Are You Trendy?

   The Times of London April 17,1997  
   THE Bishop of Rochester was named yesterday as the
   Church of England's trendiest bishop after a survey revealed
   him as the only one who could name all five Spice Girls. He
   said he wanted the Church to have "street credibility". 

   The Right Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, who has two teenage
   sons, beat 31 other bishops in the trendiness stakes, as well
   as the Labour leader Tony Blair, who could name just three
   of the group, and John Major, who knew two. 

   Runner-up in the hip parade was the Right Rev Lindsay
   Urwin, Bishop of Horsham, who could name four of the
   girls. He has used the hit songs One of Us, by Joan
   Osborne, and Search for the Hero, by M People, as
   sermon illustrations. 

   In the survey by The Church of England Newspaper,
   Bishop Nazir-Ali successfully named "Baby Spice" Emma
   Bunton, "Ginger Spice" Geri Halliwell, "Sporty Spice" Mel
   Chisholm, "Posh Spice" Victoria Adams and "Scary Spice"
   Melanie Brown. 

   Unlike most other bishops, he also knew that Mulder and
   Scully were characters in the X-Files and that Phil de
   Glanville was the current English rugby captain. The
   Pakistani-born bishop, who became England's first Asian
   diocesan bishop when he was appointed to Rochester in
   1994, last night credited his success to the influence of his
   sons, Shammy, 19, and Ross, 16. He said: "It is very
   important for the Church to keep in touch and have street
   credibility. It gives you a way of reaching across the divide,
   and there is a divide." 

   Bishop Nazir-Ali, whose interests include cricket, hockey,
   table tennis and Scrabble, also writes poetry in English and
   Persian. He said he was recognised in the street for days
   after a recent appearance on The Big Breakfast. 

   The product of an Oxbridge education and formerly
   secretary of the Church Missionary Society, who met his
   English wife, Valerie, daughter of a Post Office engineer, in
   church at Cambridge, he confessed that his preferred
   listening was Oasis, although he "quite liked" the Spice Girls. 

   "Of course, the original Spice Girls are in the Gospels," he
   said. "They are the women who took spices to the tomb of
   Christ and found it empty: the two Marys, Salome and
   Joanna." 

   Although all the bishops surveyed had at least heard of the
   Spice Girls, and most could name one member, not all
   approved of the chart-topping group. One bishop said:
   "Unfortunately I have heard of them." Another said: "Those
   are the girls who don't wear very much." One thought there
   was a member of the group called "Hot Spice". Others had
   gleaned that there was a question mark over the girls' singing
   ability. 

   The survey reporter, Jonathan Wynne-Jones, a vicar's son,
   said: "Some showed a surprising amount of knowledge of
   trivial spicy facts, like the amount the Spice Girls stand to
   make from their new book, how many albums they have sold
   in Britain and the fact that their first four singles have been
   consecutive No 1s." 

   The bishops were less aware when it came to television.
   Two of the 32 questioned did not have a television set, and
   those who did watch television preferred soaps, naming
   shows including Casualty, EastEnders and Neighbours as
   favourites. Most knew The English Patient had won nine
   Oscars, and half were aware that the book and film by Irvine
   Welsh about drugs was called Trainspotting. 

   Ten were unable to name a brand of designer clothing
   although one, the Right Rev John Richardson, Bishop of
   Bedford, claimed to have mentioned Gucci underwear in a
   sermon. Seventeen could not name the current captain of the
   England rugby team, with one bishop suggesting it was "that
   man who had a bit of a thing with the Princess". 

   However, the bishops' efforts to be in touch with the general
   public at a time of shrinking church attendances won
   approval from Richard Benson, editor of The Face
   magazine, the style bible of the young. He said: "They are
   obviously trying really hard, but that's because they have a
   reason to try really hard. I applaud them. 

   "This just goes to show how popular culture has become the
   medium which everyone needs to be familiar with and
   express themselves through. A hundred years ago they
   would have been steeped in the Classics."

Links to other sites on the Web

Yahoo Spice Girls (everything you ever wanted to know)
Chen's Spice Girls site (not to be missed under any circumstances)
Spice Girl Lyrics (Interestingly modified at all the critical spots)

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