Writes of the Church

by Gary Alderson

What would a church magazine letters page look like if the locals just wrote what they actually thought-and what does it tell us about how we think of our church? In Writes of the Church, the locals bicker, complain and wonder; the vicar is overworked and occasionally lets them know they're pushing him over the edge. But through it all, we learn something valuable about ourselves. It's an unusual and loving angle on the Church of England. The characters are odd, aggressive, frustrated or sometimes just plain stupid. But the depth of their love for the church comes through the threats to boycott the church over a tea towel, the obsession over saving money and the complaints that children are allowed into the church during an act of worship. Through laughing at ourselves, we learn about what really makes us tick. Through learning, we might change.