The Last Journey

John Bell is a member of the Iona Community, an ordained minister and a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Thought for the Day’. Over many years, he has consistently been one of the biggest draws at the Greenbelt Festival, and his work as a teacher and speaker takes him frequently into Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and North America. At Greenbelt 2017, John disclosed that he was gay, feeling he could no longer keep silent after the suicide of a teenage girl who was afraid to tell her parents about her sexuality. He had remained celibate and without a partner because he believed this enabled him to work without hindrance or compromise as a public Christian and fulfil his commitments in the area of worship in the Church of Scotland.