"Britain's most famous vicar" RICHARD COLES quizzed about his beliefs and lifestyle

So I'm all for kind of breadth; and the great thing about talking with these young people is that it gave them opportunities. It expanded their imaginative horizons in a way which I don't think had been the case with their parents. And the pride of their parents and their families and friends in their achievement was deeply moving, actually. I thought that was a great thing. One of the degrees was a joint Honours in English and Equestrian Studies which I thought was an interesting one. I'd love to see the course description for that.

George: A few years ago when I was in Atlanta I picked up a newspaper and there was an advert for a church and the strapline of the advert was "Bob Dylan had his start here - come to our services." Do you ever have people come to your church just because they were fans of you and Jimmy back in the '80's?

Richard: Not to my knowledge - but it might explain why a lot of people get up and walk out half way through! I think they would get quite a different experience to what they were getting back then. I think that, perhaps, there is an element of curiosity and people do generally seem to be very interested in how somebody like me could have got to where I am from where I was from, if you see what I mean. That does seem to interest people. But I'm afraid a nostalgia for '80's pop music is not going to be enough to sustain you through one of my sermons.

Gavin: There are a lot of '80's bands that have reformed. Have you considered it?

Richard: We are asked quite often to do it, actually, but I am a great believer in never go back - unless the Inland Revenue are on your case! Fortunately they have not been so far. I would prefer not to go back really. That was then and this is now.

Tony: The nature of music culture - I live in a different capacity, not as a singer or anything like that, but as a journalist and occasional record producer and different things for many years - is that it seems highly promiscuous, sexually promiscuous. Was that your experience?

Richard: Well, no! We were too busy at the time. The wildness came afterwards. The idea that pop bands live these lives of extraordinary excess. . . actually you're all far too busy to do that. It's the people who live around you who lead the lives of excess. Although when I did stop being in a pop band I did have a year of wild excess - six months of which I think was really good; and six months of which I think was really bad but I have to say my memory is a little hazy.

Tony: In that six months of wild excess, do you consider that sinful?

Richard: Sinful? Some of it was. It's complex though, that, isn't it because sometimes you can find the double-ness of human motivation can make that very muddy sometimes. I think sometimes you reach out for something in the hope and expectation of love or acknowledgement; and sometimes it can be hard to disentangle that from something that you reach out for for gratification or passing pleasure. It's complex.

There are some things I regret, actually, but I would not, I could not have had it any other way. I wouldn't have got to where I am by another route. This is the route whereby I got here. But no, there is plenty I regret, actually: cruelty, unkindness, thoughtlessness, silliness, that kind of thing.

Tony: What's your view on celebrity culture? One of the strange quirks that the Church has is that if it can't have people who are famous as Christians; at least it can have people who were once famous who are Christians. So the Church buys into celebrity culture as much as the world, it would appear. We like our Christians to be famous and so isn't it true, to some extent, that your past association with pop fame has given you some of the platform for your ministry today?

Richard: I think that's probably true; although somebody described me the other day as a "celebrity vicar" and I thought "I want to retire immediately!" I can't think of anything worse than being a celebrity vicar. But you play with the hand you're dealt with; and I suppose that my faintly notorious past did create some opportunities with people being curious about it. But I don't think that celebrity culture is something that sits at all into authentic Christian living.

I think there's an interesting tension in testing the culture of our times against the values of the Gospel, and that's a very creative and interesting and sometimes perilous experience. But that's an interesting thing to do, I think. The Gospel is always in tension with the culture of our time. And I think our times are particularly in tension with it and I think that's a useful thing to explore.

Tony: What is your attitude towards Scripture? Do you believe it is the holy and inspired Word of God?