In praise of holy fools

Simon Jenkins muses on the saints who found the ultra-violet of holiness as divine lunatics, outsiders and troublemakers

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Mission San Luis Rey

Applause and 'Singing Mother Superior' at the King of the Missions.
14 Jul 19
Oceanside, California, USA

Brecon Cathedral

Unmistakably Anglican – fine line between stilted and conversational
5 Jul 19
Brecon, Wales

Eccentrics, nutters, prodigals and rogues

Three splendid specimens from Fergus Butler-Gallie's celebrated Field Guide to the English Clergy.
18 Dec 18
Pastor Orr dangles above his congregation in Mississippi

Lo! He comes on wires descending

Mississippi pastor drops in on his congregation to tell them about the Second Coming
30 Nov 18
Auto de Fe in the Plaza Mayor de Madrid, 1683

Reporting yourself to the Inquisition

The story of a soldier who turned himself in to the religious police is tweeted by an historian
21 Nov 18
Photo of BBC Broadcasting House

Should Thought for the Day lose its religion?

OK, but wouldn't that make it like almost every other bit of the BBC?
14 Nov 18
Photo of church service sheet

Thanks a lot, Lord

When a Durham Cathedral service sheet took on the tone of a sulky teenager
14 Nov 18
Private Gerald Thompson

A Christian in Hell Fire Corner

Huw Spanner recently came across letters from the Western Front, written by his great-uncle, a devout evangelical Christian.
14 Nov 18
Photo of the title page of The Tryal of the Witnesses of the Ressurection of Jesus by Thomas Sherlock

A cold case from zero AD

A chance discovery in a secondhand bookshop opens up a history of books where the resurrection goes on trial
7 Nov 18
Photo of church service sheet with typo

A boob in the hymn sheet

Heaven alone knows whether the congregation were still able to sing after verse 4
22 Oct 18
Photo of a halloween pumpkin

Why Halloween should be part of the church year

First the church tried to subvert it, then sanitize it, but why not try embracing Halloween?
22 Oct 18

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Calvary Chapel, Surprise, AZ (Exterior)

Calvary Chapel

Couldn't be happier, couldn't be clappier - with an exodus to McDonalds
19 Mar 17
Surprise, Arizona, USA

Ripon Cathedral

Ash Wednesday at this monumental cathedral brings to mind the triumph of God’s glory
6 Mar 19
Ripon, North Yorkshire, England

St John 's

Noisy crowd spoils anthem at an otherwise inspiring service
7 Apr 19
Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill, London

St Margaret’s of Antioch

Be a witness to the Resurrection – and have some coffee and biscuits
21 Apr 19
St Margaret’s at Cliffe, England
Image of St Simeon the Holy Fool

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