- Rt Rev. Richard Chartres praised two priests who had grown bushy beards
- Applauded their desire to reach out to the 'majority of their parishioners'
- Bishop described his own beard, which he grew in the 1970s, as modest
- He also said 'saint' David Beckham encouraged men to grow facial hair
The Bishop of London has applauded two London priests for 'reaching out' to their Muslim parishioners by growing 'opulent' beards.
Rt Reverend Richard Chartres singled out two priests in Tower Hamlets - the Rev. Adam Atkinson, Vicar of St Peter's church in Bethnal Green, and Rev. Cris Rogers of All Hallows Bow, who have grown bushy beards.
Writing in the Church Times, Rev. Chartres, who himself sports a 'modest' beard, said: 'The discovery that two of the most energetic priests in east London had recently grown beards of an opulence that would not have disgraced a Victorian sage prompted me to look again at the barbate debate throughout Church history.
'The two priests work in parishes in Tower Hamlets. Most of the residents are Bangladeshi-Sylheti, for whom the wearing of a beard is one of the marks of a holy man.'
He said the desire of the clergy of Tower Hamlets to 'reach out to the culture of the majority of their parishioners can only be applauded'.
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz3y0CecnHZ
Good idea?