Portraying a woman Church of England priest as protagonist in a satire

The first part of this dissertation is the Creative Portfolio, consisting of the initial ten chapters of Oh Dear God!, a satirical novel, set in the present day. This submission creates an older woman Church of England protagonist, Christal. She is dumped in a dead-end rural parish by a Machiavellian bishop who sees the chance of getting rid of her and closing a failing church at the same time. It is aimed at readers of satire, feminists (of any gender), mature women, anyone looking for a story of unlikely triumph or curious about church life. The novel is in episodic form, recounted by the protagonist in the first person and employs present-tense narration. It explores themes of institutional misogyny, the decline of rural churches, menopause and some of the social hypocrisy surrounding sex work. It also charts the effects of a child death on a small community and the role played by the local Church in such a tragedy. The second part of this dissertation is the Critical Reflection, considering some of the research supporting the creative piece, which included academic studies and literature, TV and film, other novels relevant to the subject or with comparable writing styles. It encompassed television documentaries, research papers, newspaper articles, academic papers, a conference, an online symposium and other online material. Topics included narratology, ecclesiology and theology, satire, feminism and gender studies, and sociology with reference to both sex work and the decline of rural churches. The reflection focuses on the current status of women priests in the Church of England facing institutional misogyny alongside their disproportionate role in rural and unpaid ministry. This is evidenced using statistics and testimony of women affected. The submission then examines the choice of first-person narration, present-tense narrative and what is needed to combine the two effectively.