 |
Fr. Michael Skliros and his wife Inge are relocating to the United Kingdom — they've been a part of the Diocese of Brandon for several years and have contributed significantly to the spiritual life here — why the move? What will Fr. Michael miss? What did he do while he was with us? Find out in the interview below...
What brought you to Canada?
Simple. I met Inge when she visited Amsterdam, where I was working. I came out to Canada to marry her.
What will you miss about Canada / Manitoba / Brandon?
About Canada: your laid-backness, and the mix of European-style intelligence and American-style get-up-and-go. In England, an inch of snow knocks out the entire rail network and everyone stays home. Not here. Unlike the megaphone voices to the south, politics is muted here, perhaps too much so, but if that means a thought-through policy on social issues like the death penalty, abortion, stem cell research, prostitution and soft drugs, then having less strident voices is vastly preferable.
About Manitoba: strangely enough, the snow. Hard to believe it may seem, +5°C in England is more miserably cold than -25°C here. Winters here are too long, though.
About Brandon: the way it has changed from an agricultural oligarchy to a real polyglot community, with all the opportunities that presents. I also believe the new mayor is a prime example of “come the hour, come the woman.” And in spite of what may seem a critical comment below, the Brandon Sun is the best local newspaper I have ever come across and does a wonderful job of making us proud to be citizens of Brandon.
What will you miss about the Diocese?
Apart from the friendship of the cathedral congregation, I shall always remember the dedication of clergy, lay readers and congregations struggling to keep the faith hundreds of miles up country, and a bishop struggling to keep it all together.
What is your reason for leaving?
Again, simple: the wife! Inge’s photography business, like others, has flatlined with the advent of digital. Also, her father and brother are in Budapest, my son and daughter are in England, all our close friends are in Europe and we love English village life.
Talk about your column in the Brandon Sun.
It was written for a very narrow cross-section of people, though a United minister near Melita was amused to overhear one column being hotly discussed by an unlikely group in his local cafe! We clergy appeal to a much smaller percentage of people than we realize. The rest keep politely silent. I was writing for those who had probably stopped going to church but know the basic facts of the Christian faith, follow topical/scientific issues, and like to see someone trying to bring them together. Having degrees in science and theology helped. Being surplus to requirements at the cathedral, I started attending other churches. With one exception, I never heard any water cooler topic, as they are called, being treated in a sermon. One of my next columns was going to be headed “If you want to get away from religion, go to church,” because e.g. how we cope with the hopelessly inadequate people ejected from Beaubier’s Hotel when it was demolished is a profoundly religious issue. But the column was moved to a new section, where the copy editor disapproved of the style known as academic English, so I stopped writing.
Talk about your experience with “The Mustard Seed.”
That was fortuitous, as I had gone non-stipendiary for ten years in England and started a print works, while plugging interregnums in local churches on Sundays. So throwing together a four-page newspaper was easy. Also, I emailed a correspondent in each parish every month and they sent in copy, so I hardly did any work at all. It wrote itself, really.
Talk about your experience as diocesan webmaster.
It was a ‘cobwebsite’, as they are called, when I took it over. No reflection on the previous webmaster; nothing moved in the diocese. But we could not afford to train and properly support lay readers, who were increasingly becoming the front line in many parishes, and that was serious. So I shamelessly broke copyrights, scanned and OCR’d book after book and put up sermon preparation material for each Sunday and saint’s day, plus items on the front page which might be useful for sermons or at least for intercessions. It gets about 1200 hits a month, nearly all from outside the diocese – and none from our lay readers! But the web style is out of date now and I welcome a complete makeover.
Will your interest in communication continue in some capacity?
No. I’m out of date. I don’t even tweet.
Will you be active in the C of E when you return?
No, I’ve been told I’m far too old. Over-70s there are presumed to be quite ga-ga and to have nothing to say.
Do you have any particular hopes / visions for the future of the Church?
For the ACC, that it re-engages with so-called real life. English bishops, clergy and laity write letters to the papers and protest at social injustice. Their voice is heard. Their reaction to the recent London riots was instantaneous and exemplary. Apart from Abps Ted Scott and David Somerville supporting same-sex unions, I have only read one topical letter to the Globe and Mail from an Anglican churchman in the last 10 years – on immigration, I believe. The ACC is, in both senses, in retreat – offering a refuge from life. If so, its prospects are not bright.
