Priest and broadcaster Kate Bottley has said she believes that faith will not be “one size suits all” and that it looks like “various things to different people”.
She was speaking at St Paul’s Cathedral on the subject of what faith means to her, inspired by her book, Have a Little Faith: Life Lessons on Love, Death and How Lasagne Always Helps.
Rev Bottley shared her journey into faith, describing it initially as a “coat in my wardrobe that I didn’t really wear often”.
“It felt like I stepped into my faith, prefer it was something that was all the time there within the background that I’d never really tried and worn out,” she said.
She continued: “I feel for numerous people faith is just something that’s there within the background but not something that they perhaps wear out fairly often.”
She also recalled fighting the sensation that she was not “holy enough” plenty of the time in church.
“I didn’t feel clever enough or spiritual enough,” she said.
Despite these doubts, she has risen to grow to be the presenter of Good Morning Sunday on BBC Radio 2 and a daily on BBC1’s Songs of Praise.
Her talk was organised by the St Paul’s Adult Learning Department which runs events all year long exploring the challenges and joys of Christian life today. Dr Paula Gooder, Canon Chancellor at St Paul’s Cathedral, chaired the talk and opened the ground for questions.
When asked about her coping strategy for times of disbelief, Rev Bottley’s advice was to have interaction with the church community.
“I find other people’s words helpful. That’s what it’s to be a community of religion. If you may’t imagine it today, then perhaps any individual else can imagine it for you,” she said
She stressed the importance of staying connected, stating that being human is to be “connected to the self, connected with other humans and to be connected to something larger than themselves”.
Asked about her thoughts on sin, she responded that every one fall short, including herself but that God still continues to like us.
“I don’t think in a vengeful God, I feel in a loving God that loves us a lot,” she said.
She continued: “I also imagine I shouldn’t worry an excessive amount of about what happens next. My job is to serve and to like my neighbour as I really like myself, which implies you’ve gotten to like yourself.”
