ABOUT ATHEL JOHN
Athel John is a Guide at Canterbury Cathedral in the UK. He often finds rapport there with visitors hungry to discover earlier roots than they have known before. In “The Mustard Seed”, John takes this further, re-uniting the English speaking world with lost ancestors.
John’s speciality is to combine research of real world history with understanding of the spiritual forces which were also at work within the history. Since the spiritual forces at work in originating English history were Christian ones, John shows how Christian faith, principles and decisions first shaped the world that descended to us. The effect is to fill a huge gap in general knowledge of how Christian Life first got into the West; and to bring back to life the lost seed figures of the English speaking world during its earliest origin times.
“The Mustard Seed” will bring new light to anyone from any background who wants to understand how the ancient Christian spirituality first got into English speaking roots and shaped the history.
Should you be interested, John is now retired, happily married, and active in the musical worship of a local Anglican Church. He has had a long and enriching Christian Life. He has always been in good standing in church. When not writing, guiding or preparing worship, he enjoys cooking. He even likes watching trains …
ABOUT "THE MUSTARD SEED"
I am a Guide in Canterbury Cathedral and occasionally I sit as a volunteer in the historic church of St Martin’s in Canterbury. As a writer, I bring back to life seed people in the ancient past. I tell their story.
This book had its origins in the tiny and historic church of St Martin’s – styled as the oldest church continuously in use for Christian worship in the English-speaking world. I discovered there the first Christian to reside with the Anglo-Saxon people, Queen Bertha of Kent. I also discovered her noble husband, King Ethelbert of Kent. His adoption of Christian Identity many years after marrying Bertha was history shaping.
From the grounds of the tiny church, I looked up and could see in the distance the giant Cathedral of Canterbury. I realised that I was looking at a full-grown plant – the great Cathedral and all that it stands for – which had developed from a tiny seed – Queen Bertha’s originating faith.
I looked into the almost lost account of Ethelbert and Bertha. I recovered a charming story for you. Then I discovered Saint King Oswald of Northumbria. Early England’s lost Christ figure. And with him I discovered a world changing transformation within the entire ancient Anglo Saxon people group.
It was epic.
And all from the tiniest of seed origins.
This book, “The Mustard Seed”, tells their stories, and that of many more heroic figures too.