The Calling of a Cuckoo: Not Quite an Autobiography

In February 1984 David Jenkins, Professor of Theology at Leeds University, received an invitation from the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, to become Bishop of Durham.His tenancy of the See was to become one of the most controversial in its history. He hit the headlines as the 'unbelieving bishop' after his expositions of the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection. When York Minister burst into flames days after his consecration his notoriety was assured.Enthroned at the time of the bitter miners' strike of 1984 to 1985, the new bishop preached to his Durham community on the Cost of Hope. From then on he was a marked man among the Tory establishment; according to Mrs. Thatcher, a cuckoo in the establishment nest.