Clergy through the years have had some eccentric interests. Revd. Jack Russell (1795 –1883) first bred the dog which bears his name, whilst Revd Robert Hawker (1803 – 1875) used to dress as a mermaid and sing to people in Bude Harbour. Clergy I know have a wide variety of hobbies ranging from Parkrun to amateur dramatics, from knitting to repairing electronics. It is important for us all to have something which helps us to relax, take us away from the stresses and strains of everyday life, if even for 5 minutes.

My leisure time sees me playing video games. I enjoying gaming not just for the escapism, but also for the power of games to tell stories. Games such as ‘Fallout’ and ‘The Last of Us’ have inspired hit TV shows, whilst one of the hit films of last year was based on the Nintendo classic ‘Super Mario Brothers.’ One of my favourite games is ‘Red Dead Redemption’ in which you play as John Marsden, a cowboy who is forced to take out his old gang members in order to free his wife and son who have been taken hostage by the US government. The story revolves around themes of atonement and the cycle of violence perpetuated by the desire for vengeance. There is a real tragedy and feeling of powerlessness at the end, as a character you have grown to know over 40+ hours of gameplay is killed and there is nothing you can do to stop it.

The telling of stories is one of the things that define us as a species. We tell them to our children, we devote whole degrees to them, we invest billions in TV, film and theatre productions. Stories are not only entertainment, but also a way of exploring themes, and making sense of the world in which we live.

When people asked Jesus what the kingdom of heaven like, he would more often than not tell them a story. The shepherd who leaves 99 sheep alone to go look for the one that is lost. The woman who turns her entire house upside down in order to find just one coin. The father who runs through the street to greet the profligate son before throwing him an extravagant party to welcome him home. The Samaritan who puts his own life in danger to help the man who is lying injured at the side of the road.

We have our own story as a church, but how we tell that story will have changed from how our grandparents told that story, and will no doubt change once again as we tell it to our grandchildren, and again as they tell it to their grandchildren. Over the next 18months we will be doing some work on what our story is and how we tell it today as we seek to engage with the Deanery ‘Growing Churches’ programme. The programme was launched in May and there will be more details in what it means for us coming in the future, which leaves this story to be continued….