Chris and Jenny Lee wanted to tell children that first and foremost God loves them - so they wrote their latest book You Are Beloved
Chris and Jenny Lee live in Chiswick where Chris is Vicar of St. Saviour’s church. Jenny is a playwright, producer and author and is also the primary caregiver for their three children. In addition to being a vicar, Chris has an online ministry that reaches hundreds of thousands of people especially through his famous 60 second sermons which have won him the title ‘the internet’s favourite vicar.’
Chris and Jenny, your new book for children, You Are Beloved, is coming out soon, what’s it about?
Chris: The story is that a little girl called Amy falls asleep in church to the words of a Franciscan prayer in which the vicar is asking God, who are you? And who am I? In her sleep, with those questions ringing in her ears she goes on this journey where she meets four animals that are representative of the four Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John have traditionally always been assigned an animal as a representation of a characteristic of Jesus. So, in Mark we have the lion which shows us the authoritative, action side of Jesus - he is the miracle man moving in, casting out demons, a powerful authority figure. In Luke, Jesus is an Ox which is more about Jesus the one we follow, it‘s about walking with Jesus, where Jesus the Ox carries or load. Then John has the eagle, which is about Jesus being this divine, cosmic figure in whom we see the bigger picture, but that eagle who is above also swoops down to be on earth. Lastly, Matthew the angel/human figure is focusing on Jesus being fully God and fully man.
In the story, in understanding who God is Amy also goes on this journey of understanding who she is; she is the beloved of God, and that gives her the sense of security that seeks.
the book is much more about God being with children; it’s about God’s presence
Jenny: Yes, we wanted it to be a journey where God was always with her, but she sees different aspects of him depending on what she’s facing. Also, we didn’t want children to read about a God who is algorithmic; so, it’s not that if you do this then God will do that and if you do that then God will do this. For example, there is a bit where Amy and the eagle get to a crossroads and the eagle doesn’t tell Amy which way to go, instead he says that he will be with her whichever path she chooses. So, the book is much more about God being with children; it’s about God’s presence.
That sounds similar to Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia, where he doesn’t always make it clear what the children should do.
Chris: Yes exactly, there’s that great quote where Mr. Beaver says that Aslan is not a tame lion, he isn’t safe, but he is good. In some Christian children’s books Jesus looks very tame, he’s like this ‘Mr Nice guy’ and I think we can lose the mystery and majesty of who Jesus is.
Can you say a bit more about the purpose of the book. Why did you write this book and in this particular way?
Chris: I feel that part of my calling online has always been to affirm people that God loves them. And I think, like, as Christians we start in Genesis 3 and not Genesis 1 and you know we talk about the fall and sin and there seems to be lots of ins and outs and us and thems and I want to start in Genesis 1, where we’re all made in God’s image. We are loved. We are beautiful. Yes, we fell, but the deepest part of each of us is that we’re loved. That’s the message that I’ve always communicated with my online ministry, my 60 second sermons etc. and similarly I want to teach kids that first and foremost God loves them.
We wanted the story to really drive children forward as they’re reading it
Jenny, you’ve got a very interesting background, you’ve written and produced plays and written other children’s books. So how did that background feed into this project?
Jenny: I think it just really kept me mindful of the energy and the pace of the story. We wanted the story to really drive children forward as they’re reading it. But also we wanted it to be fun and empowering for children; so, at the end Amy meets an angel who gives her wings which is the idea that God gives us divine gifts, but also it is just such a fun idea, I mean, what child wouldn’t want to fly!
And you wrote the book in rhyme, why did you choose to do that?
Jenny: In thinking about the project we got out a bunch of children’s books and talked about which were our favourites and why we liked them and why they worked and we just like the ones that rhyme. Rhyming makes it more fun to read and easier to remember.
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Chris: Yeah, and also the magic of rhyming is that actually it draws you into the story as well; you become part of it. By reading it in rhyme you are bringing yourself to the story and it then draws you in. I think there’s something powerful there that’s also beautiful.
Naturally, illustrations are really important in children’s books, your story and the illustrations are very rural rather than urban, was that deliberate?
Chris: It wasn’t deliberate but that said, the images used in the Bible are often rural, for example in the Psalms, for example Psalm 23 there are still waters and green pastures and hills, so I think it is fitting in that sense, but also we wanted the illustrations to have a kind of timeless feel and we thought that a more natural landscape lends itself to that.
You are Beloved will be released on October 7th and can be purchased through all the normal channels.
