A CLERGYMAN from the Pewsey Vale is rehearsing his lines before a dramatic retelling of the St Mark’s Gospel in London at the end of the month.

Rev Gerald Osborn, 53, of Lawn Farm in Milton Lilbourne, will be travelling to London to perform the recital at St Michael’s Church in Chester Square on September 29. Mr Osborn will be reciting the 11,000-word gospel entirely from memory for everyone who attends the event, including some of his parishioners from the Pewsey Vale.

Mr Osborn, the rural Dene for the parishes of Pewsey, said: “St Mark’s Gospel has some many vivid passages and such a pace, that’s when I first became inspired by Mark. I started reciting it as a discipline for myself. It took me about three years to learn well enough so I could recite it. It wouldn't be something I would make time to practise, just something I would do when walking around the farm. I would rehearse it on walks with my wife Emma also. There are 11,000 words and 60 chapters so we will be having an intermission.”

Born and raised in Milton Lilbourne and farming since 1987, Mr Osborn was ordained in 2000 and became part of the Pewsey Vale team. After speaking to local Pewsey parishioner and TV scriptwriter Colin Heber-Percy he decided to turn it into a monologue.

“I was given the idea by Colin to turn it into a dramatic reading. I’ve never done anything like it before. I read a few chapters for him and he devised this monologue and had this idea to have me acting as Mark reading it all to a scribe,” added Mr Osborn.

All of the proceeds from the event will be going towards the Send a Cow charity, of which Mr Osborn is a trustee, which aims to support farmers in Africa by providing tools, seeds and livestock to help them become self-sufficient.

Reverend Prebendary Edward Mason, rector of Bath Abbey, said: “This is a compelling event as we find ourselves confronted and challenged to listen to the address of the Gospel in the 21st century. Few Christians will have heard Mark presented in this way and it’s enthralling for all.”

Tickets for the event can be bought from www.sendacow.org/stmarks for £10 each.