Fathomless Riches: Or How I Went from Pop to Pulpit is a surprisingly literal title for the autobiography of Reverend Richard Coles. His journey from top of the pops, performing with Jimmy Somerville in The Communards, to accidental gay icon and then on to a revelation that led him to the Church of England vicarage is a story that is as real as it is unlikely.
No stranger to media, Reverend Coles has hosted programs for the BBC, appeared as special guest on news quiz shows as well as being the presenter of the 'Saturday Live' show on Radio 4. Much has been written about his transition from trend setting pop star to a rather untrendy vicar however these articles have been condensed and generalist. "Fathomless Riches" is Coles his first book and seeks to flesh out his journey, holding nothing back for the reader.
I was lucky enough to be able to have him answer a few questions on the book and in broad terms about the Church.
IBR: Why did you choose now to write your autobiography?
Reverend Richard Coles: People kept asking me how I got from being a pop star to being a priest and eventually I thought, 'well, if you really want to know...’ At the same time Gilly Stern, who became my editor, encountered me on Twitter, put me in touch with an agent and a publisher and eventually persuaded me to get going.
IBR: Is there an overarching message to the readers? What's your objective?
Reverend Richard Coles: I want, like St Paul, to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. To tell the story as fully as I can, to try to get it to make sense to people who were as far from it as I was before it came near.
IBR: Was there a personal journey you had to go through to write the book?
Reverend Richard Coles: People have asked if it was cathartic and I have to say no. Writing through the darkness of the AIDS years was very difficult and brought to the surface a lot of stuff that I, and many others like me I suspect, have buried. I hope bringing it up may ultimately be a good thing, but sometimes I wonder if it’s not best left buried.
IBR: Your life has been a melting pot of different experiences from pop music, to media celebrity to the pulpit, do you think you have found your place in the world?
Reverend Richard Coles: Yes. I love being parish priest of Finedon. I am also aware that I have an opportunity to reach a wider audience, if I can put it that way, because of my adventures and misadventures in media. That’s less congenial, for all sorts of reasons, but it’s an opportunity I feel I have to explore.
IBR: Was there a light bulb moment when you realised that the Church was a place for you?
Reverend Richard Coles: Yes. I attended a Solemn High Mass at St Alban’s Holborn one Sunday in 1990, went in a spectator, came out a participant.
IBR: Is the title "Fathomless Riches" a way you would describe your life at the moment?
Reverend Richard Coles: Not so much my life, but the life of Jesus Christ, in the church, inthe world, in the lives of his followers. It’s a phrase I borrow from the Epistle to the Ephesians, in which the writer struggles to express in language and shape and form the amazing gift of grace in Jesus Christ.
IBR: I read a Guardian review that accused you of brutal honesty. Was there ever any temptation to portray yourself in a different light, smooth over the edges especially when it comes to drug use?
Reverend Richard Coles: Not myself, no. I did agonise over portraying other people and in the end contacted the principal players and said if they wanted anything I’d written changed I would. One person wished to come out entirely, a couple of others aked for minor changes, but most said, no - tell your story. I wanted to be as candid as I could about my own shortcomings.
IBR: Do you think the Church should be more visible in todays world, embracing social media and communicating with the world at large?
Reverend Richard Coles: The Church has been at the forefront of innovation in information technology since the invention of the codex. It would be good to think we could continue that tradition. The problem for us now is not so much the means of communicating, to which we have ready access like everyone else, but what we actually say.
IBR: How do you best describe the Church’s role to young people today?
Reverend Richard Coles: I wish it were central, but it is marginal - if present at all.
I think your book is testament to the fact that organised religion is modernising. Is that the trend across the gamut of religions or is it just a Church of England anomaly. Is resistance to recognise socially acceptable norms in modern society futile for religion?
Reverend Richard Coles: I think for a church like the CofE there is always a tension between sitting more or less comfortably in the mainstream of people’s lives and at the same time remaining faithful to its tradition. Some err too much towards the former, others to the latter; but I would like to think there’s a good place to be in the middle. That’s what Anglicans should do, I think, find a place in the middle.
IBR: They often say that music chooses you, not the other way around. Could the same be said of the Church and Richard Coles?
Reverend Richard Coles: Yes. God came for me. I would not have got here if God hadn’t.
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