Richard Coles - Did He Tell Lies To His Boss ?

NOTE: this podcast is not about the Communards and their music. This podcast is an evangelical Christian discussion about Cole's less than truthful time as a Vicar in the C of E. That is, what he did or did not tell his local Bishop about his life situation and choices (he should have been truthful, and by his own admission he wasn't).

A word of information, as he was a paid Vicar, Coles' active gay cohabiting relationships in church property were not allowed by employed Clergy. Cole's admits this discrepancy, in his autobiography. Ultimately this is about a persons conscience. It is a video about one main thing: integrity in a given situation; Coles rejects heterosexual values and decided he was ''in the resistance'' and he did not to tell his Bishop (or as we'd put it in secular speak his ''Line Manager'') about his clear breaking of employee rules.

''The Communards'' was a very successful UK pop group of the 1980s had Richard Coles and Jimmy Somerville singing their big hit: ''Don't Leave Me This Way''. Coles on his own confession, in his autobiography, indulged in drug taking and much casual sex at that time.

His family were moderately well off, Coles was born in Northampton. His father lost the family wealth, this due to cheap shoe imports into the UK. He was educated at the independent Wellingborough School (where he was a choirboy), and at the South Warwickshire College of Further Education (Department of Drama & the Liberal Arts) in Stratford-upon-Avon. He later attended King's College London, where he studied theology from 1990. Coles was awarded an MA by research from the University of Leeds in 2005 for work on the Greek text of the Epistle to the Ephesians.

In later life Coles became a Priest and maintained his active homosexuality. Ordained in 2005 in April 2022, Coles announced that he had retired from parish duties due to the Church of England allegedly increasingly excluding gay couples, and what he described as the Church of England's : "conservative, punchy and fundamentalist" direction.

He is a homosexual and he's clear about his '' lifestyle choice'' . Yet, he proclaims his faith (and this is not mine to judge) but also is clear on his active homosexuality.

From an evangelical perspective, there is a mismatch going on here; if Scripture (the Bible) is God's word to us and it hasn't changed and Christ's apostle (Saint) Paul, says of homosexuality it is ''unatural'' and that it is indulging illegitimate passion (Romans Chapter 1 and 2) then such behaviour is against God's plan for us as human beings. Homosexuals dismiss Paul's words as they logically will do. But Saint Paul is clear that homosexual acts are sinful for the Christian.

Notably Coles not only lied about having HIV AIDs (he didn't have HIV) when he was a younger man, but he also lied to his Bishop when he was a Parish Priest. Specifically he lied about his relationship to his gay partner, who he shared a Vicarage with. Under C of E guidance, he shouldn't have had an active gay relationship, as a Vicar. He admits to this in his autobiography and in media interviews.

Celebrity culture and faith collide, with Coles. So with this talented man, what is happening ? Into the maelstrom of his old Church (the C of E) the Living In Love & Faith, LLF, journey has concluded. Oddly its doctrine of one man/one woman is still accepted doctrine, yet bizarrely they have now agreed to ''same sex blessings'' for faithful homosexual couples. This is a fudge of gigantic proportions. Logically, true evangelical or orthodox belief would ask Coles to cease (or repent) his homosexuality. Clearly he will not.

So this video looks at what is happening in Britain today in respect of celebrity, culture and Christian belief. Listen to the story about the untruth that Richard Coles admitted to telling his work colleagues when he was a Vicar. His story is one of our time.