A much welcome rebellious soul - March 29 - 11.35am - 2022

Reverend Brian Mountford talks about his memoir

My diary reads “Church Bash - 10am”. Which probably says everything you need to know about my relationship with religion. But you know what? I really enjoyed it. And the man doing the talking? Church of England priest Rev Brian Mountford. Though frankly that description in the printed festival guide doesn’t really join the dots. Online, he’s more fully coloured in: ‘Mountford is a former fellow and chaplain of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He became vicar of the University Church Oxford in 1986” (the most visited parish church in England for those of you who value ‘Trivial Pursuit’ trivia). His book, ‘Church Going Gone’ - initially titled ‘Church Going’ until told: “Who is going to read a book about going to church?” - is a memoir which, we’re told, brims with “anecdote and reflections on God, the meaning of life, sexual ethics, and the relationship between doubt and faith”. And considering that spiel, very entertaining and refreshing he turned out to be. Playfully droll, down-to-earth accessible and reassuringly commercial: “I have six copies of my book in my brief case if anyone’s interested…”, I settled back to enjoy the easy tete-a-tete between Mountford and his interviewer Reverend Angela Tilby, canon of Christ Church Oxford. And while I myself might not have ‘instinctively’ plumped for this event at the Bodleian Divinity School, others better informed - and there were many - obviously did. An unexpected delight.