As tagged by Steve, I need “to list five people, living or dead, who influenced my spiritual path in a positive way.” I’ll ignore family in this and, like Steve, include someone I only know from their writings.

1. David Dixon, a teacher when I was at sixth form, also a lay reader in the CofE, who first made me question my atheism;
2. Trevor Williams, chaplain at my Oxford College, who really did the dismantling and helped me to feel intellectually comfortable with the faith;
3. Brother Bernard SSF, who was my spiritual director for many years and really sorted me out and set me on the right path;
4. Wittgenstein – understanding him allowed my rational and faith sides to integrate more or less successfully; and
5. The various evangelicals in the Mersea benefice (it would be invidious to pick out only one) as I have definitely ‘broadened out’ in my theology since arriving here. I don’t think I’ve abandoned anything I previously believed – I’m still basically an Anglo-Catholic sacramentalist – but I’m much more comfortable with evangelical language than I ever expected to be. And that’s a good thing.

I tag: Jon, Paul, Philip, Tom, Joe, Byron, John, Tim A, Tim C and Tim G.