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Original poster

Let's talk about Pete Owen Jones, shall we?

16 replies

WilfSell · 11/01/2009 22:12

DH and I were watching him last night doing his 80 Faiths around the world thing.

And of course - very interesting though it was - we spent much time debating him. He's definitely got the Aristo younger son in the clergy public school voice. And yet he looks so wonderfully, er, ravaged .

And also kind of naff, with his cuban heels and his slightly dirty FE lecturer circa 1986 clothing.

But for all that, I like him. There's nothing like a bit of incongruity in a vicar to be appealing

What do you think? An interesting life? Or just a cliché?

OP posts:
Tinker · 11/01/2009 22:26

Just googled and found this which may explain his slightly raddled appearance - Australian sun and pre-god life:

"Peter Owen Jones dropped out of public school at the age of 16 and went to Australia to make his fortune. Returning to London, he started in advertising as a messenger boy and worked his way up to creative director. In his late 20s and with a wife and two children, he gave it all up to follow a calling to the Anglican ministry by enrolling at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. He charts the many battles he had to fight on the road to ordination and the many varied characters who people this world largely unimagined by the majority of the British public. With the eye of an outsider he observes the arguments that rage between evangelicals, Anglo-Catholics and liberals. He chronicles the highs and lows of the college football team. And, above all, he bears witness to his vision of God that has led him to this place which leaves him not a little sceptical of the role of the Church today. Peter Owen Jones is now a curate in a remote Fenland village. In early 1996 he gained a certain notoriety when he conducted a service for the Newbury by-pass protestors."

Original poster
WilfSell · 12/01/2009 16:34

Advertising agent turned vicar?! Excellent.

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Penthesileia · 12/01/2009 16:38

I was thinking about starting a thread about him the other day.

On the contrary, I think he's a bit of an arse.

And, frankly, a heretic.

Penthesileia · 12/01/2009 16:39
Original poster
WilfSell · 12/01/2009 16:41

Tell me more why he's an arse pls?

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Penthesileia · 12/01/2009 16:46

Perhaps I'm overreacting!

What I mean is, in this and his last series, he goes and visits people of different faiths, what have you, and then says something unthinking like, 'Wow - your [insert god here] is rather like JC/ or the Virgin Mary', or whatever.

Now - don't get me wrong (and I am being somewhat tongue in cheek here, I hope you understand), I'm as interested in cultural comparativism as the next woman, but plenty of people in the CoE are woolly and unthinking enough without spouting this kind of (heretical) nonsense! I'd rather see someone with half a brain and a slightly more profound grasp of (their own) religion actually talk about it and, frankly, how they differ. Because, after all, how they differ is one of the reasons we all struggle so to get on!

DYSWIM?

Penthesileia · 12/01/2009 16:47

And furthermore, people like POJ are exactly the reason why the CoE is its own worst enemy. Bringing the church down from within!

Original poster
WilfSell · 12/01/2009 21:14

So he's just a louche heretical hippy then, IYVHO?

OP posts:
Penthesileia · 12/01/2009 21:16

Yes,

Burn him.

lucysnowe · 12/01/2009 22:04

I am torn too. Sometimes I think he looks like a weird old woman, other time surprisingly fit in a sincere-but-silly kind of way.

I know what you mean Pen tho, I was hoping the prog would be a little more rigorous. Especially when he decided to join in the coven to make up for the church burning a load of women or some nonsense. It sounded like he'd swallowed thingy Gardner whole.

Animation · 08/05/2010 15:29

I watched him last night on his new TV series about how to live a simple life. I liked his message about getting closer to nature, rejecting the rat race and our need "for more". In fact it was a very entertaining programme - I'll be watching it again next Friday at 9pm.

He is very charming and obviously well liked, but there is something about him that doesn't add up - like contradictions ethically. I found myself wondering what kind of husband and dad he was like to his x wife and 4 children.

MarthaQuest · 09/05/2010 21:44

I quite fancy him. I may have had a dream about him last night.

MarthaQuest · 09/05/2010 21:46

At first I thought he was related to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall-he's a very similar type.

pixistars · 22/05/2010 05:42

There is something a bit sexy about him, in a wierd way. I didn't think much of him in 80 faiths, but in how to live a simple life he has become my new secret wierd crush, lol.
Marthaquest....my exact thought was he is a better looking HFW

MarthaQuest · 22/05/2010 11:58

yes they both have that unkempt, unwashed
thing going on.

winterdune · 25/08/2017 20:52

Just searched "Peter Owen Jones annoying" due to my strong reaction to the South Downs series currently airing on the telly. This thread came up and I wanted to add to it to say how much I enjoyed it, as well as ask for further opinions on the man himself. For my part I'd like to pull off his hat and beads and shove him down a hobbit hole.

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