Troubles for the Chaplain
First there was the Country Parish, then the Seaside Parish, there was also the Parish in the Sun on ITV and now the Island Parish. The popular format is generally the same. Whether it was the young Jamie Allen, moving from urban to rural ministry and infuriating the country set, the nervy Vicar of Boscastle, Christina Musser who coped with flooding and helicopters but later gave it all up, the charming condescension of Robert Ellis in his ubiquitous shorts as he ministered to the pensioners on Majorca, or now the hapless Father Guy Scott, struggling on the Scillies, we always get a warts ‘n all portrayal of life as a Vicar. Well, with the exception of Robert who, as a former Communications Officer, tried to ‘manage’ his footage with mixed success.
The common theme is of God’s work continuing despite the parish priest rather than because of him or her. I don’t mean this unkindly – well maybe I do. But so often the viewer seems to have a much clearer and broader picture of what’s going on than the Vicar. Father Guy, who I don’t know but who seems a very pleasant fellow, has two problems. First he’s stuck on an island and is therefore feeling isolated. He doesn’t get much support, it seems, from either the Diocese of Truro, other colleagues, islanders themselves, or even from his flock. And that’s probably because, second problem, he’s a man of traditional and somewhat intransigent theological and ecclesiological views, and therefore seems to see himself as a bit apart from that sort of help. If nothing else this series illustrates the shortcomings of more traditional, high church Anglicanism when coupled with a dogmatic and starchy approach to the job. It’s an approach that puts peoples backs up very quickly and certainly fails to deliver when it comes to the rich tapestry of pastoral situations one apparently find on beautiful, idyllic group of islands in the Atlantic.
This week Father Guy blesses a tree (‘I bless this tree’. Er, hang on, isn’t that God’s job?), bans parishioners on another island from holding their own, non-eucharistic service (which means they have to wait for him to get there on a boat before they are allowed to worship), creates anger by refusing to marry a couple because one is divorced and then decides not to go to the local pub, the epicentre of island life, on the grounds that he knows people’s secrets: ‘I cannot go to the Mermaid Inn and say , oh so and so’s been to see me. Guess what he said..’ (possibly the lamest excuse ever heard). No wonder his wardens are wondering if he’s up to it. Whereas Rob Ellis on his island would have stripped even more clothes off to join in on one of the racing gigs, Father Guy stands limp and lettuce like on the shore while our trusty narrator tries to get him more involved. It comes to something when the production crew have a better idea of what’s needed than the Vicar.
Oh Guy, Guy, Guy!…. Would that he was the exception that proves the rule, but when you’re in this job you know that he’s not. I think of my Mother, an active committed churchgoer, bemoaning the clergy for their often insensitive, frequently boorish, generally clumsy, and sometimes unloving attitudes and actions. She could be a hash critic but she was also very forgiving and supportive when it mattered.
I’m guessing Father Guy is not a great fan of TV’s Pub Landlord, but like a few of his colleagues, he could do with a bit of Al Murray’s British Common Sense. And Mr Murray would add, ‘He didn’t Think it Through, did he?!’ Let’s hope he lightens up a little for everyone’s sake.
Labels: A Country parish, A Parish in the Sun, A Seaside Parish, An Island Parish, Father Guy, Pub Landlord, Revd Robert Ellis, Tiger Aspect
posted by John Carter @ 6:22 pm
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