Touching Cloth is a wickedly entertaining record of life as a young priest and a love letter to the Church of England at its best
A laugh-out-loud memoir of becoming a 21st-century priest, Touching Cloth is also a love letter to the Prayer Book, Liverpool, funerals, cake tins, lager and, above all, to what the Church of England can be at its best.
The very word ‘reverend’ inspires solemnity. To be a priest is to dedicate one’s life to quiet prayer and spiritual contemplation, or is it?
Fergus Butler-Gallie reveals what it’s like to become a priest in the 21st century. Find out why black really is slimming, how to keep a straight face when someone is inadvertently hot-boxing a funeral, and which royal-themed biscuit tin can best contain a very loud personal alarm that no one knows how to switch off. Spot a sweet old lady trying to pay for a taxi with coinage from fascist Spain?
Behind the daily scrapes is an all-too-human love letter to the Church of England and the amazing variety of people who manage to keep it going by providing a listening ear, company and community at a time when so many people desperately need it and a reflection on what it means to follow a spiritual path amidst the chaos of the modern world.
Fergus Butler-Gallie is a writer and priest who has ministered in parishes in Liverpool and Central London. He grew up within a large family of maniacs and was then educated at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. He speaks regularly on radio and writes for several newspapers and journals.
Date and Time
12 October 2023 at 7:00 pm
Venue
St Michael's Church, Mere
Ticket Prices
£10 per person
Tickets for this talk will be available 01 September for Friends of the Festival, general sale will be available 08 September 2023.
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