In the four years since he became Rector of St Mary’s Church in Rye, the Reverend Paul White has built his congregation from not many to around one million people, 13,600 of whom are regular attendees. The “not many” are his actual real life human attendees at church. The rest are those who read his posts (1 million) and his direct followers (13,600) on X (formerly known as Twitter). While the Church of England’s establishment is slowly moving away from what it sees as the toxic environment of X, Paul, something of a contrarian, has gone the other way. “If all good people abandon a place when it’s bad, then that’s not good,” he says.
“An occasionally turbulent priest” is his own self-description on X. His commentary is short, pithy, not always about religion, at times hilariously funny, at others wry. “What does my teenage son have in common with Erika Kirk? He is not a morning person” and “If someone says, ‘happy holiday’ rather than ‘merry Christmas’ and you are tempted to be offended, then remember 1) Holiday comes from Holy Day, and 2) Don’t be an idiot. They are being kind. Be kind back.” And finally, “An earthquake struck Lancashire yesterday. It caused millions of pounds of improvements.”(With apologies to Lancastrians).
Among the wry, funny, sharply astute commentary, he also hits a spot among a good number of people. “I have DMs (direct messages to those over 20) from people who tell me they are so thankful to hear a Christian thought for the only time that day,” he remarks. Not everyone is so kind (it is X, after all). “I have been called a satanist too, because of my support for gender equality.”
There is a way in which his frequent presence on social media is akin to missionary work. Asked about this, he says, “My favourite missionary is St Cedd. He was sent south from Northumbria to convert…” Guess who? Us. The East Saxons. And here he stayed until he headed home in 664, dying of plague at Lastingham. On the way home he was a leading participant at the Synod of Whitby, which, among other things, determined the date of Easter. So, in a marvellously ironic twist of history and purpose, we probably have St Cedd to thank for having Paul White among us.
Despite accusations of satanism from some denizens of X, there is absolutely nothing satanic about Paul (which ought not to surprise you). As those who attend his services in actual person know, he is a vigorous and engaging preacher. In fact, his background, and pursuits outside work, give clues as to why. Quite recently he and his family nearly became the next vicarage participants on Channel 4’s Gogglebox series. And they asked to be considered. He has also done his fair share of acting, appearing in two plays while at Hadlow, and more pantos than he can recall.
It runs in the family. His wife Vivienne Is an actress too and appears in plays all over the south-east; his son is following suit and intends to study drama at uni. Paul himself was recently booked for a stand-up comedy session in Hastings until his father’s illness prevented him from doing so.
On the less comic side, as a young lawyer he most enjoyed advocating for employees or employers in tribunals. “It is the most fun to win a case on the basis of cross examination,” he says.
All this points to a man whose commitment to his faith drives him to harness every means at his disposal to spread his particular word. His observation is that a platform is a platform, and he feels strongly that he should take advantage of that. “X may be the big bad world, but we should not shy away from it,” he remarks. In many ways he echoes the way in which what he calls “the early Church fathers” (not mothers, not then) operated, often preaching where they weren’t welcome, were objects of abuse, cruelty and worse. He still feels the wider church should embrace this and that dioceses which leave platforms like X are making a mistake. “If there was only a safe space, it would be a very boring space,” he says.
And Rye would be a more boring place without its vicar, the Reverend Paul White.
Image Credits: Kt Bruce , Sarah Broadbent , Finn Givens , Kt bruce , Natasha Robinson , Jane Conlin , Paul White .