Seaside priest is TV star

Rec Christine Musser: "I am quite a private person"

A Cornish priest has been thrust into the limelight, starring in an eight-part TV series focusing on her life.

Until two months ago Christine Musser ran a parish outside Plymouth.

Now she is vicar of Boscastle, an insular coastal village with a thriving pagan, as well as Christian, community.

A Seaside Parish shows how the old church way of life, on which these parishes have flourished for hundreds of years, is struggling to survive.

Christine has only two children among her regular congregation and sometimes she is greeted by an empty church on a Sunday morning.

Reach out

And some in these deeply traditional communities are unsure that a divorced, re-married woman, with only two years of experience as a priest, is the right person for the job.

Churchwarden David Lamond said: "I know of at least two people who feel bereft - the church has been their life - but they're unable to accept the female priesthood."

Mrs Musser was backed by Truro Bishop, the Right Reverend Bill Ind, in appearing in the series.

And she has had a positive response from parishioners since the show aired for the first time on Friday.

She said: "The calls have all been positive, people enjoyed it, and of course they are delighted to see their part of the world on the telly, and looking so beautiful.

"But right now I am looking forward to getting back to normal.

"I am quite a private person."

A Seaside Parish is show on Friday nights on BBC Two.