Rev Richard Coles says Church needs to be reformed

Speaking to the Shropshire Star, the Northamptonshire vicar said “there’s a lot of things churches do that aren’t celebrated”.

However, he added: “It would be quite misleading to suggest the Church is not in crisis though.

“But out of crises new things can form, and we’re quite good at forming new things out of crises.”

The former popstar and Strictly Come Dancing contestant also opened up about the difficulty he has in balancing his life in the media and maintaining relationships with people in his church.

“I manage it very badly,” he said.

“I’m half-time in my parish, although really there’s no such thing as half-time because people don’t have half-time lives. Half of my time is work in the media. That’s what I always have done. And I try and fit everything in, although sometimes I don’t do it very well.”

Highlighting the importance of the Church being able to turn people’s novelty visits into regular attendance, he said: “We need to reform our relationship with the people around us. In the past the Church was just there – it was just establishment.

“Lots of people like it being there, but in a picturesque relic. It has no future as a picturesque relic.”

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