Description

A warmly funny intensely moving and startlingly personal account of the lives of an urban parish priest and his parishioners

Father Alex Frost was not always a man of the cloth He found his calling while running an Argos store in his native Burnley moonlighting as a standup comedian and diehard fan of The Clarets and Depeche Mode
But having achieved his profession Fr Alex quickly recognised the 17000 inhabitants of his new parish were in dire need of help Burnley is typical of many towns across Britain a place of rundown council estates severe poverty litter crime and drugs but also a place where the sacred sits alongside the secular in an intimate and personal way And so it was that he found himself running a food bank from a car park helping the desperate amid his flock as the pandemic raged
Fr Alexs downtoearth style of ministry struck a chord with people of all faiths cultures and class at a time when the divide between rich and poor is widening cataclysmically But amid the tragedy addiction appalling loss illness and neglect there also lies hope joy and moments of comedy Our Daily Bread is as much the story of the rich cast of characters that cross the threshold of any church as it is our vicars Through them it shows the continued relevance of the church for those in peril the poor and the marginalised
This heartfelt and moving book seeks to give a voice to the voiceless charting the tragedy and pain humour and hope which are everpresent in his community It is ultimately about modern poverty and how we all can and should espouse Christian virtues of love kindness tolerance