Changing Collars is a book about a journey; a journey that began on one path and ended up at a destination never imagined by the author, Mark Hayden. This book follows Mark on his journey through Roman Catholic seminary in the 1980’s and 1990’s as he trains for the priesthood; his early years as a Roman Catholic priest as the storms of controversy raged over the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland; his growing unhappiness and disillusionment and his eventual realisation that the root cause of his unhappiness was not with being a priest but was with being a Roman Catholic priest. The book then goes on to chart Mark’s leap of faith as he reaches out to the Church of Ireland as a new spiritual home, retraining as a Church of Ireland priest, life as a clergyman, marriage and parenthood. This is a story about confusion, choices, consequences and above all the story of a vocation to the priesthood that transcends denominations, vows, presumptions and prejudice. Above all, it is a story of faith, hope and love.
Mark Hayden is a priest of the church of Ireland. He is the rector of a large group of parishes in County Wexford, and is also the rural Dean of North Wexford. Mark has also served as a priest of he Roman Catholic Church in Dublin, Wicklow and London. He is married to Lorraine and they have two sons, Luke and Daniel. This is his third book.
- 55a Spruce Avenue
- Stillorgan Industrial Park
- Blackrock
- Co. Dublin
- IRL