In the late 1960s a young English composer, John Tavener, released some cantatas on the Beatles’ Apple record label. In 1977, in his early 30s, Tavener converted to Orthodox Christianity. He started attending St Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral in London’s Bayswater, and embarked on studies of the early Church Fathers. The iconography, theology and ancient liturgies of the Orthodox Church became a dominant influence on Tavener. A little over a decade later, his work The Prot

Social media has been in meltdown in recent days about graffiti allegedly defacing the hallowed walls and pillars of Canterbury Cathedral. The graffiti in the Cathedral has been seen as symptomatic of a range of ills – from the death of the Church of England to the final demise of Western Culture. Some have called for Anglican clergy to be 'strung up' for this blasphemous outrage. JD Vance and Elon Musk piled in, condemning the cathedral graffiti as ugly and disrespectful. If

It was in the mid-1990s that I discovered I was the Antichrist. The insight into my true identity came in a letter from a Mrs McPherson, who lived on the Isle of Man. She’d read a book I’d written on fashion and style, and was offended that a Christian writer (a minister no less) could write a book on a topic as worldly as bodily adornment. Mrs McPherson didn’t hold back. She described my book as: ‘a monstrous, blasphemous lie’ and ‘a wilful transgression of God’s word’. She

For the first decade of the 2000s I was a vicar in suburban southwest London. Part of my inheritance from the previous regime was a church with close links to a cult. It was a very British kind of cult, with an emphasis on high culture, old-fashioned values and the 1662 Prayer-Book. A sepia-tinted nostalgia for old England was combined with an eclectic mix of Eastern mysticism and esoterica dredged from the freakier wilds of Victoriana. They ran a number of schools, including

Back in 1978 the poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti made a trip to the Pacific Northwest. Today it’s a quiet, sunny morning in August. I’m in a high-ceilinged apartment in the Rue de Surène, remembering my student days in the Grands Boulevards of Paris 40 years ago. Here I reflect on the moments, and the rivers, between these events – as well as other rivers, and other journeys. ❧ ❧ ❧ Northwest Ecolog Lawrence Ferlinghetti is best known as one of the Beat Poets in 1950s America. A na

I watched the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics at my neighbour’s house. Part way through the ceremony I laughed and exclaimed: ‘Ha! A drag parody of the Last Supper!’ The other neighbours present also laughed, because the symbolism from Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper was clear. The Last Supper imagery was evident to millions around the world. For some, the obvious parody of Christian imagery was a step too far. Church leaders, particularly from the traditionalist evang