Rev Dr Giles Fraser - 21/09/2026

Available for over a year

In his scurrilous tell-all autobiography, the Rev Richard Coles describes meeting me back in the 1980’s when he was in The Communards and I was a go-go dancer working in gay clubs in Newcastle. Yes, you heard that right. Back then, dancing was pretty much all I wanted to do. Philosophy in the day, clubbing all night. And I have never lost the bug. Even when the Dad-bod took over, I would close the curtains tight, crank up the stereo, and lose my mind to Trouble Funk along with my small children. To me, dancing has always been the ultimate way to celebrate life. These days my dancing enthusiasm is more about watching Strictly from the sofa, and it was great to see the show back over the weekend. “The glory of God is a human being fully alive” said St Irenaeus in the second century. He probably didn’t have nightclubs in mind, but the idea of being fully alive has always been at the heart of my theology and preaching. Indeed, if I had to sum up the whole of the Bible in a single phrase I would reach for the Hebrew toast l’Chiam – to life … the New Testament including an apparently convincing counter example to l’Chiam, namely that we die, and often in cruel and terrible circumstances. But the Christian doctrine of the resurrection re-affirms the triumph of life: “I am the life that will never never die” as we sing about Jesus, in that popular hymn, Lord of the Dance. Life wins. A week or so ago I went to see the great Steven McRae, principal dancer at the Royal Ballet, in his latest show. The taxi driver who took us to Covent Garden was a lovely Algerian chap with spasticity in his legs. He used to be a chef, he said, but couldn’t stand at the stove anymore. Later, as I watched McRae throw his body around the stage in the most extraordinary ways, I couldn’t stop thinking about that taxi driver. Was my enthusiasm for dance as a theological metaphor something of a slap in the face to someone who could hardly stand? Our conversation had ranged widely, but when he started to talk about Algerian cous-cous he absolutely came alive on the subject, and that, I thought was precisely what Irenaeus was talking about. For Steven McCrae it was the movement of the body, for my taxi driver it was his delight in food. There are so many different ways of being fully alive. My dancing days are now over. Which is why I love Strictly being back on. The presenters may have changed, but the dance goes on. L’Chiam everybody.