THERE comes a tide in the affairs of priests which, taken at the flood, leads them invariably to write a book about their experiences. In Martin Poole’s case, it has taken 35 years to reach this point, although his book is actually just about his last dozen years, as a stipendiary vicar in Brighton.
Despite the subtitle, it is not really a guide: it is essentially a memoir, chronicling various parish projects and experiences, some successful, others less so. The title, Real Life Rev, also indicates that it is an attempt as a corrective to more theologised accounts of parish ministry which do not connect enough with the lived experience of what it is like actually to be a parish priest, with people knocking at your door asking for the rail fare home, or being left to clear up the mess after earnest efforts at charity have resulted in heaps of used clothes stinking out a room at the back of church.
Thus there is deliberately almost nothing about liturgy (apart from, oddly, no fewer than five pages about his licensing service) and very little about worship, preaching, or prayer. What there is a lot of is how he has attempted to engage with his community in all sorts of ways, from reusing leftover food from supermarkets and restaurants to provide a weekly hot meal in church for people in need to hosting a music project for recovering addicts, and even to coordinating an initiative to clean up dead pigeons from the underside of a local bridge.
It is highly readable, and Poole is endearing, as his sincerity to serve is utterly transparent, even as he steers somewhat naïvely into choppy waters. For example, early on in his ministry, he concludes that the ageing church hall, which has been a cheap venue for children’s parties for the local community for decades, needs to be sold off, because the church cannot afford to do the repairs for it to be made safe. The first the local community hear about this, though, is when a “For Sale” sign is put up outside, and, as he writes, “within days all hell broke loose!”
On the one hand, this was surely pretty foreseeable; on the other hand, it is impressive to witness his dedication to repairing the damage to relationships from then on, taking the flak that came his way and reaching an ultimate resolution that pleased both community and church.
Underneath all his work, Poole has attempted to harness the strengths and passions of his community wherever he can find an overlap with the gospel; in this, he is ploughing the type of furrow recently delineated by Al Barrett in what he would describe as asset-based community development. Interestingly, both Poole and Barrett are long-term incumbents, and Poole at one point makes the case for how valuable it is for community relationships for an incumbent to stay in post longer than a decade.
Overall, while this book could have benefited from some editing, it is a worthwhile exploration of the bread and butter of Monday-to-Saturday ministry, from someone who has been prepared to adapt to the changing environment around him, and could improvise with skill and passion, when the opportunities arose.
The Revd Robert Stanier is Vicar of St Andrew and St Mark, Surbiton, in the diocese of Southwark.
Real Life Rev: A clergy survival guide
Martin Poole
Canterbury Press £16.99
(978-1-78622-587-0)
Church Times Bookshop £13.59
