EPISODE 1: ODDS ON THE ARCHBISHOP
Sunday 31 July 2005 12.50am-1.50am (Sat night)
In the first episode, it's spring, and the race to appoint the new
Archbishop is on - the programme eavesdrops at the Archbishop's Council
and checks the odds in a local betting shop in Camden where Father
Nicholas Wheeler is holding a more unconventional service. The Church
also finds itself at the heart of national celebration and mourning
with a starring role in both the Jubilee and the commemorations for
the death of the Queen Mother.
Out in the parishes, the clergy have very different concerns. In
Cambridgeshire, the Revd Pete Owen Jones believes the Church should
be concentrating on communicating its role in contemporary life
while, in Kabul, Army Padre Steve Franklin provides emotional support
as well as spiritual guidance for soldiers far from home.
The film also looks at the future faces of the Church, following
new recruit Jimmy Hinton as he takes up his first post as curate
in an inner-city Bradford parish and the Revd Katharine Rumens as
she attempts to make inroads into a male-dominated church.
