Priest Idol
The first episode of a three part series called Priest Idol was shown on Channel 4 tonight. For the last year the television cameras have been following Father James McCaskill around as he took up the job of vicar at St Magdalene, the only remaining church left in Lundwood.
Lundwood is a village on the outskirts of Barnsley. It was once a mining town, but since the last pit was closed in 1991 the area has been in decline. There is high unemployment in the village, drug problems and teenage pregnancies. Village life seems to focus around the community centre. St Magdalene's, is struggling to make an impact in Lundwood. The church building is not in the best condition, the congregation just about reaches double figure and most of them are over 50 years old.
The Archdeacon of Pontefract, whose responsibilities include Lundwood, has advertised for a new vicar. Only one person applied an American priest from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After being given a tour of the local area and surviving an interview with the church wardens he is offered the job and accepts it. There is one small catch, in the bottom of his contract is a clause saying that television cameras would be following him as they are making a documentary in the parish!
The new priest goes to the local community centre and introduces himself and invites the people to come to church. One or two said they would, but most people were apathetic towards the church. The Archdeacon conducts the new priests induction service and there are three new people in the congregation. However, two of them are James' parents!
The priest is determined to see numbers grow in the church and whenever possible invites people to come along to the 10am Sunday morning service. Unfortuantely, church numbers continue to remain low. However, James is not easily discouraged and continues to build up relationships with the local people. He is particularly keen to see young people come to church. The priest goes along to the local comedy club and strikes up a friendship with the local comedian Toby Foster, who gives him some coaching in sermon delivery.
The Archdeacon of Pontefract in a bold move calls in a marketing team, called Propaganda based in Leeds to "sell God." The marketing team visit Lundwood and begin to realise that this will not be an easy job, especially when the priest tells them that he wants to see teenagers in the church. Some of the marketing team interviewed some local teenagers to get their views on God and the church.
James continues to build up relationships and again ponders how to get young people to church. He visits the local boxing club and asks the trainer for advice. In addition he visits a local school and is quizzed by many of the young people. He starts to realise that he needs to offer them something different to the normal Sunday morning 10am service. The priest has a pizza evening after school at church which is popular and enables him to continue to build up relationships.
As Christmas approaches some of the village school choir agree to sing in the Christmas carol service. At last a group of teenagers come along to the church for a service. The priest asks them to remember where they are and to behave in church and remove their baseball hats. The teenagers sat down during some singing which upset a congregation member, who then told them to stop wearing their baseball hats inside the church. Sadly they walked out of the service and the priest looked disappointed.
The program finished with the priest on a ladder painting over some derogatory graffiti concerning God on a roof in the church grounds. He seemed quite discouraged, but not willing to give up the struggle.
Personally speaking I admire the courage of James McCaskill in taking on this role. Lundwood is a tough area and many priests would not envy him. I guess that's why he was the only one who applied for the position!
Lundwood is a village on the outskirts of Barnsley. It was once a mining town, but since the last pit was closed in 1991 the area has been in decline. There is high unemployment in the village, drug problems and teenage pregnancies. Village life seems to focus around the community centre. St Magdalene's, is struggling to make an impact in Lundwood. The church building is not in the best condition, the congregation just about reaches double figure and most of them are over 50 years old.
The Archdeacon of Pontefract, whose responsibilities include Lundwood, has advertised for a new vicar. Only one person applied an American priest from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After being given a tour of the local area and surviving an interview with the church wardens he is offered the job and accepts it. There is one small catch, in the bottom of his contract is a clause saying that television cameras would be following him as they are making a documentary in the parish!
The new priest goes to the local community centre and introduces himself and invites the people to come to church. One or two said they would, but most people were apathetic towards the church. The Archdeacon conducts the new priests induction service and there are three new people in the congregation. However, two of them are James' parents!
The priest is determined to see numbers grow in the church and whenever possible invites people to come along to the 10am Sunday morning service. Unfortuantely, church numbers continue to remain low. However, James is not easily discouraged and continues to build up relationships with the local people. He is particularly keen to see young people come to church. The priest goes along to the local comedy club and strikes up a friendship with the local comedian Toby Foster, who gives him some coaching in sermon delivery.
The Archdeacon of Pontefract in a bold move calls in a marketing team, called Propaganda based in Leeds to "sell God." The marketing team visit Lundwood and begin to realise that this will not be an easy job, especially when the priest tells them that he wants to see teenagers in the church. Some of the marketing team interviewed some local teenagers to get their views on God and the church.
James continues to build up relationships and again ponders how to get young people to church. He visits the local boxing club and asks the trainer for advice. In addition he visits a local school and is quizzed by many of the young people. He starts to realise that he needs to offer them something different to the normal Sunday morning 10am service. The priest has a pizza evening after school at church which is popular and enables him to continue to build up relationships.
As Christmas approaches some of the village school choir agree to sing in the Christmas carol service. At last a group of teenagers come along to the church for a service. The priest asks them to remember where they are and to behave in church and remove their baseball hats. The teenagers sat down during some singing which upset a congregation member, who then told them to stop wearing their baseball hats inside the church. Sadly they walked out of the service and the priest looked disappointed.
The program finished with the priest on a ladder painting over some derogatory graffiti concerning God on a roof in the church grounds. He seemed quite discouraged, but not willing to give up the struggle.
Personally speaking I admire the courage of James McCaskill in taking on this role. Lundwood is a tough area and many priests would not envy him. I guess that's why he was the only one who applied for the position!
posted by Richard at 9:16 pm
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