Revd Colin Heber-Percy: Easter, the Meaning of Life, and making dog collars from chocolate wrappers

What is it all about? It's the question that Man has been struggling to answer since the dawn if human consciousness. And while we all have to figure out our own answer, it's never less than fascinating to hear of others who've found theirs.

And in that light, this week's guest on the Country Life podcast is Colin Heber-Percy, a successful screenwriter for film and TV who, in his 40s, stepped away from a lucrative career and retrained to become an ordained minister in the Church of England. Today, Revd Dr Colin Heber-Percy is a rural vicar in Wiltshire, and while he still writes — his book Tales of a Country Parish became a bestseller — his main concern now

Colin joined James Fisher on the Country Life Podcast to talk about that change of gear in his life, and how hiw foray into the world of the clergy was less a career change and more a way of tying together all the threads of his life. Religion and ‘The Big Questions’ had long permeated his life and his work and, by becoming a vicar, he could truly focus on all of them.

Somewhat controversially, he still describes himself as an agnostic — which for a vicar, is quite the claim. Ask him why, and the answer is intriguing — how can you have faith if you claim to know everything? Is not knowing what Easter is really about?

Colin also speaks about what he would do if made Archbishop of Canterbury for a day, ponders the questions of medieval metaphysics — really — and, perhaps best of all, explains how the packaging of a Bounty Bar makes for an ideal emergency dog collar.

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Episode credits

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Revd Dr Colin Heber-Percy

Producer and Editor: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Special thanks: Adam Wilbourn

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