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Andrew Knock was born in London, and has lived in Scotland for over 30 years. He
came to Christianity in his mid-twenties, following an interest in Buddhism, and has
subsequently found immense value in most religious paths and traditions. His
fundamental life questions always seem to centre on the dimension of spirituality, and he
finds the "road less travelled" to be usually the most enlarging. He spent over 20 years working as a church minister
(Episcopal/Anglican), writer, conference speaker, worship leader and consultant with
various church groups in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. He has also taught
in Zambia, South Africa, the Republic of Ireland, and the USA, and visited many other
countries.
Andrew left church employment some years
ago with great sadness. He handled the expiring of his first marriage very badly,
but came through depression to a new awareness of primary human values. It was at
this point that his journey into forgiveness really began. Thanks to the generosity
and goodness of family and friends, and to the Spirit of God who touched them and him, he
was able to take early retirement and concentrate on writing and spiritual
reflection.
He recognised that he had tried to
side-step, rather than challenge, the institutional church's tendency to value
'performance' or 'works' in its love of ritual, its career structure and its political
aspirations and internal ethos. He also side-stepped its tendency to domesticate and
restrict the highs and lows of spiritual life. He had misinterpreted his intense
personal calling as a calling to do rather than the calling to be - as
indeed so many seem to; and this had severely inhibited living by faith for him. He
has found now he is more securely where God wants him to be.
As a writer, he is concerned with seeing further into
personal and organisational transformation and how to inspire, motivate and empower people
for this. He has degrees in philosophy
and theology, and a doctorate in both subjects. Writings include:
- Why does God allow suffering? - Marshall Pickering 1996 [ISBN
0-551-03040-2]
- The Purpose of your Church - General Synod 1989 [ISBN 0-905573-10-2]
and the large study courses:
- Eucharist and Resurrection - (for seminar use 1994)
- The Evangelising Church - SCOC 1995
He has also particularly enjoyed
composing music, being a jazz drummer in London clubs and being a bucket-man (garbage man)
in Dunblane. His first marriage to Helen created two fabulous sons, Alistair and
Michael. At the start of the new millennium Andrew began a new personal life with
his beloved wife Ruth and her impressive son Thomas.
His other passions include most Western music (especially late Beethoven, Debussy and
Stravinsky to John Adams, Duke Ellington to Keith Jarrett and Michael Brecker), Western
philosophy, cooking, gardening, writing, movies, real-time strategy / management computer
games, imaginative lovemaking (who doesn't?), Birman cats, contemporary British novels,
science fiction (esp. Douglas Adams and Iain M Banks) ... and more. He is a late
convert to J R R Tolkien's writings, and a passionate one.
Andrew's favourite saying is, "He wasn't petty." He tries to live up to
it.
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