COLUMN
COLUMNIST
47
KATE BOTTLEY
Looking for a reaction
Like many a busy minister, I preach week in
and week out at my churches; it’s a core bit
of my calling. But just occasionally I wonder
if any of them are actually listening.
L
ike the time I did 20 minutes
on ‘Sin’ – really laid it on thick
too – and true to form at the
porch door, no one said anything
except ‘Lovely sermon, vicar’.
Sometimes you just ache for them to
say anything: argue, agree, run me
out of town with pitchforks, anything
but the deathly ‘Lovely sermon vicar.’
FRANK SAID THAT THE SERMON
HAD BEEN TOO GRAPHIC, TOO
BLOODY. I COULD HAVE GIVEN
THE CHILDREN NIGHTMARES.
THERE WAS EVEN THE
SUGGESTION THAT SERMONS
WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO MAKE
But a Sunday two weeks ago was
US FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE;
different. I preached on the cross. It
was the feast of the Holy Cross and so THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO
it seemed apt. I had done my research MAKE US FEEL BETTER.
and had painstakingly searched
through books, websites and journals
and found out everything I could
about the process of crucifixion. It
was brilliant. I described in detail
how someone dies when they are
crucified, the exact position of the
nails, the suffocation, the loss of
blood and bodily functions.
Many of the congregation looked
visibly moved by the power of
my words. One ten-year-old boy
looked particularly and unusually
fascinated, while his mum next to
him was decidedly green around the
gills. I had reached them. Finally they
had engaged with the topic. I could
see they had.
I pointed out our stained glass
window that depicts the crucifixion
LWPT8462 - Preach Magazine - Issue 2 v2.indd 47
and asked them to look carefully at
the blood stained hands of Christ,
one hand flat against the wood, the
other in the position of blessing and
absolution. As they came up for
Communion many of them paused to
look up at the window which they had
walked past hundreds of times before
and saw it in a new way. I went home,
my heart warmed, and congratulated
myself on a sermon well done.
I opened my emails after lunch and
there it was, the complaint. Frank
is not one for complaining, an older
member of the church, he doesn’t
hear as well as he might and so I
was pleased to know at least he’d
been listening. Frank said that
the sermon had been too graphic,
too bloody. I could have given the
children nightmares. There was
even the suggestion that sermons
were not supposed to make us feel
uncomfortable; they were supposed to
make us feel better.
I phoned, we chatted and we agreed
to disagree. But at least I knew he’d
been listening and it had provoked
a response. We had never had a
theological conversation before, Frank
and me, and now we had. We even
agreed to a pub meeting to talk more
(I’ll let you know how we get on).
So imagine how pleased I was when
this Sunday as I rose from my stall
to ascend the pulpit steps, I saw
Frank, my new theological sparring
partner in his usual place, fiddle
with his hearing aid dial. At the end
of the service I commented to Frank
how pleased I was to see him turn
the volume up to listen better. ‘Oh no,
vicar, I was turning it off. You do talk
some rubbish sometimes you know.’
Kate Bottley
Kate Bottley is an Anglican priest, wife and
mother, who stars in Channel 4’s Gogglebox. She
gained a national profile when a YouTube video of
her leading a flash mob at the end of a wedding
ceremony went viral in 2013, and has since done
a wonderful job of dismantling stereotypes about
Church of England clergy.
09/01/2015 14:36:17