The Very Reverend Antony Bridge (also a painter and an atheist)
Hyfler/Rosner
reaction was: "Oh lawks, gin and Jaguar country. What have I
let myself in for?" But later he concluded that affluent
people had problems, too. For 18 years he minstered to the
casualties of the stockbroker belt, continuing to be a racy
sermoniser while also lecturing to parties on Hellenic
cruises on Greek and Turkish art."
The Very Reverend Antony Bridge
Telegraph 02/05/2007
The Very Reverend Antony Bridge, who died on April 23
aged 92, was a Dean of Guildford whose education was
artistic rather than academic; but he possessed one of the
most acute and cultivated minds in the Church of England and
was a brilliant preacher and teacher.
Until his late thirties Bridge was a professional
painter and an avowed atheist but he then underwent an
intellectual conversion, which he described in a widely
acclaimed book, One Man's Advent (1985). His happiest, and
perhaps most effective, period as a priest was when he was
vicar of Christ Church at Lancaster Gate, Paddington.
On first arriving in London he was appalled by the
prevalence of prostitution and realised that he would have
an enormous ministry of listening. But the bedsitter-land
parish also contained many young professionals, and his
style and sermons, which included such themes as the
theological purpose of Picasso and Iris Murdoch, attracted a
large congregation. With his highly personal yet
intellectually rigorous exposition of the Christian faith he
came to exert considerable influence during the 1960s.
Although in many ways unconventional (he was not
averse from swearing in the pulpit), Bridge was in no sense
a "trendy" clergyman; and he fiercely denounced many
developments in the Church of England. He once accused it of
transforming itself into "a bureaucratic annexe to the
Welfare State with a few pious and neo-Gothic overtones.
Hag-ridden by committees and worm-eaten by synodical
government, it has dedicated itself to activism, having
banished prayer, mystery, silence, beauty and its own rich
musical and liturgical heritage to a few remote oases in
order to make way for hymns written by third-rate disciples
of Noël Coward and sung to the strident noise of guitars
played by charismatic curates in jeans."
Bridge was spared most of this at Guildford Cathedral,
but he was too much of an individualist to make a wholly
successful Dean, and he had neither the inclination nor the
aptitude to deal with the administrative and financial
burdens which tend to dominate the decanal ministry. But he
made good use of the cathedral pulpit, whenever he had
opportunity to occupy it.
Antony Cyprian Bridge was born on September 5 1914.
His father was a commander in the Royal Navy, but the
marriage was broken by the time the future dean was aware of
family life. After early education in Brighton he went to
Marlborough College, from which he emerged with the
reputation of a loner who had an unusual command of words,
special talent as a painter and the convictions of an
atheist.
He won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy,
and was much influenced by the work of Van Gogh and other
post-Impressionist painters. Settling down with a private
income of about £150 a year he scraped a living as an
artist, for a time sharing a studio with Dylan Thomas. From
1934 to 1937 he spent every summer on the island of Sark,
where Mervyn Peake, Peter Scott and others were trying to
establish a colony of artists.
On the outbreak of war in 1939 Bridge joined the Army
as a private, but a year later was commissioned in the Buffs
and spent the next three years in Egypt and the Western
Desert interpreting aerial photographs. In 1943 he joined
the staff of the School of Military Intelligence in
Derbyshire and reached the rank of major before being
demobilised two years later.
He then resumed his life as a painter and had several
successful exhibitions in London's West End galleries. But
many of his earlier assumptions began to crumble: "I'd had a
lot of little beliefs - like believing in the arts, in the
progress of science and in social justice. But when you find
people being blown up at Hiroshima, small children getting
cancer of the liver or mothers struggling in the depths of
poverty and despair in housing estates, all those
assumptions become a bit inadequate."
Very gradually he became what he would jokingly call
"a Christian". With his wife and brother Nigel (who was to
become Lord Bridge of Harwich, the law lord), he discussed
his concerns before deciding that, if he was suffering from
what appeared to be religious mania, he should do something
about it. He went to see Geoffrey Fisher, the Archbishop of
Canterbury, who asked why he wanted to be a priest. Bridge
replied that he did not really want to do so, but couldn't
see much alternative. "Oh, what a lovely answer," replied
Fisher. "I accept you on the spot."
In 1953 Bridge entered Lincoln Theological College to
prepare for ordination, then became "a balding curate" at
Hythe, Kent. In an inspired move by Bishop Montgomery
Campbell of London, five years later he was appointed Vicar
of Christ Church, Lancaster Gate, to revitalise a parish
which had become moribund.
When he accepted the deanery of Guildford in 1968, his
reaction was: "Oh lawks, gin and Jaguar country. What have I
let myself in for?" But later he concluded that affluent
people had problems, too. For 18 years he minstered to the
casualties of the stockbroker belt, continuing to be a racy
sermoniser while also lecturing to parties on Hellenic
cruises on Greek and Turkish art.
After his ordination he did no more painting, but in
1960 published Living Images, and later wrote several books
reflecting his growing interest in the Mediterranean world.
These included Theodora: Portrait in a Byzantine Landscape
(1978), The Crusades (1980), Suleiman the Magnificent (1983)
and Richard the Lionheart (1989).
Tony Bridge married, in 1937, Brenda Lois Streatfeild,
with whom he had a son and two daughters. After her death he
married, in 1996, Diana Joyce Redhead.
J.D. Baldwin
In the previous article, Hyfler/Rosner <rel...@rcn.com> wrote:
> Although in many ways unconventional (he was not
> averse from swearing in the pulpit), Bridge was in no sense
> a "trendy" clergyman; and he fiercely denounced many
> developments in the Church of England. He once accused it of
> transforming itself into "a bureaucratic annexe to the
> Welfare State with a few pious and neo-Gothic overtones.
> Hag-ridden by committees and worm-eaten by synodical
> government, it has dedicated itself to activism, having
> banished prayer, mystery, silence, beauty and its own rich
> musical and liturgical heritage to a few remote oases in
> order to make way for hymns written by third-rate disciples
> of Noël Coward and sung to the strident noise of guitars
> played by charismatic curates in jeans."
Great. I find out about this guy *after* it's too late to sell all my
worldly possessions and cross the Atlantic to sit at his feet. Dammit.
--
_+_ From the catapult of |If anyone disagrees with any statement I make, I
_|70|___:)=}- J.D. Baldwin |am quite prepared not only to retract it, but also
\ / bal...@panix.com|to deny under oath that I ever made it. -T. Lehrer
***~~~~-----------------------------------------------------------------------
PirateJohn
wrote:
>
> Great. I find out about this guy *after* it's too late to sell all my
> worldly possessions and cross the Atlantic to sit at his feet. Dammit.
> --
If you feel the urge to dispose of all of those worldly possessions
(especially all stocks, bonds, and currency) I am sure that we can
find *someone* who will be happy to work with you. Praise Hallelujah.
marilyn...@aol.com
asked why he wanted to be a priest. Bridge replied that he did not
really want to do so, but couldn't see much alternative. "Oh, what a
lovely answer," replied Fisher. "I accept you on the spot."
my favorite part