When confronted with a personal tragedy that made headlines across the world, James discovered that his journey through faith was more complex than he had imagined.
‘Did I have a personal faith? No.’
James’ childhood faith, ‘inherited’ from his parents, flickered out as soon as he was old enough to decide how to spend his Sundays. Passionate about media and technology, at sixteen he secured his first job in a games store and replaced trips to church with hours spent working to sell the latest technology.
Always ready for a night out, at university he moved on to work as a barman for big festivals. ‘I pretty much partied seven days a week for three years.’ He never expected that five years later, he’d find himself en route to becoming a church minister.
When he was nineteen, an invitation from the curate of his old church sparked his curiosity. Ready to resist any attempt at ‘brainwashing’, he decided to see ‘what this guy wanted’.
‘Church felt strangely different to what I remembered. It felt like there was something else there that I hadn’t seen before.’
His life didn’t change instantly, but he decided to pursue the experience a little further. He continued to attend church and one week, he allowed the curate to pray for him. When he did, God seemed to ‘show up’.
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