‘Ridiculously enjoyable’ Tom Holland A Book of the Year for The Times, Mail on Sunday and BBC History Magazine The ‘Mermaid of Morwenstow’ excommunicated a cat for mousing on a Sunday. When he was late for a service, Bishop Lancelot Fleming commandeered a Navy helicopter. ‘Mad Jack’ swapped his surplice for leopard skin and insisted on being carried around in a coffin. And then there was the man who, like Noah’s evil twin, tried to eat one of each of God’s creatures… In spite of all this they saw the church as their true calling. These portraits reveal the Anglican church in all its colourful madness.

These parson-naturalists made a significant contribution to the development of British scientific natural history, and played an important role in the foundation of the conservation movement and in the origins of organisations such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the National Trust. This book presents a full range of interesting and sometimes eccentric individuals from the early days of the Christian faith in the British Isles to modern times. Missionary endeavor and service to the Empire brought the influence of the English parson-naturalist to the very ends of the earth. A key to the appreciation of the success of the parson-naturalist phenomenon is understanding the social milieu in which these men worked. Until the twentieth century clergy were members of a relatively tightly-knit social group, often related to one another by kinship or marriage; a man's clerical colleagues were also his scientific colleagues and his kinsfolk.

Combining thematic analysis and stimulating close readings, 'The Collar' is a wide-ranging study of the many ways - heroic or comic, shrewd or dastardly - in which Christian clergy have been represented in literature, from George Herbert and Laurence Sterne, via Anthony Trollope, G.K. Chesterton, T.S. Eliot, and Graham Greene, to Susan Howatch and Robertson Davies, and in film and television, such as 'Pale Rider', 'The Thorn Birds', 'The Vicar of Dibley', and 'Father Ted'. Since all Christians are expected to be involved in ministry of some type, the assumptions of secular culture about ministers affect more than just clergy. Ranging across several nations (particularly Britain, the U.S., and Canada), denominations, and centuries, 'The Collar' encouragescreative and faithful responses to the challenges of Christian leadership and develops awareness of the times when leadership expectations become too extreme. Using the framework of different media to make inquiries about pastoral passion, frustration, and fallibility, Sue Sorensen's well-informed, sprightly, and perceptive book will be helpful to anyone who enjoys evocative literature and film as well as to clergy and those interested in practical theology.

Explores the origins and development of the clergy using a variety of sources and insights from thinkers such as Darwin and Foucault.

Priestly ministry in the Church of England needs a radical rethink... George Herbert died in 1633. His legacy continues. His poems are read and sung, and his parish ministry remains the model for the Church of England's understanding of how and where and why its priests should minister. But there is a problem. The memory of Herbert celebrated by the Church is an inaccurate one, and, in its inaccuracy, is unfair on Herbert himself and his successors in the ordained ministry. This is a book of the long view. It sets out to assess realistically the context of Herbert's life and to explore the difficulties of parish life today. By examining the status and role of parish clergy since Herbert's time and today, it draws on the work of historians, social anthropologists, psychologists and theologians, and presents their ideas in a readable and passionate style. It argues that the future strength of parochial ministry will be found in a recovery of historic, renewed understandings of priestly ministry, and concludes by outlining more sustainable patterns of practice for the future. In a climate of uncertainty for the future of the church, it will be an encouragement for priest and people, and welcomed by both.