Six times I walked out of the front door, down the drive to the car, got in and put on the seat belt. Six times I locked myself out of the house. And then they didn't use the shot.
I was asked one hundred and twenty-eight questions.
The camera was moved and I listened while Joan Bakewell asked them again, one after the other. In the end, parts of eighteen were used. A whole communion service, an Easter Sunday sermon and a school assembly on Easter, all recorded. About thirty seconds appeared in the completed film.
Making television programmes is a time-consuming and costly business. This edition of the BBC's Heart of_The_Matter involved the makers, Roger Bolton Productions, in weeks of research. An initial approach to Don Cupitt led their research assistant to Ronald Pearse and David Paterson, through whom she was able to explore some twenty-five names of possible ministers to take part in the proposed programme.
In my case, this involved several very long telephone conversations and a personal meeting before my participation was agreed. It's worth remembering the deliberately limited scope of the programme - beliefs about the resurrection - but I hoped that in doing it I could also at least help to raise some broader questions about the nature of faith.
Prior to transmission I sought to inform the Bishop of Leicester, Dr Thomas Butler, that I had agreed to appear in a programme, as then untitled, about "honesty in preaching at Easter". I spoke to his secretary, chaplain and press officer on the phone.
The Bishop himself wrote to me asking for my views on the resurrection and I replied in similar terms to those that would subsequently appear on air.
Mr Gummer & the Jellyfish Even before the programme was broadcast, it was making headlines. John Gummer was accusing the BBC of propagating heresy. I appeared with him in a short interview on Radio Four's Sunday. My analogy between finding an authentic style of contemporary faith and the making of art called forth the memorable response from the Minister of Agriculture: "I can't imagine Our Lord saying to His Apostles 'Come follow me and join a painting class'!". This was to produce one of the best articles on this whole affair by Charles Moore in The Spectator under the title Mr Gummer and the jellyfish on Dover Beach. Whilst chiding theological "jellyfish", beached by the withdrawing Sea of Faith, for laying too much stress on personal judgement, Moore efficiently skewered Gummer's literalism: "But the Minister is missing something. Our Lord did not propose to make the sons of Zebedee fishers of men, tacking across the Sea of Galilee catching unsuspecting Jews in their nets."
He was using a metaphor, a metaphor that was strong because of its immediate application. In Barrow-upon-Stone [sic] in 1992, however, there are probably few fishermen and quite a lot of people attending painting classes. Mr Mitchell is using a metaphor, too, designed to help bring the truth to the people of Barrow-upon-Stone. If Mr Gummer is deriding metaphor he is making faith very difficult. For if faith were only a question of fact, what need of it ?" The Spectator, 25th April.
On the Saturday before transmission, Sea of Faith had hit the front page of The Times. Already it was being misrepresented as a 200-strong body of clergy. "Churchgoers who brave hard-backed wooden pews to renew their faith in salvation this Easter might be in for a spiritual shock when they return home and switch on their television sets. Clergy who do not believe in the bodily resurrection, the divinity of Christ or the transcendence of God "come out" in a documentary due to be broadcast tomorrow night ..." The Times, 18 April.
What Sort of Truth?
Elsewhere in The Times, Clifford Longley wrote a good piece exploring the notion of truth in religion : "The authors of scripture were divinely inspired, the church traditionally insisted, and so were protected against religious error ... It became clear, as scientific knowledge expanded, that divine inspiration had not saved the authors from historical mistakes or scientific error. But if religious truth is not scientific truth, what sort of truth is it ?
Clearly, religious truth is a kind which expects a personal response, not an arid intellectual exercise. It cannot, therefore, be approached neutrally.
Like listening to music, reading poetry or viewing art, the disposition of the person responding alters the effect. It has therefore little to do with 'objective fact' (although if there were no such place as Jerusalem and no such historical person as Jesus of Nazareth, there could be no 'purely religious' truth in the New Testament)." Longley puts his finger on a difficulty for people who have by and large come to regard Genesis as mythical because it is unscientific but then have to reconcile the, to say the least, scientific improbability of the Resurrection : "They have had no help from internecine scraps between conservative evangelicals and theological liberals. The popular perception of the contest portrays it as if 'what actually happened' is the only point worth discussing - was the tomb empty or not ? - whereas the real battle is more political SOF Magazine 10, Summer 1992 3 than theological. It is about which way of reading the Bible (liberal or literal), and therefore which ecclesiastical power bloc, should hold sway in the Church of England." Waiting with trepidation on Easter Sunday, not having seen any preview, I was slightly comforted by A.N.
Wilson in The Sunday Telegraph who "found the clergymen on this programme vaguely dotty" but "liked the parson who said he recited the Creed in the same way that he would recite an epic poem".
So it was with some sense of anticipation that I switched on the television and video at 10.30 pm on Easter Sunday. But after the wonderfully evocative opening sequence of dawn eucharist with David Paterson at St Peter's in Loughborough, I relaxed.
Even before the credits had finished rolling, the telephone was ringing. An atheist friend. All the calls that night were from atheist well-wishers. I watched the programme straight through a second time and went to bed happy to have been a part of it.
By half past eight the next morning, the Bishop had telephoned and made an appointment for me to see him in ten days time. The Bishop of Salisbury was calling for resignations. Dr Carey was saying that "belief in the resurrection is not an appendage to the Christian faith, it is the Christian faith". Clearly we were in trouble.
ONE CHURCH, ONE FAITH ?
But the newspapers were a good distraction. The Times leader questioned the notion of One Church, One Faith and thundered that "For the sake of its good name the Church of England has to address the challenge in the Bishop of Salisbury's remark : 'If you don't believe, you have no business representing the Christian church'." Even The Guardian managed thirty lines reporting John Gummer - "It is the ultimate in living off immoral earnings.".
By midweek, the holiday atmosphere had crept in. "It's shocking enough for us non-believers to hear of men and women of the cloth turning the wine into water like this, " wrote Jill Parkin in the Daily Express. "It must be like discovering your local double-glazing pusher lives in a tent." Meanwhile, a letter from Aileen La Tourette was setting The-Times' readers straight about the nature of SOFs membership and concerns.
The local press were reminding us that David Paterson and myself still had to see the Bishop. "BISHOP TELLS TV VICARS TO KEEP QUIET ...
Two vicars have today been ordered to keep silent." But Aileen was there again on the local letters pages with equal force : "No-one has the right to tell someone else to remain silent like this." THE EASTER DOCTRINE BAZAAR Friday brought the Church_Times and The__Cliutch of England Newspaper. Now there would be some sane and informed theological discussion. But no. In the Church Times it was treated as a media event to be discussed by the press and television critics. Their leader took comfort in the fact that "The Easter doctrine bazaar comes but once a year." Thank goodness for Private_Eye. They had a go at Joan Bakewell's interviewing style. Bakewell You believe in the Resurrection, don't you ? Pri est Er, I suppose I do really. Bakewell Many of your parishioners might find that offensive.
The Church of England Newspaper was being more mischievous, managing to suggest that it was the Bishop of Leicester who was calling for our resignations. They reported that the affair had made the front page of the China Post (I). A leader article reminded us that following the Honest to_ Gmd debate there was a tacit agreement that there needed to be a central "castle" of orthodox belief.
KEEPING QUIET The daily press coverage was something of a distraction to the more serious business of answering the telephone, attending to the correspondence and talking to the parish. My wife and the answering machine bore the brunt of most of the calls as I honoured the Bishop's request to wait until seeing him before making further comments.
Now it was time to visit the castle and discover what dungeons and instruments of torture were still being kept in working order.
A press statement was issued by the Bishop to the effect that, having interviewed us and heard certain regrets and assurances and having also met with our Churchwardens and PCCs and consulted with the Archdeacon of Loughborough and the Rural Dean of Akeley East, he did not "propose to take any further action". This seemed to satisfy all but the local papers. Even the Church press had little more to say other than issue the statements.
Clifford Longley's column in Itte_TiMes (16th May) noted that "the permitted limits of interpretation" allowing us the liberty to deny even the poss/b/44, of miracles "on scientific grounds" suggested that the Church was not prepared to back faith over science.
This, reasoned Longley, had profound implications for the Church's teaching about "the way the world is".
Implications, moreover, harmful to the Church's reputation and as such requiring that the Church "should at least state its reasoning" for allowing myself and David Paterson to remain.
SOMETHING REAL HAPPENED The local press were still enjoying themselves with headlines like "TV ROW VICAR IN NEW CLAIM", "VICARS TOLD TO STAY AWAY", "TV ROW CLERGY UNDER ATTACK" and "HOLY ROW RESURRECTED". The Bishop of Leicester returned to the pages of the Loughborough Echo with an article asserting boundaries to belief and reminding SOF Magazine 10, Summer 1992 readers "that something rea/ happenedwhich created the faith of the disciples." And with regard to myself and David Paterson : "Following the programme I met with the Anglican clergy concerned ... they were able to explain their faith to me in greater detail than was naturally possible in a short TV programme, and they were helped to clarify their understanding in the light of the reactions which many people have made to the programme. They assured me that they were able to re-affirm the statement of belief which we ask our clergy to make when they are ordained or take up a new position. When this statement of faith is affirmed it is the practice of the Church of England neither to interrogate further nor to doubt the integrity of the ministers concerned, particularly as both Parochial Church Councils have assured me that they wish their vicars to continue their ministry among them.
Both Mr Mitchell and Mr Paterson have expressed their sorrow at the pain their words have caused to many good and faithful people. I share this sorrow and greatly regret that the good news of Jesus Christ - risen, ascended, glorified - should have been spoilt for many on Easter Day by this controversy. I hope that we can put this episode behind us ..." ASSESSING THE FEEDBACK Of the seventy letters I received, fifty were supportive, some enquiring about Sea of Faith : " .. may I thank you for the hope that you have given me that I can stay in the C. of E. " " I have been in the wilderness ... and your views were like a breath of fresh air." "I have felt very lonely in my views recently ... and was most uplifted .." "Don't let the b....s get you down !" [bishops -Ed] A dozen were critical or angry or voicing concern or quoting every conceivable biblical text : "Your remarks broadcast on Easter Day caused a good deal of hurt to members of my four churches ..." "The PCC ... have asked me to vigorously respond to your recent statements of belief .." "My dear, whatever has happened to the young man who was so overjoyed when he presided over his first communion .. ?" "Let me tell you - the second you Die you will believe in the resurrection and life after death .." With seven it was hard to tell what point was being made. "You may tell the A-B - Jesus did not die on any cross of wood .." and one writer enclosed a hefty volume Toward The Light, "a message to mankind from the transcendental world." But my favourite was a card posted in France which, when I'd had it translated, was allegedly from a French nun assuring me of the love and support of all the young girls of the Reformed Church and wanting to help me live a passionate life before death !
THE LOCAL FALLOUT Working through the issues in the parish is going to be much more long term. We were to have had an open village meeting following the programme but, with the local press still sniffing around, it was felt best to cancel it.
The Church Council had a meeting with the Bishop and there have been a couple of housegroups to discuss the matter. I've talked with individuals and preached and photocopied sermons on the resurrection, life after death and the divinity of Jesus. People have been curious about this network called Sea of Faith, concerned as to how I can still remain a priest, others accuse me of being a Vicar of Bray. There are those who remain angry and some deeply hurt.
It's now six weeks after the programme. There is still a letter about it most days. There is still the occasional article. The Diocesan News and Views leaflet for June has just appeared with a front page editorial about the programme and a two page letter by the Bishop inside in which he states : "Experimental attempts to interpret the truth of the resurrection in new ways are a good example of the castle-and-borders analogy. Some will be happy to remain firmly in the citadel of faith, affirming the traditional Christian doctrine of a bodily raising of the Lord - and they are right, for this is the centre of our faith. Others will want to explore new, unexpected, even dangerous ways of interpreting the resurrection today. This is also a valuable exercise, provided it remains within the frontiers of Christian faith. It is inherent in the nature of exploration that you do not quite know where you are going ; sometimes, as the explorer presses on, his face turned grimly forwards, it is only the folk back in the castle who realise that he has dropped out of sight. Then it is their job to bring him back to safety, within the established frontiers ..." TIME FOR REFLECTION As I say, six weeks later and time for reflection. Yes, there has no doubt been a lot of discussion up and down the country. But any hope of the programme initiating serious response from academics, theologians and teachers was misplaced. After all, for them there is nothing new about any of this.
Anyone who hopes for a greater freedom of expression and discussion of faith within the church must lay siege to this notion of the castle. For the moment we are bound by the castle formularies and forced to speak in parables. We can take comfort from Don Cupitt's "strategies for survival" in Radicals and the Future of the Church (SCM, 1989) and in Stephen Warnes' article A Cynic in the Network (SOFMAG #8).
SOF Magazine 10, Summer 1992 5 However, none of this should make anyone afraid of popping-up now and again and making a fuss when the opportunity arises. Unless some of us speak a little more plainly, many will continue to feel isolated.
Those of us who belong to churches (or the Church of England, at least) must continue to wage war against theological naivety. (There are occasional encouragements, like Hugh Dawes' radical Freeing the_Faith (SPCK pbk, £7.99). which has just recently appeared.) It may seem like going back to where we were twenty years ago, but we need to build up strong, theologically confident and literate support within parishes. (In this, I think David Paterson was/is in a much stronger position than myself.) AND WHAT ABOUT SOF ?
As for Sea of Faith, it must not become distracted by all this. If anything it must distance itself from the domestic concerns of individual churches. All our efforts in SOF should be put into exploring faith as human creation and finding new ways of making radical, 'postmodern' attitudes to truth accessible.
This is the vital resource and support those of us in the churches most need.
SOF Magazine 10, Summer 1992 23 CONTRIBUTORS STEPHEN MITCHELL is Rector of Barrow-uponSoar and SOF Network Treasurer.