Sea of Faith, Yorkshire

19.12.10

'Christmas is for life, not just for Christmas' Bishop Nick Baines

Nick Baines, 'controversial blogging bishop' has just been named as the next Bishop of Bradford. I have to confess that I had never heard of him before, but a little research reveals that his Christmas book last year 'Why Wish You a Merry Christmas?' raised a storm because it seemed to criticise Christmas Carols.

Naturally, the book was wilfully misconstrued by the media, though some of his remarks do sound non-realist: “I always find it a slightly bizarre sight when I see parents and grandparents at a nativity play singing Away In A Manger as if it actually related to reality.” This, along with his quip about Christmas being for life, not just for Christmas, suggest he may be someone for SOF people in Yorkshire to watch.

There is a podcast (No.13, Nov 2009)about his Christmas book, a newspaper article, and of course his famous blog. There is also quite a bit of comment about him on the internet if you care to look, for example. He also has an entry in Wikipedia.