Anglophilia: Bake Off, Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, River Cottage, and the Local Church

Last updated on: May 6, 2017 at 12:16 pm by David Russell Mosley

Anglophilia: Bake Off, Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, River Cottage, and the Local Church 2017-05-06T12:16:50-04:00 David Russell Mosley

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Description English: The Crown Inn, Now a Free House. For many years a Hardy Hanson (Kimberley's) tied house. The exterior is unchanged except for the signs and a lick of paint 593503. Update Dec 09; I can happily report that the new owners have thankfully left the interior unspoiled too. The beer is good also. Date 6 October 2009 Source From geograph.org.uk Author David Lally (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Description: The Crown Inn, Now a Free House. For many years a Hardy Hanson (Kimberley’s) tied house. The exterior is unchanged except for the signs and a lick of paint 593503. Update Dec 09; I can happily report that the new owners have thankfully left the interior unspoiled too. The beer is good also.
Date 6 October 2009
Source From geograph.org.uk
Author David Lally (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Now, why, besides pure nostalgia, am I spending all this time writing about British television? The reason is this, the way of life depicted in these shows, particularly as we re-inject the church into them, is an integrative life. Whether one is a shopkeeper, an employee, a farmer, a beekeeper, a brewer, an academic, one is part of the village. All peoples come together to eat, and compete, and live together. I know this is a fantasy. None of these shows contain the totality and reality and most of them have little to no place for the Church (which may be the Church’s fault). But goodness me this seems like something worth striving toward as much as we can wherever we can and however we can. No, this model of the village with the local church and the pub at the center isn’t one that can be recreated in towns and neighborhoods that already exist, or at least not with difficulty. But we can be more neighborly, organize neighborhood gatherings––feasts and competitions. What is more, our local churches can help facilitate this. Especially in areas where space is condensed can the local church use some of its space to host these gatherings. What if more churches took the Croydon approach, blessing the beer of local bars, getting to know the already existing gathering areas and creating new opportunities for the people of a particular area to gather together?

Now, don’t misunderstand me. None of this really has anything to do with relevancy. I want the local church to engage with the local culture not to appear relevant but to fulfill its role. The Church exists to bring God’s Kingdom to the world, to transform the world, to prepare for its transfiguration when Christ returns. Nothing falls outside the Church’s purview and this includes the growing of vegetables, the baking of cakes, the brewing of beer. So, I will keep watching River Cottage and Bake Off and Shaun the Sheep (even though sometimes doing so causes me to ache for England) to inspire me, to help me understand what the Good Life looks like and how the Church has in the past and should now enable us to live the Good Life. Maybe one day you can join me and we’ll see whose bread is better, and then we’ll sit down and enjoy us nice beer and while away the evening as our children play together meeting the other children from the neighborhood. Maybe these aspects of culture won’t be fully redeemed until Christ returns, but I’ll do what I can to bring that about while there’s still breath in my lungs and a church to help me.

Sincerely,
David

Go back

Being a Catholic Evangelical

The Radical Catholic Reimagination of Everything

Great British Bake Off

Great British Baking Competition

Previous Post

August 2, 2016

Overcoming Evil with the Common and the Ordinary: Reflections on Harry Potter and G.K. Chesterton

Next Post

August 4, 2016 Arthur's Tintagel Rediscovered: Archaeological Evidence of an Ancient British Palace

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Secular Age Advent Apologetics Atheism Beauty Being a Catholic Evangelical Being Catholic Being Deified: Poetry and Fantasy on the Path to God Blogging Book Reviews C. S. Lewis Catholic Imagination Catholic Social Teaching Catholicism Christmas Church Calendar Church Fathers Church Life Community Conferences Cosmology Creation Curdled Words Deification Distributism Easter Economics Education Epiphany Essay Extracts Eucharist Faerie Faeriean Metaphysics Fatherhood Films Folk Liturgy Food and Drink G. K. Chesterton Harry Potter J. R. R. Tolkien Jove King Arthur Language Lent Life Literature and Poetry Liturgy Medieval Theology Music My Publications Mythology On the Edges of Elfland Ordinary Time Ordination Parenthood Parish Patristic Theology Pentecost Politics Prayer Racism Radical Orthodoxy Restoration Movement Sacramental Ontology Saints Science Sex and Sexuality Sophiology Stories The Inklings The Radical Catholic Reimagination of Everything Theologians in the Church Theopoetics Thesis Research Uncategorized University of Nottingham What I'm Reading Writing

Select a Month December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 July 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz