In August 2004, 5 men from different walks of life came to live at the Benedictine monastery in Worth (Sussex, UK) for forty days (the Australian ABC series called the ‘Abbey” took its start from the same program).

Like the Abbey these men came from very different backgrounds, of all the men Tony Bourke (by his own admission) had no religious background at all. His time at the monastery is very illuminating. Having seen the series I (like the Abbey) found it profoundly moving and personal, of the five men two stood out in my mind and of the two Tony wins the day, his honest, no frills, brutal approach to God and spirituality are amazingly refreshing, he arrives at the monastery as an atheist with borderline tendencies to agnosticism. In the following he gives and account of what his time at Worth represented to him and the shape it took in his life, he journey is difficult and frustrating, and the end of his stay something quite unexpected happens.

“I arrived at Worth without a clue. That’s to say, without a clue as to what I was expecting. Later on, it became obvious that I was without a clue in other areas of my life up to this very significant point.

Monasteries are dark, damp and oppressive places. Monks are grey, humourless weirdos who don’t say very much and wear black dresses. Yes?

Not really. My first impression of Worth was its modernity. On my first glimpse of the church, I thought I’d come to the wrong place. It looked more like air traffic control just up the road at Gatwick, than a place of worship.

So walking through the gates and down towards the church, with a TV camera shoved in my face, my mind was doing somersaults as already some of my rather dusty, white-haired pre-conceptions were being replaced with the reality of a modern monastery.

It was a lot to take in. I was faced with the prospect of six weeks in this place. Bearing in mind I’d only been told where I was going an hour beforehand on the train from London.

My religious background is simple. I haven’t got one.

Apart from school concerts, weddings and funerals and the occasional drunken teenage trip to midnight mass, I’d had no exposure to organised religion, let alone serious I’m-dedicating-my-life-to-God-and-I’m-going-to-wear-a-black-dress-while- I’m-doing-it religion.

I knew nothing of Roman Catholicism (other than it being seen as slightly controversial, a bit rock ‘n’ roll and it involving The Pope) and knew even less about Benedictine traditions or any others for that matter.

So I arrived and was instantly introduced to my four co-participants in this television programme-making process. I also met my first monk, Father Luke.

Luke had the look I’d been expecting. Quite severe. Quite pale. Stoic. However, he came armed with a wonderfully warm sense of humour and a genuine kindness and goodwill, which I’d rarely, experienced in a man before”

Another misconception had been laid to rest.             

…To be continued

(In the next chapter he explains his very dim view of God and all things religious)