OUR DAILY BREAD

Father Alex Frost is the vicar of St Matthew's the Apostle, Burnley. Ordained in 2012 after a mixed career working as a football referee, manager at Argos and a stand-up comic, he has been appointed to the General Synod for Blackburn Diocese and hosts The God Cast podcast devoted to issues of faith and spirituality and is married with three children. His book is beautiful and touching, genuinely funny 'because people facing cement-like hardship often use humour as an escape mechanism.' Fr Alex recognised the 17,000 inhabitants of his new parish were in dire need of help. Burnley was a typically rundown place of council estates, severe poverty, litter, crime and drugs, but also a place of hope and aspiration. He found himself running a food bank from a car park, helping the desperate amid his flock as the pandemic raged, and his down-to-earth style of ministry struck a chord with people of all faiths, cultures and classes when the divide between rich and poor was widening. But amid the addiction, appalling loss, illness and neglect there also was hope and moments of comedy and the book shows the rich cast of characters that cross the threshold of any church. Through them it shows the continued relevance of the church for those in peril - the poor and the marginalised and the stories of pain, humour and hope are ever present in this and every community where we can all espouse virtues of love, kindness and tolerance. 238pp.