Brian Mountford Interviewed by Angela Tilby

Church of England priest Rev Brian Mountford talks about his memoir, including of the 30 years he spent at the most visited parish church in England, the University Church Oxford.

Mountford’s memoir stretches from a 1950s childhood all the way to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is full of anecdote and of reflections on God, the meaning of life, sexual ethics, and the relationship between doubt and faith. Central to Mountford’s thinking is the idea that the abandonment of organised religion has not eradicated spiritual questioning.
‘All his qualities are vividly present in this book, as well as a lively gift for scene-setting and character-drawing. I enjoyed it enormously.’ Philip Pullman

Mountford is a former fellow and chaplain of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He became vicar of the University Church in 1986 and retired in 2016. Here he talks to Rev Angela Tilby, a canon of Christ Church Oxford and a former senior BBC producer in the religious department.

This event is part of the festival’s programme on Christian tradition.