A fly-on-the-wall documentary. That was one little phrase embedded in a two-page parish profile for prospective applicants to the post at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Lundwood. After having spent two years of my theological education at the College of the Resurrection in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, I returned to America to serve in a large parish in an affluent suburban section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Two years later, I received an invitation by the college to return to Yorkshire, and so I did. Once the invitation came through, I began perusing the weekly priest classifieds in the Church Times. There was one ad for a fixer-upper parish in the Diocese of Wakefield where it seemed the church could make a significant contribution to a needy area. Unlike pleasant middle-class suburban ministry of niceness, this would be a place of grit and and a place in which truly to live out the Gospel in the streets. However no crystal ball foretold what the impact of the 'fly-on-the-wall documentary' would have on the congregation, the village and myself during that year of filming from September 2004 to September 2005, nor in the time that has elapsed since the three episodes of Priest Idol aired in November 2005. This website will try to capture the excitement, the lows, the progress and the set-backs we have experienced during these few years, but even more, this site will begin to reveal where God is leading us next and how you can join us along the way.

Peace,

James

Almost three years ago, I arrived to Lundwood to face an uphill challenge. One of those challenges has been finding ourselves at the starting block again and again. In Terry Pratchett's book Thief of Time, every moment is created afresh. What happened last moment no longer exist, nor does what is about to happen, only that which is now. In other words, everything is re-created continually. At St. Mary Magdalene Church, we seem to keep arriving to a new beginning. There was the new beginning as an American priest arrived. There was a new beginning when the cameras began rolling. There was the beginning after our parish was seen on TV. There was a beginning of sorts when the church hall burned down in June 2006. Now, we have a fantastic new beginning as we are about to celebrate the rennovation of our church building. We have a fresh new worship space and new multi-use events room to offer the community. After 16 months of no hall, no venue for events, waiting for insurance, architect and contractors, we are moving into something new and beautiful. In our daily lives Christians seek to live out the new life of the Resurrection of our Lord. In our community life in Lundwood, we are watching the Resurrection unfold as our Church community rises from the ashes.