A Roomful of Elephants

In this entertaining autobiography, Patrick Forbes, likely the only ordained minister in the Church of England to have been blessed by an Archbishop of Canterbury while serving as the front end of a pantomime horse, looks back on a varied and adventurous ministry—while asking challenging questions about the future direction of the church. A writer, broadcaster, and priest, along the way Forbes has worked as a radio officer in the Merchant Navy, served numerous parishes, and been a longtime contributor to religious broadcasting. A regular voice on Radio 2’s ‘Pause for Thought,’ he has written three books, Gospel of Folly, Clowning Glory, with Roly Bain and Vicar’s World, with Bill Ritson. He lives in Hertfordshire with his wife, Annette, and his trombone.

Imagine just for a moment that most of our discussions in the Church about how we survive into the next generation are starting in the wrong place. Patrick Forbes’s irresistibly lively memoir suggests that it wouldn’t hurt to stop and open our eyes – not only to a herd of persistently ignored and self-inflicted problems but also to the abundance of gift and newness that he has discovered in his unique pilgrimage.

—Dr Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury

The story of just a few sides of a priest who knows how to laugh even at himself.

—Dr Robin Eames, former Archbishop of Armagh
 and Primate of All Ireland

In the end, Patrick is a prophet, and the church would do well to take him seriously, and not be thrown by the fact that sometimes he just feels the need to preach with a plastic bucket over his head.

—From the introduction by Christina Rees, CBE