Episode 23: Chris Lee

Interview Date: 9 February 2021. Interviewer: Dr Jason Clark. Research and questions by Sarah Tombling.

During the 2020 lockdown in the UK, the Reverend Chris Lee came to prominence through his 60-second sermons, which were posted on his Instagram account: revchris7. His aim was to give solace and spiritual encouragement during this difficult time, particularly to the young. This life story interview follows Chris from his childhood and schooling to a good job, followed by his decision to step off “the middle-class conveyor belt” to train as a vicar in Africa. The conversation covers contemplative spirituality, Chris’s setting up of the Young Franciscans, Chris’s book, the OMG effect, and the Hot Priest in Fleabag. Since the recording, Chris has negotiated a two-book deal with Tyndale publishing house coming out in 2024. One adult book and one children’s book co-written with his wife.

Chris Lee - Timed Interview Summary

0:00 - 52:59  Family background

Born in a Dublin hospital on Christmas day 1982, a minute after his identical twin brother, Charles. Spends first four years in Ireland but then spends a year in Iowa, America, because his father has a spell there as a surgeon, then the family returns to settle in Northamptonshire. As he has grown up, home has become less a matter of location than of people. On his mother’s side, Chris’s grandfather was a remarkable man, rising to become a director at Guinness, taking Chris around the factory as a child. His wife was the homemaker and Chris spent many happy Christmases with them. Chris’s paternal grandfather was a cloth-trader.  Chris’s father is a successful surgeon and his mother a physiotherapist. They are temperamentally quite different, his father highly logical and his mother more emotional; Chris has inherited qualities from both. The family is very loud and verbally competitive in quite an Irish way. He has an older sister, a twin brother and a younger sister. His mother is a Christian and takes them to Sunday School, until sport hits in Chris’s teenage years, but he has always prayed. Chris is sent to a public school where his experience is somewhat mixed, as described in his book, The OMG Effect.       

53:00 - 59:04  University

Chris and his brother decide to go to different universities to establish themselves as individuals, and he goes to Kingston University. Gets into a group that plays a lot of poker and smokes a lot of weed, and it is not really a positive environment, although there was a lot of loyalty. He falls for a girl, who is a Christian but they split up and he is broken-hearted. This is the tipping point for him eventually going to Africa.

59:05 - 1:04:10 Life after university

Takes a secure job in a family property company near home, but is spiritually dissatisfied.  On the recommendation of a friend, Chris contacts a bishop in Tanzania, who invites him to fly out. Chris describes it as the first decision he made for himself, stepping off the conveyor belt of middle-class life.

1:04:11 - 1:24:23  Africa

Chris learns to be present in the moment, taking in the adventure. In his book, The OMG Effect, Chris writes about Africa being the bedrock of his faith.  An opportunity to claim his Christian faith for himself.  He was seeing on the ground what he had read about in the book of Acts. He is ordained a deacon in the diocese of Mount Kilimanjaro, having realised that he could train for the priesthood in Africa. He tells his parents and his mother in the hospital had gone to the chapel and offered one of them to the service of God. As to staying in Africa, Chris feels that the continent needs more theological education rather than missionaries so he returns temporarily to the UK, where it is suggested to him that he should undertake further training. After tying up loose ends in Africa, he goes to Ridley Hall theological college in Cambridge.   

1:24:24 - 1:39:38 Ridley Hall

Chris thoroughly enjoys his time there, and it is very healing.  After all the responsibilities of mission and health care in Africa, it is a relief only to have to worry about himself. He meets his future wife Jenny and they fall in love. His faith matures and he becomes less conservative and more relaxed to the relief of his parents and siblings. 

1:39:29 - 1:43:39 After Ridley Hall

Chris heads to London in search to a church which could combine elements of charismatic evangelicalism with a catholic spirituality. He is released from the Diocese of Peterborough which had sponsored his training and eventually he is approached by Holy Trinity Brompton, and after interview he goes to HTB, and he gravitates towards work with the homeless.         

1:43:40 - 1:55:42 St Saviour’s, Young Franciscans and spiritual practices

Chris becomes Priest in Charge in 2015. It has been a long haul, but the church is starting to grow. The developing of a practical spirituality is critical for Chris. He is respectful of the intimacy that comes from the Catholic tradition of contemplation. A keen sense of seeing the sacred through everything. He has set up the Young Franciscans in 2018, based at St Saviour’s in the Diocese of London. This is because he recognizes the need of a scaffolding or a rhythm of prayer in order to lead effectively.  Franciscan spirituality emphasizes peace, joy and humility. The Young Franciscans has a Rule of Life with 10 principles. After the Covid virus, the residential side has been shut down and at the time of the interview in February 2021 the community currently operates on a dispersed basis.   

1:55:43- 2:09:16 The Instagram priest 

When Chris and his family first move to St Saviour’s, they invite his wife’s sister and husband to live with them. His brother-in-law is a YouTuber who invites Chris on to his channel about chicken wings. Chris gets positive feedback and he becomes a popular guest. The video in which Chris prays for students goes viral and then people start tracking him down on his Instagram channel - revchris7 – to the point where Chris realizes that he can start to communicate directly. He comes up with the idea of the 60 Second Sermon. He gets national press coverage and starts to get interviewed. Communicating though this medium is now part of what he does. His Parochial Church Council is supportive but he does not promote St Saviour’s online, but does encourage viewers to find a local church. He has a worldwide following, so he tends to post at midday.

2:09:17 - 2:20:06  Managing his online presence

Navigating his reputation as “the hot priest” with his family. Does not allow it to be a thing, but worries that the media play down the importance of his content. He tries to remember that anything online is public. This comes through the divine sense that Christ is ever-present. It is tough when he is contacted on Direct Messaging, and people are clearly suffering mentally, but he replies to only 1%. The Young Franciscans helps Chris through his acknowledged insecurities. The key is having a depth of prayer. He is particularly concerned to help the young through Instagram in coming to a sense of identity and also not over-identifying: identity is found in Jesus Christ.     

2:20: 07 - 2:24:46 The Hot Priest in Fleabag

Chris watched the series and was impressed by the representation of the priest, as a man trying his best, who is prepared to be vulnerable. Chris is also a bit uncomfortable about some of the things he did which are not priestly. There is an overlap, as in an interview in America about Fleabag, Phoebe Waller Bridge did mention Chris.      

2:24:47 - 2:27:47 St Saviour’s, lockdowns and embracing online technologies

For Chris’s church family its usage has been quite positive, and there has been good engagement on Zoom. He also thinks that the boundary between church and homes has been broken, as the church has been brought into people’s homes. He sets up something called Testimonies on Tuesdays, in which members of the congregation tell their personal story.

2:27:48 - 2:46:20  The OMG Effect. A book of Chris’s 60-second sermons

Chris writes about how Jesus dealt with interruptions. At these times the divine breaks in. Contemplation develops the sense of God being in the present.  Chris likes going on random walks, being open to what might happen in the moment. Sometimes it is in the embodied moment rather than managerialism that the church is at its best. The humility which comes from listening. He has a strong sense that Christ speaks through music, film, the performing arts and the natural world. The OMG Effect is published by Penguin because Chris wants to speak into the secular space and he was given support by the publisher in structuring it.  Since the recording Chris has negotiated a two-book deal with Tyndale publishing house coming out in 2024. One adult book, one children’s book co-written with his wife.