Jesus Freak

In the Gospels, Jesus tells his followers to feed the hungry, heal the sick, raise the dead and gives the motley crew authority to do 'greater deeds' than he has done. In much of our church life we've tamed this extreme calling, but Sara Miles, a passionate, funny, undomesticated Christian, tells what happened when she decided to follow Jesus into the messy diversity of human life and do the extraordinary things he asked. For everyone afraid to feed hungry strangers, love the unlovable, or go to dark places to bless and heal, her vivid and heartbreaking stories are a call to action and hope as she and the people around her are transformed as they join in with God's work in the world. Sara's mission springs from the Anglican church of St Gregory of Nyssa in San Francisco. All of human happiness and misery is to be found in the streets round about. A more diverse, crazy community it would be hard to imagine, yet in this modern day Gospel we see Jesus everywhere.

Sarah Miles

Sara Miles, a war correspondent who'd grown up atheist, was 'knocked upside down' by a totally unexpected mid-life conversion when she wandered into a communion service at St Gregory's. She founded its legendary Food Pantry and is its pastoral care director. She is a popular speaker and wrote Take This Bread, an account of her conversion and the ministry of the food pantry.