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I'll be with you as soon as possible
 When
Geoffrey Rowell was Bishop of Basingstoke in Hampshire he could get to any
parish which had an emergency within an hour's drive. These days, as Bishop of
Gibraltar in Europe, visiting his men (and women) in the field can involve
journeys of thousands of miles. Patrick Middleton caught up with him at St
John's in Saint-Raphaël.
Interviews with the clergy over the years have
led me to divide them into two broad categories: those who were brought up as
Christians and became quickly serious about their inherited faith and those who
have come to the Church at some later stage. A former chaplain in Cannes, for
example, told me he had been "rescued from disbelief" after narrowly escaping
death in a train crash. Geoffrey Rowell belongs firmly in the first group. "I
was brought up in a small town in Hampshire - Alton - by old-fashioned decent
Christian parents. We were lower middle-class, I suppose you could say. My life
took a decisive turn when I won a scholarship from the local grammar school to
Winchester College, one of England's leading public schools. It was a very
academic place and is famous for giving its pupils a massive dose of
self-confidence. That can be useful."
Twenty-five years as a college
chaplain
The young Rowell was clearly a high flier. At Cambridge he took a
First in theology and also developed an abiding interest in eastern
Christianity, getting himself invited to study on the spot in Istanbul,
Jerusalem and Damascus. But his scholarly interests also had another side and
that for a very personal reason. "An aunt of mine died and that was my first
experience of death. I looked into how earlier generations had reacted to the
fact of mortality and I wrote a thesis which turned into my book Hell and the
Victorians. Armed with my Ph.D. I then moved to Oxford where I spent twenty-five
years as a college chaplain, first at New College, then for two decades at
Keble."
An impressive academic record, anyone would admit, but is it the
best preparation for pastoral work at the beginning of the twenty-first century?
"A fair question but it's based on a misunderstanding. As a college chaplain you
come across a huge range of people and problems. At Keble, for example, I was
dealing with members of the college from many different social, cultural and
national backgrounds. And another point: these days religion doesn't get an easy
ride in universities. You need to fight your corner. I remember a lively
encounter with Richard Dawkins, for instance. There's a dogmatist for
you!"
Across Europe ... 275 congregations
In 1994 he was appointed
Bishop of Basingstoke, a post he held for seven years. "And that brought me face
to face with the problems of ordinary parishes and it was then I realised how
much I'd learned as a college chaplain." In 2001 he was offered the Bishopric of
Gibraltar in Europe, with responsibility for the Anglican presence across Europe
and with outlying chaplaincies in Morocco and Turkey. Why did he take it on? "It
was an interesting challenge and I knew I would enjoy encountering churches of
other countries and traditions." So, in brief, what does the job entail? "I have
oversight of 275 congregations. Some of them - as on the Côte d'Azur - have a
long history, others are much more recent and, of course, we've been expanding
rapidly in the former communist countries - in places like Romania and Armenia,
for example. I've just been in Moscow to visit our chaplaincy there which was
shut down for decades under the Soviets."
How would he define the role of
the Anglican church in Europe? "Historically, we came to minister to the Brits
abroad, residents and visitors, in places like Saint-Raphaël and that's been
going on for well over a century. But we're also there for anyone who wants to
make contact with Christianity, whatever their origin. We're English-speaking
and so we attract people of many backgrounds. The other day I confirmed a young
Nigerian in Armenia." And what about conversions? "Obviously, people may choose
to move from one church to another but we are in no way concerned to persuade
people to do that. I actually explained this to Cardinal Ratzinger - now Pope
Benedict - and he rather surprised me by saying that as a church we shouldn't be
afraid of missionary activity. What he meant, I think, is that he welcomed our
presence as another counterweight to secularism. I'm glad to say that our
relations with local churches in Europe are usually excellent - I've just had a
talk with the curé here in Saint-Raphaël."
"Energy and dedication of our priests"
How would he
assess the state of Gibraltar in Europe? "As I said, we're expanding rapidly.
That means we need manpower - we do have some women chaplains now, of course -
and premises. We don't build much these days and the Catholics and Lutherans are
very generous in lending us churches. Finding chaplains and funding them isn't
easy and I have to pay tribute to the energy and dedication of our priests all
over Europe who I know play a significant role in their local communities."
Later I sat in St John's to hear Geoffrey Rowell preach at the church's
centennial service. He had remarked earlier that "worship isn't a chat-show" and
I knew he wouldn't be "trendy". His address blended learning, humour, a touch of
poetry, some accessible theological points - and wasn't too long. Just right, in
fact.
From Riviera Reporter 124, Dec 2007/Jan 2008
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