and hell? If so who goes to hell? Is it just evil people or if you don't believe in God do you go?

Sorry for the heavy question

bless you and thank you for doing the Lords work.

When did you know you wanted to be a priest and how long did it take to become one?

Do priests seek promotions?

What, exactly, is "the Lord's work"?

How can you possibly give you life to a 'God' that either:

a) Does not exist
b) If they do exist, allows unimaginable suffering of the vulnerable because they are protecting the rights of perpetrators to 'free will' - if a parent did that, E.g allowed someone to abuse their child, they'd be punished and vilified.

Why do Christians think they are so important and worthy of being listened to in a country where they are a small minority?

Why do you think people are religious? Why do you think so many people are persuaded to believe in something they can't see?
Do you have any atheist friends and if so do you have interesting discussions?
Are there any religions you think are harmful?

I want to ask the same. Are you 100% comfortable with same sex couples in your congregation? Do you think they are sinning and if so, is that 'sin' on a more serious level than the vices of avarice, gluttony, sloth etc that the rest of the congregation thrive on?

How do you feel about the head of your church being a multi millionaire who has never lived a normal life and was born into the role? Would you like that to be changed?

Church attendance is so low especially among young people. Many people no longer identify as Christian. The church will no longer be relevant in society for many of us. Do you agree?

Do you believe dinosaurs were real?

no my real question is do you believe 100% in the bible? I think it’s hard today when we clearly know the world was not created in 7 days. And the whole Jesus being the son of god and resurrecting bit? I do believe there was once a guy called Jesus, and he was a preacher and believed in treating people with kindness and living a good unselfish life, but born of a virgin? Actual son of god? Resurrecting after death? That’s all a bit far fetched. How would you preach the bible being absolute when you know, scientifically, its unlikely.

also, how would you revive faith in this country and encourage attendance at church? I don’t think there is a lack of faith or spirituality in this country, despite what the stats say, I think more are similar to me - they know the bible is not true (see above) so don’t feel they can identify as Christian, but they still believe in something bigger. Is it time the Church of England adapted into a more open 21st century faith of the people? Less prayer, more discussion on how to lead good lives.
I’ve always thought if we had more gospel churches I’d be more inclined to attend. But a drab rendition of morning is broken, a dull bible reading and a drafty church does not make me want to leave my bed on a cold Sunday morning

Perhaps you’re a bit too old to start an education. However, using the time you took to ask me that question why didn’t you just type it into a search engine?

Why would the God of the Church of England be the 'correct' one, yet all the various gods believed in by other religions be wrong? Or do you believe they are one and the same?

The latest census shows that less than half the population identify as C of E. Do you think there should now be a separation of church and state?