Rev Andy Roland

My father was an agnostic Jew and my mother a Quaker Anglican. So I grew up with an enquiring mind, helped by reading History at Oxford. I have been a Christian since my baptism at the age of 8. I taught for two years - in one boys' secondary school I started my RE lessons by saying "If the Bible says one thing and science says another, the Bible is wrong." I was trying to get some real discussion going. The result? The science teacher said to me that my boys of 3b had been asking him about the Bible! I then went into Personnel (Human Resources) and moved to London. I got moved towards ordination in a charismatic community in Dorset, Post Green. I studied theology at Durham - wonderful place - and spent 9 weeks at a seminary in India. That is where I learnt to pray the Psalms. For 21 years I was vicar of Hackbridge and Beddington Corner. I am writing a parish history called "The Church by the Sewage Farm". I retired in 2015 and have written five books with a further two in the pipeline. Also a website, almost daily posts & tweets and monthly talks "Making Sense of the Bible" with accompanying blogs.

My passion is communication and encouraging people to think.

I love taking the Bible seriously, but not uncritically. I love breaking through barriers like suspicions about other faiths to find what common ground and what differences there are. Right now I am exploring how the Christian faith can be made credible in a post-modern world. Watch this space!