Rev Trevor Smith on being ‘born again’ and Rt Rev John Saxbee on how faith can be fanned into a flame. Plus letters from Rev Dr Clive Barrett, Fr Alec Mitchell and Harold Mozley
Reading the fascinating article outlining the pilgrimages that Jack Chisnall and Josh Dolphin have undertaken (Divine comedy: the standup double act who turned to the priesthood, 22 September), I was reminded of a lecturer in Durham who underlined that the phrase “born again”, in its original Greek language, implies a process, and not a single event.
So, I might describe myself as “born again” on Sunday 6 January 1980. But I was also “born again” when a gay couple, who I had been alongside in their challenge, came for communion. To my credit, the question that I asked of myself, when they approached the altar rail, was not “Can I give a gay couple communion?” but “Have they been confirmed?”
