23 October 2012
Finding Sanctuary with musical Moderator
He’s the rock 'n’ roll church leader with an ambition to play T in the Park - and he’ll be appearing at the Dundee Literary Festival later this week.
The Rt Rev Albert Bogle, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, will be discussing some of today’s most pressing issues at Bonar Hall at 6pm on Friday, 26th October as well as reading from Sanctuary, his new collection of ‘street prayers’.
As the elected figurehead of the Kirk, he might be expected to cut a solemn and austere figurehead but the Moderator has confounded expectations by fronting the Bogle Band, recording an EP of self-penned songs and expressing a liking for hip-hop.
The Bo’ness minister, who counts U2, Radiohead and Sigur Ros among his influences, says he hopes his music will help spread the Christian message to a new audience.
"As Moderator, I want to sing and speak about the power of the Gospel to bring about change in our lives, our families and neighbourhoods," he said. "As part of this, I’ve recorded an EP entitled Turn, which contains six original songs that deal with reconciliation. The feedback has been great.
"There has been a long tradition of ministers being hymn writers. Why shouldn’t we do that in a more contemporary way?"
Albert Bogle describes Sanctuary as a book of street prayers, that were all written on various rail and air journeys. He insists they are not "pieces of polished prose, but rather the thoughts of a traveller connecting with the world", and will be sharing the very entertaining stories that lie behind the prayers during the Dundee event.
Friday does not represent the limits of his festival ambitions, however, and he already has experience of Scotland’s largest musical gathering.
"I went to T in the Park to meet street pastors making a difference with young people," he said. "If we get invited to play, we’ll definitely look at it."
The 2012 Dundee Literary Festival is the biggest to date, with a total of 42 events scheduled to take place from October 24th-28th. Leading figures from the world of fiction, poetry, journalism, comics and the publishing industry will take part in a series of workshops, talks, book signings, and readings.
For more information about all Literary Festival events, or to buy tickets, please visit www.literarydundee.co.uk Tickets are also available from Literary Dundee, 6th floor, Tower Building, University of Dundee, tel 01382 384413.
For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
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