After some years of drifting, Father Griff heeded the call to the priesthood at a later stage in life than most other priests. He felt the need to do something meaningful for his fellow parishioners, perhaps to atone for past mistreatment of others or for choosing the wrong fork in the road at various times in his life.

He joined the church in Dover, but the Covid pandemic caused many of the faithful to avoid services and confessions. Father Griff therefore agreed to work with local church officials to offer an online confessional service. Throughout his life, he had often resisted traditional customs and was somewhat unorthodox, both in his private and professional lives. For example, he confides to Angela that “he doesn’t really like this stuff” and would prefer having a friendly chat rather than a more formal confession session.  Also, his online confession room is painted in warm, earthy colours, which is quite a departure from the gloomy, shoebox nature of confession booths in most churches.

Father Griff feels good about his new career path and is now motivated to make some other changes in his life. Since his youth, he had often been mocked for his inability to sing on key. So, he decides to enroll in a singing course when lessons resume in the autumn.

Text: David Rogers

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