The eye-catching title of his latest book is "A Third of a Century in the World's Oldest Profession''. It is only as we read the sub-title that we learn his confessions are those of a parish minister.

As he rather mischievously points out, however, "The title of a book is rather like the headlines in your newspaper: it helps to sell copies!'' But, he explains, the word "profession'' originally referred to the vows taken by members of the clergy; it was not until the 16th century that the word came to describe those with a special vocation.

As might be expected, this book concentrates on "the human side of the ministry, because the church is about humanity and people''.

The author, who writes in a frank, down-to-earth and often humorous way, seems unusually well qualified to tackle some of the controversial issues that face the Christian church today.

The Rev. W. Norman MacFarlane has been in Bermuda since last September in his capacity as a trained "interim pastor'' who specialises in conflict management. Despite the fact that he is not a Methodist, he was invited here largely as a result of the recent controversy over a possible split in Bermuda's Methodist churches.

It was felt that some churches wished to cut their ties with the United Church of Canada and although only one (Cobb's Hill) actually voted for that move, Mr. MacFarlane, an American who belongs to the United Church of Christ, was brought here in an effort to heal some of the ill-feeling and wounds that had surfaced as a result of that situation.

He also worked for six years as a navy chaplain, a position which he describes bluntly as "a waste of time. I loved the navy, but you don't need a minister to be sorting out things like getting permission for a guy to go back home to marry his pregnant girlfriend.'' He tends to play down the danger of divisions in the Christian church in general and the Methodist church in particular. He emphasises that there can be unity within diversity, making the point that different denominations are really no different than the 50 States that make up America. "All the States are different, yet we are united as a country. Or you could say that Democrats and Republicans are in conflict with each other, but the important thing is that both remember that first and foremost, they are Americans, just as we are, first and foremost, Christians.'' He is optimistic about the future of the Methodist church in Bermuda. "I think Methodism is doing much finer in Bermuda than we have been led to believe by a few headline-hunting ministers. We have taken some hits below the water line but the ship is still under full steam. We are getting back some of the people that left the church and I would say that morale is high.'' He says he had completed the actual writing of his book before his arrival in Bermuda, which was just as well, as he has found it a full-time job, ministering to both the Centenary and Marsden Memorial churches.

"I don't have any secretarial help, so I spend about one-third of my time doing clerical work. I have also called on all my parishioners in their homes, as I like to listen to people -- and it's not possible to do that on a Sunday.'' Asked why he had felt the urge to write a book, Mr. MacFarlane (he does not care to be addressed as `Reverend' and thinks a clerical collar is "a bit showy'') is quite clear in his answer.

"I felt I had some things to say that needed to be said -- some things to get out of my system. I find I can express my thoughts best through two fingers on a word-processor (I get plenty of practice with that, writing sermons every week), so this seemed to be the way to do it.'' This is his third book and it took him five months to write, although he admits that he had been making notes for about ten years before that.

While some chapters deal with issues that are purely theological, Mr.

MacFarlane's book should have special appeal to the lay-man. He writes amusingly -- and reveals some surprising home-truths in the process -- about some of the more prosaic aspects of life as a minister. Salary, for example, comes in for some attention, with Mr. MacFarlane declaring that "ministerial compensation'' is "one of the unheralded scandals of the Christian Church in the twentieth century.'' Leaving, presumably, the likes of Jim and Tammy Bakker aside, he comments that a pastor, who usually ranks educationally with college professors, doctors and lawyers, earns less than the lowest scales of unskilled labourers.

"Burnout'' provides the subject for another chapter, in which Mr. MacFarlane reminds his readers that ministers, too, are human and can buckle under the demands placed on modern-day pastors -- demands which often require them to be supermen who can cope with multiple roles as scholars, writers, speakers, administrators, counsellors, fund-raisers, youth-workers, in addition to being family men.

Mr. MacFarlane believes that much of the stress arises from the fact that the responsibilities of the Protestant minister are not matched by authority. "He has influence but not much clout.'' Bermuda, he says, is not only more religious than any other place he has visited, but further to the "right'' than the US. "There are theological liberals here but not radicals. There are more conservatives (those who accept the bible as inspired and authoritative) and the fundamentalists are even further to the right.'' In a chapter on Neurotics in the Church, Mr. MacFarlane expresses the opinion that 95 percent of a church congregation is the salt of the earth, while the other five percent are the ones who tend to run it and amongst them are those who have neurotic personalities -- folks, he says, who are a problem to themselves, their families, the community and a dissident element in the church.

The lunatic fringe, he writes, has a way of commanding the loyalty and devotion of the mindless masses, and cites Hitler as the supreme example of a dangerously charismatic personality who can galvanise an entire nation into insanity.

On the subject of sermons he mentions, in passing, preachers "who had the gift of gab, and thought it was the gift of prophecy''. But for Mr.

MacFarlane, preaching is at the heart of his ministry, for "everything else is subordinate to that.'' He believes, by the way, that a 25-minute sermon should be the product of 25 hours preparation.

He writes, too, on the subject of humour, stressing his conviction that laughter is an integral part of the Christian life. But while he agrees that "man is the only joker in nature's pack,'' he reminds his readers that "it is the sacred task of the preacher to feed the sheep, not entertain the goats.'' There is just a hint of humour, as well, in his reply when asked if he had found Bermuda a friendly place.

"Oh yes! As a native Bostonian, I find everyone here very friendly and outgoing indeed!'' Mr. MacFarlane's book has just been released throughout the United States and is now on sale in Bermuda at The Bermuda Bookstore, the Washington Mall Bookstore, The Book Mart, the Christian Book Store in Washington Mall, and at Morning Light Gallery and Bookstore at Dockyard.

WRITE ON! -- The Rev. W. Norman MacFarlane with his recently published book on the `world's oldest profession.'