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Phillip is Priest
in Charge of the parish of St George's Colegate in Norwich-over-the-Water
where John Crome (1768-1821) founder of the Norwich School of Painters
is buried. He is also Bishop's Adviser for Visual Theology and Chapter
Canon of Norwich Cathedral.
If
you've taken to the waters around Ranworth Broad in the
last few years you may well have met Canon Phillip McFadyen.
Until very recently, Phillip
was both Vicar of the Ranworth group of parishes and Chaplain
to the Broads, a role that occasionally finds him in a Hardy
Marine launch waving to tourists and chatting to those who live and work
on the riverside. On most Sundays holidaymakers visit Ranworth
church
in response to invitation from either Phillip or one of his congregation,
who regularly visit the Broad's hire cruisers on Saturday nights when the warmer weather arrives. Being Chaplain to the Broads forms
just one of many roles for Phillip - one of many interests,
which includes painting, writing, and Morris dancing.
Listen
carefully and you can just about pick out the Liverpudlian
inflection in Phillip's voice. Born and raised in Anfield, he recalls
a childhood spent mainly outside, playing on the streets, in the
park, on the way to school. From an early age he developed an interest
and talent for drawing, sketching anything and everything, much
as he still does today. When the family moved out to the more urbane
surrounds of Aintree, Phillip secured a place at Wigan Art School
and spent four years developing his skills in book illustration.
He also took a few classes at Liverpool Art School, where his contemporaries
included John Lennon. Living in Aintree Phillip met Brenda, whom
he married while still a student. They have three grown up children
- Rachel, Anna and Andrew.
Phillip's
art, like that of another creative son of the north, David
Hockney, has always been centred on drawing. Much of his work is
an eloquent patchwork of line drawing, often enhanced by a judicious
use of colour. It has a loose, Impressionistic feel, and he cites
Turner as a particular influence. While this artistic flair shaped
his formative years, as a young man Phillip found himself increasingly
drawn to the church and, on graduating from a postgraduate art course
in Leicester, decided to pursue a more spiritual career. More study
followed - six years worth in fact as he ploughed through Theology
degrees at King's College, London and St Augustine's, Canterbury,
emerging on the other side as something of an expert on the New
Testament.
His first
posting was a curacy in Sheffield, where close affiliation
to a local college found Phillip involved in the first of many teaching
roles. After three years he made the move that took him to Norfolk
with a chaplain's post at Keswick Hall College. From there he transferred
to Swardeston and took on responsibility for five parishes while
teaching part time at the University of East Anglia. Then he found
his way out to Ranworth and the role of Chaplain of the Broads.
Phillip continues to draw and while he chose the church over a career
in art, he asserts that the two fields aren't so dissimilar. "Drawing
makes you very observant, makes you stop and study, but it also
makes you listen to people," he explains. "I
think it can also make you more prayerful. It's about attending
to something - with painting you can get into a trance like state.
If you can achieve that, it will help in your prayer life; you can
train yourself to put everything else aside."
It's hard
to gauge public perceptions of a life in the clerical profession.
You might be forgiven for assuming it's a gentle existence of coffee
mornings, summer weddings and the weekly round of services. As Vicar
of Ranworth Phillip's life ostensibly conforms to a rosy kind of
rural idyll, but in truth he's not exempt from the pressures of
modern life. Indeed, with four parishes (Ranworth, South Walsham,
Upton and Woodbastwick) to run, wetlands to cruise, books to write
and various other duties to perform, Phillip's working days tend
to be 12 to 15 hours long. And, viewed as a traditional barometer
of decent values, he has to be on constant call providing guidance
on personal and global matters. He used to lead pilgrimages to the
Holy Land but hasn't visited since the ever-deepening troubles took
hold a decade ago.
While the
Holy Land remains off limits, Phillip continues to make regular
visits to the Continent, leading painting groups around cities like
Venice and Bruges: "I love visiting cities that have wonderful
paintings in them, and I love sharing it with other people - taking
groups around and showing them what I've seen." This delicate
blend of instruction and inspiration pervades much of Phillip's
life. He enjoys meeting people - he relishes the chance to chat
with holidaymakers on the Broads, to invite them along to Ranworth
church and to record his experiences in words and paintings.
This philosophy
also extends to Norfolk Watercolour, a series of paintings courses
established by Phillip, Brenda and their friends Malcolm and Elaine
Allsop. The weekend and weeklong on-location painting classes are
proving hugely popular, attracting artists from as far afield as
Japan and California. In the manner of what he calls a "poor
man's Sister Wendy", Phillip also acts as Adviser on Visual
Art to the Bishop of Norwich. The role includes running the annual
Bishop's Art Prize in collaboration with Norwich School of Art and
Design, and advising on ecclesiastical artwork throughout the diocese.
Sister Wendy is actually an old friend - she wrote the foreword
to Open Door on Mark: His Gospel Explored, one of five works Phillip
has written as commentaries on the New Testament. Currently he's
working on a series of imagined, humorous interviews with New Testament
characters, which, he hopes, may end up in print.
Article courtesy of the Norfolk Journal
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