You had a miraculous experience that led you to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Can you tell us about that? Perhaps a more formal style might have enabled some better reflections; for the book conceals as much as it reveals. It is a collage of incidents and people from his life. There are enigmatic glimpses of his involvement with drugs and gangs and carrying a gun. He writes about his appalling treatment of his mother — he steals from her purse as she lies dying — his wives and children, though we have no idea what became of most of them. There seems little remorse for many of the lives that he must have blighted. We need to repent so that God can move – this church included – we haven’t provided for the poor as we should have done. Wherever we are, there are people who are lonely, lost, upset, hungry. If you live in an affluent place, there are still old people who are lonely. During Covid, everything was shut. Even the churches were furloughing people. But we’re Church on the Street, so that’s where our church was and is – so we found ways to stay open. I’m just a broken person who’s trying to show other people where the river is so they can have a drink, I guess”

It's impossible to visit Church on the Street and not be deeply moved by the work the organisation does for those in need. It is an extraordinary place ... ' HRH THE PRINCE OF WALES , from the Foreword Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth The critically acclaimed author talks about swearing, messing up his marriage and why Christian art is sometimes a little bit rubbish

We have our own counsellors, hot food, a food bank, showers, a needle exchange, washing machines, opticians, Citizens Advice. And we have prayer and Bible study, right in the middle of all that. On a Sunday, we have our Sunday services. I have been arrested for every serious offence you can think of," he admits with candour. They were leading the life of hurting other people, so drug dealers or whatever. Where else could you read about the spiritual dimensions of Doctor Who? Where else could you learn why Christians should take UFOs seriously? Where else could you be inspired by discussions of life after death and eternity? Removing references to God from Brownie campfire song ‘Brownie bells’ is the latest attempt by the girlguiding movement to erase their Christian roots. Emma Fowle reflects on what that might have meant for her faith journey Then, I got arrested for a minor offence, and I was sectioned and put into a mental health unit for about four months. There was a nun who used to bring me communion. She’d touch my face and say: “God bless you.” This elderly lady taught me that Jesus did love me.

About six months later I was in McDonald’s. There was a guy who [I could tell] was an alcoholic. I got him a drink and a burger and started talking to him. I ended up getting him into [NA] meetings and he got clean. They couldn’t hold it together. And I was holding them in my arms and praying for them while they were crying, wanting life – while churches were shut. I might have been wrong in what I did, but I was trying to keep people alive long enough to hear the gospel, because I knew what it had done for me.The truth is that I arranged to meet him again because I wanted to kill him. I had a knife with me, but I had a realisation in that moment. I thought: I’ve lived with what he did to me for 30 years. I’ve destroyed myself and everybody around me. My sin has been bad enough. Why would I live in somebody else’s? The police got into their vans and off they went," he says. "Church on the Street was alive. We'd found a way to do church when all the others had closed." Is it hard work? Yes. Is it messy? Very. Is it fruitful? [whistles] Galore. It’s like an orchard full of fruit. And seeds are falling from the trees and more trees are growing. We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused. Forgiveness was not the end of the story for CerysMorgan. She explains how God also led her to seek justice in her abuse case

There are still middle-class women drinking themselves to death, pretending they’re OK. The Church needs to step up and serve these people. Born into a working-class Catholic family in Burnley, Fleming’s life took a terrible turn when he was raped on his way to school, aged just eleven. In an unbelievably tragic twist, his older sister died that very same night. Not knowing how to process his pain led to a lifetime of drug and alcohol abuse, violence and crime. I get more death threats as a Christian than I did when I was doing the other [criminal] stuff! The things that have been levelled at me did upset me: that I’m just a social worker and I’m not giving the gospel. I just think they’ve misunderstood the gospel. In Partnership with St Martin-in-the-Fields. This series of nine lectures is inspired by the words of Martin Luther during the Reformation. Distinguished speakers investigate those things in which we believe deeply – and for which we would be prepared to make a costly stand. I met Jesus in the shop doorway, not in the church. Where else would he have been? I wanted to be part of a church where Jesus was in the shop doorway, and it didn’t exist.It would be amazing if he finished his boxing career and came and did this – you never know, he could choose to.” I didn’t break any laws – I did my best anyway. The police tried to arrest me once in a car park – I wasn’t brilliant at not hugging people, because the guys I was hugging were dying. On one street where I was delivering food parcels, three men under 40 killed themselves in three weeks. Eventually, a breakdown and several miraculous encounters led him to find hope and healing in Jesus. I was in a homeless hostel, and it was the first time in my life that I was not relying on drugs or alcohol. I had these feelings that I didn’t know what to do with. I didn’t know who I was. So l prayed, and I saw a light at the bottom of the bed. Many will recognise the pastor as he shot to fame during the pandemic in 2020 when a BBC News report of him delivering food to those in need was watched by 50 million people.

A lot of prostitutes come in and we have hair a hairdresser who comes in to do men's hair. Every Sunday, in the middle of all this, I do the church service. It works. His long and painful journey to recovery began at a subsequent meeting for drug and alcohol addicts, as he put his faith in God. When I read this autobiography, therefore, I knew about his work and that he had turned his life around — “from drug dealer to life bringer”. So I looked for some insight into how someone is drawn to criminality in the first place and how they get themselves out of it: critical issues, if we are to reduce crime. Nothing happened so I punched the radio, headbutted the steering wheel. I shouted, "Where is this God? Am I just too evil?"' At that point I put the gun under my chin. I pulled the trigger. It didn't go off. The sound that came out my mother – I imagine it’s the sound Jesus made as he took his last breath on the cross. I looked at my mum and dad crying, and I didn’t feel that there was any space for me there.I met a guy in church who had just come out of prison. He said his prison chaplain had told him Jesus died for his sins, but he didn’t understand what that meant. He’d been to loads of churches, but no one had been able to explain it to him. It reads: “It’s impossible to visit Church on the Street and not be deeply moved by the work the organisation does for those in need. It is an extraordinary place.” When they got me out the door, I heard them bolt it behind me. I walked down the street, and a guy in a shop doorway asked: “Where are you going?” I said: “I don’t know.” He said: “Come and sit here.” He wrapped his quilt around me, put his hat on my head and poured cider into my mouth until the shakes stopped.