I'm a Church of England parish priest - AMA

[whyhere]

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

Can you tell me why it is that CofE vicars can marry and have children but Catholic priests cannot? Is it something in the bible or is it another reason? Why do catholic priests take a vow on celibacy when their equivalent in the Church of England do not?

Bugger, we've fallen for a journalist.

Why are numbers going to church falling but numbers of those professing to be Christians is not declining at the same rate? Can you be a Christian without going to church?

Is there anybody out there?

Did you know that AMA is supposed to elicit responses from you?

Do you actually believe in god? By that I mean do you believe in an omnipotent deity which really exists, rather than believing in ‘god’ as some sort of abstract metaphor?
And of the answer to that is ‘Yes’, where is the evidence to substantiate that?

Yes.

I think it's just tradition really. I feel pretty sorry for RC priests because there are now a number of male priests among them who were previously Anglican but converted, who are married - doesn't seem very fair.

You absolutely haven't! I've been a parish priest for twenty-five years and just thought that people might have some questions I can help with 🙂

Such good questions. Falling numbers have, I think, a whole host of reasons: older people losing condition/health/ability/confidence during the lockdowns, and so not returning; families being under so much time pressure; science being much more prominent in our world (not that I, nor many Christians, see a conflict, but some members of the public do); the CofE being so out of step with 'the world' on the subject of same sex relationships....

Many people do believe that it's possible to be a Christian without attending church. However, I can't forget that Jesus told people to gather together to share bread and wine, in memory of him, and that is what the Church tries to do.

I believe so.

Sadly the Church of England expects me to work, so I can't always respond immediately.

Yes, I do believe in God or I absolutely could not fulfil this role. Whether my picture of God is the same as others is impossible to say, so something/one that seems concrete to me may seem abstract to others.

Evidence is in the eye of the beholder, in that experiences I have had that convince me of God's existence probably wouldn't work for others who were not present at the time. Suffice it to say that I have seen enough to convince me, personally.

Speaking more generally, the fact that Jesus' disciples were willing to risk their lives, and the lives of their families, because they saw him alive again after his death and so believed all God's promises, is pretty persuasive. However, I always say that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty.

I hope you don't mind me asking a question outside of the realm of baptisms, marriages and funerals ... .

I am always fascinated by vicar/parish interaction.

Do you find that members of your 'parish' (sorry I am Catholic so not sure of terminology) treat you as though you are super human somehow and expect you to listen to all of their problems?

And do they expect you to never lose your temper and to set exemplary standards in your behaviour and social interactions whatever the situation?

Or do they accept you are a mere mortal and treat you like an ordinary human being and overlook any faults you may have?

And which sort of parishioner is your favourite? 🙃

And how do you negotiate the fact that you live in a close community but you cannot betray anyone's secrets or confidential information? Does it mean that you can't have real friendships within the parish bc you can't always share what's going on?

And if so, is that lonely?

What's your favourite chapter/verse from the Bible?

Why do you believe in God?

Do you let the unconfirmed receive holy communion?

What's the worst confession you've ever heard

Church attendance has fallen off a cliff. How can the church make itself relevant again, particularly to the young?

Hi OP. What job did you do before becoming a minister?

And by extension - do you have a mainly elderly congregation or also families and young people?

What do you think of parents who begin attending church while the school applications are open? Then hand you the form for the school for you to say that the parents are known to the church so that they can get their kids into the good school in the area which happens to be C of E?

Do you see right through those parents?

Obviously a total random question and not something that I would do….. 🤥

Another question - would you allow an agnostic (openly so) and a Christian to marry in your church, where the agnostic is supportive of the Christian's faith but doesn't share it?

Asking because this was DH and me - we married in a register office in the end but I'm curious to know if church would have been an option, had DH felt strongly about it.

How is the American Episcopal Church generally perceived within the C of E? Is their ordination of openly gay clergy that much of an issue? Full disclosure, I'm an American Episcopalian.

If God is real why did he allow my father to rape me whilst I was a child?
This one fact makes it absolutely impossible for me to believe in God.