For a man of the cloth, Richard Coles has had a highly unusual past, having been a member of the chart-topping Communards in the '80s, as well as living in such a way that he has inspired a popular TV series ('Rev' starring Tom Hollander). It's immediately obvious to anyone that tunes in to 'Saturday Live' that he has a refreshingly dry sense of humour too.

But Coles popped up in a rather different context last week when he was interviewed by the 'Today Programme's' Sarah Montague. It was 'All Saints Day', and Coles had just published a book entitled 'The lives of the Improbable Saints'. And, from what I heard, the book sounds a rip-roaring read with Coles focusing on what he argues are the 'Z' grade as opposed to the 'A' grade saints.

If Coles is to be believed, there is a patron saint for just about everything. He has unearthed patron saints for all sorts of occasions and every kind of need, from second hand clothes shops to chicken farmers and even disappointing children. My favourite is Mother Cabrini - the patron saint of parking spaces! According to Coles you will often hear New York taxi drivers quietly chanting 'Mother Cabrini, Mother Cabrini, please find a space for my parking machinery'. Fortunately, the summer rush is over here in Pembrokeshire. The crowds have vanished and this is one prayer I don't need to put to the test!

And I don't think I ever will either. Don't get me wrong: I am not ashamed to pray for a parking space. The old hymn says it well when it tells us that we can 'carry everything to the Lord in prayer'. No, I have a more fundamental objection. I won't seek the help of Mother Cabrini or any other saint because I don't need to. I can go straight to God. I have direct access to Him 24/7 so why should I spend time talking to someone else? As I see it If I can go straight to the top why should I bother with someone else way down the food chain.

If the truth be told, Cole's book is a sad, if humorous, reflection on the church's failure to communicate the glorious truth that as far as the New Testament Church was concerned every Christian is a saint. For in the first instance the word simply means 'set apart' (like my mother's best china). No one understood that better than the apostle Peter himself who once told a group of churches that they had been set apart with the express purpose of being obedient to Jesus Christ.

And that's no easy task. It means that even today, a Christian will die for his or her faith every five minutes somewhere in the world. And it's becoming increasingly likely that that we will experience some kind of persecution in Britain in the not-too-distant future too.

Christians are not perfect (even the greatest of the 'so-called saints' had their obvious flaws). Christians are saints because they have been set apart to serve God, whatever the cost.

But Coles is right too. The church is full of improbable saints. I know because I am one of them, even though I didn't warrant a mention in his thought-provoking book.

Rob James is Pastor of Westgate Evangelical Chapel, Pembroke, and can be contacted at