Foul-mouthed vicar encourages swearing

A vicar came under hell fire after he called on the church to get ‘’streetwise” and move into the 21st century – by encouraging worshippers to swear. Foul-mouthed Rev Michael Land, 67, even boasted about a recent road rage incident where he told a stunned driver to ‘f*** off’ – while wearing his dog collar. Astonishingly, the normally softly spoken vicar claimed Jesus regularly swore and urged church-goers not to ”place him on a pedestal”.

Rev Land learnt to ”talk street” during 28 years preaching in the tough East End of London – home of Britain’s most notorious gangsters the Kray Twins. He said: ”The church must be more streetwise and use language most people use today. People view Jesus through tinted spectacles and place him on a pedestal. The reality is that he was poor, lacked any real education and did not fraternise with Pharisees or scholars.



”People today would probably be quite shocked at the language he used at that time.” Rev Land, who tried to convert drug addicts and gangsters in Walthamstow, admits he once lost his rag and told someone to ”f*** off”. He said: ”Someone pulled out in front of me so I sounded my horn. The driver got out of his car and came over to me.

”I wound my window down and said ‘why don’t you learn to f***ing drive’. He just walked away. I don’t think he could believe it. I did not remove my clerical collar, why should I? I did it then and I’d do it again, I’m not afraid to tell it how it is even if that means swearing. The church needs to modernise and that means keeping up with the trends in language.”