Taylor Alert – I’m a 29-year-old, Taylor Swift-loving priest… I used to work in a bar and now people call me the ‘TikTok vicar’

You would not necessarily expect a 29-year-old who loves going to Taylor Swift concerts, playing rugby and making TikToks to become a priest. 

But the Reverend Pippa White, curate of the Fauls, Whitchurch and Tilstock parish in Shropshire, told she is more than happy to be breaking the mould. 

She started considering becoming a priest while at university – before she was even baptised, which she underwent later in life than usual, at 19. 

And before entering the ministry, she worked behind the bar in pubs, to pay the bills after she graduated. 

But despite what some might think, she found that chatting with punters was not worlds away from counselling parishioners. 

She told : ‘There is a joke – the only difference between being a barmaid and a priest is there’s not a bar between you when people tell you about their problems! That’s the well-worn line.’ 

Ms White has also since become a self-professed ‘TikTok vicar’ – and has racked up around 20,000 followers on her page, describing herself in her bio as ‘just a priest girlie’.

She makes lighthearted videos in her dog collar, with one recent video joking about the pains of being single – when often having to conduct weddings. And for Ms White, these TikToks are a helpful extension of her ministry. 

The Reverend Pippa White (pictured), curate of the Fauls, Whitchurch and Tilstock parish in Shropshire, told she is more than happy to be breaking the mould

You would not necessarily expect a 29-year-old who loves going to Taylor Swift concerts (pictured, Ms White at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour with her sister, left), playing rugby and making TikToks to become a priest

Ms White (pictured, holding her dog Freddie after a rugby match she played in) has also since become a self-professed ‘TikTok vicar’ – and has racked up around 20,000 followers on her page, describing herself in her bio as ‘just a priest girlie’

The curate started making videos after her sister suggested she should try carving out a niche as a ‘TikTok vicar’ – but she has now found it has also helped her connect with parishioners in real life. 

Mentioning one who is shown her TikToks by his granddaughter, Ms White explained: ‘[The parishioners] think it’s hysterical. It’s really sweet.’ 

And even on just a simple walk through the parish recently, her page was a conversation starter: ‘A lady stopped me and said, “Oh, you’re on TikTok, aren’t you?” And I said, “Oh, yeah, yeah”. 

‘And then that led into a conversation about the family service and how she wants to come to the family service at church. And I think people just find it a breath of fresh air.’

She said: ‘With being the Church of England, we have our parishes and our parish system and it’s all about, “How do you reach out to your people in your parish?” 

‘And historically, it’s been a bit like, “Who can I meet in person?” But obviously with social media, it’s a completely new way to reach out to people.’   

But the Reverend has received some pretty ferocious hate online about what she is doing, with some viewers taking issue with the lighthearted nature of her content. 

Recent videos include jokes about the difficulty of teaching Sunday schoolers about Saint Valentine while ‘single and bitter’ and how the best answer to a parishioner asking her, ‘Rev, what do you think heaven is like?’ might just be eating mozzarella cheese. 

The curate started making videos after her sister suggested she should try carving out a niche as a ‘TikTok vicar’ – but she has now found it has also helped her connect with parishioners in real life. Pictured: Ms White with her sister at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour 

Mentioning one who is shown her TikToks by his granddaughter, Ms White explained: ‘[The parishioners] think it’s hysterical. It’s really sweet’. Pictured: Ms White with her dog Freddie

Ms White said: ‘I’ve had DMs with people really disagreeing with what I do.’ 

But, for her: ‘The way I make my TikToks reflects how I do my ministry day-to-day, face-to-face. 

‘If I’m walking down the high street, I am far more likely to make a little offhand joke to someone as I’m passing them rather than saying, “Oh, we should chat about faith”.’

She added: ‘Because I didn’t formally come to faith until I was an adult, I think my past has really given me a help in understanding what the church can feel like as an outsider. 

‘I can remember thinking how daunting it was and how exposing it would be to talk about your faith. 

‘And actually, for some people, it really takes the time, the trust, the encouragement, stuff like that. 

‘So, in the same way, I’m never going to make TikToks which are like, “OK, tell me about your faith” – I’d never say that to someone in person.’ 

While she has not really experienced any hate or criticism offline, people she meets are sometimes surprised to hear about her interests outside the priesthood. 

While she has not really experienced any hate or criticism offline, people she meets are sometimes surprised to hear about her interests outside the priesthood. Pictured: Ms White playing in a rugby cup final 

She is in a rugby team, went to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and loves a night out – despite the difficulty of leading a Sunday service the next day, as she mentioned in one TikTok. Pictured: Ms White horse riding, one of her other hobbies 

She is in a rugby team, went to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and loves a night out – despite the difficulty of leading a Sunday service the next day, as she mentioned in one TikTok. 

At rugby practice, she said: ‘There’s always the jokes about, “Oh, look at that vicar doing that tackle”. And I think it’s fab.’

It helps her show people, she explained, that, ‘I can be normal too’: ‘Vicars aren’t these people with three heads, these aliens that have dropped in! 

‘Actually, we’re human beings too. And I think that’s great.’ 

Being a young female Anglican priest can sometimes be a cause for surprise among parishioners too, she explained. 

The Church of England only ordained its first female priests in 1994 – and still, less than a third of Anglican office holders are women, according to recent figures. 

Only 30.4 per cent of CofE incumbents are women, according to the data from 2022, released by the church’s governing body, called the General Synod.  

The Reverend remembered her stint as a hospital chaplain, as part of her training: ‘The amount of times people would say, “Gosh, you’re young to be a vicar, aren’t you?”‘ 

Being a young female Anglican priest can sometimes be a cause for surprise among parishioners too, she explained 

The Reverend remembered her stint as a hospital chaplain, as part of her training: ‘The amount of times people would say, “Gosh, you’re young to be a vicar, aren’t you?”‘

Or on funeral visits now, she said: ‘You ring ahead to say, “Can I pop round?” And all the family’s in the front room, expecting the vicar to come up. 

‘And then when I knock on the door, you can see in their faces, there’s a bit of, “Oh, that’s not what we were expecting!”… But it’s an amazing icebreaker.’ 

It is why she loves TikTok: ‘The thing that really gave me life about it was I was kind of this face to the church not many people have seen before.’

But she understands why some people feel strongly about her online content – because faith is important to people, ‘the thing you build your entire life around’. 

She said: ‘I think it is very hard, and I feel this myself, when people present and feel their faith in a very different way…

‘And so, I think it is hard, particularly I think for the more conservative Christians, when they see the stuff I’m posting, because actually for everyone involved, it’s a really, really deep matter and none of us want to be treating it lightly.’ 

And that is far from her intention: ‘The big reason why I do my TikToks is I don’t want people to feel like that is an alternative to going to church.’ 

She added: ‘For me, TikTok is all about just showing people what they could have in their life, with faith and church and community.’ 

It is why she loves TikTok: ‘The thing that really gave me life about it was I was kind of this face to the church not many people have seen before’. Pictured: Ms White with a friend

She said: ‘I think it is very hard, and I feel this myself, when people present and feel their faith in a very different way…’ 

Ms White said: ‘This is one of the reasons why I got into TikTok as this sort of “TikTok vicar” was because, I think particularly for younger generations, there are misconceptions about church and what vicars might be like. 

‘I think people are often quite scared to go to church because they think they’ll be judged, they’re worried they’ll be doing the wrong thing in church and everybody will be looking at them thinking, “Why are they doing that?”

‘And so, what I want to do is, in saying, “Look, this is how I minister”, it also shows that behind me, I have my lovely, lovely parish churches who are also very similar in how we live our communities.

‘And so, it’s about just encouraging people that maybe church isn’t what they think it is and just give it a go. Go look for those communities, what it might be like.’

And though people might assume Gen Z are not the most spiritual types, recent research has proven they are far more interested than we might think. 

Bible sales soared by 87 per cent between 2019 and 2024, from £2.6million to more than £5million – and experts claim much of this is down to those born between 1997 and 2012. 

Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Anglican bishop of Rochester who converted to Catholicism, said: ‘Gen Z has got over that hump of the baby boomers in the Sixties who were rejecting Christianity. 

‘They are open to spirituality, and quite open to the figure of Jesus. A lot are coming for confirmation, and young adults are being baptised.’ 

She added: ‘For me, TikTok is all about just showing people what they could have in their life, with faith and church and community’. Pictured: A cup final rugby match Ms White played at 

Though people might assume Gen Z are not the most spiritual types, recent research has proven they are far more interested than we might think

The sales boost was revealed by the Christian publisher SPCK, whose chief executive Sam Richardson said: ‘Gen Z are far less likely to identify as atheists than their parents.’

And Ms White reckoned having a young priest like her to relate to could be useful for young people just exploring their own faith. 

She said: ‘I think young people see me and it’s that sense of, “Oh, she’s already going to get what it’s like for a lot of my life”, compared to talking to someone of a different generation, where you have to explain, “OK, well, this is what TikTok is, and then that’s why this is important and then this is why…” 

‘You can drop all of that, can’t you, when you’re talking to someone the same age and so you can get to the heart of matters.’