flocks? Traditionally, men and women of the cloth are perceived as pious beings who devote their entire lives to the work of God, with neither time nor thought for anything else. But as one clergyman pointed out: "We're human beings too.

We have other interests.'' Today we continue our series about clergymen and their hobbies, in which we go behind the collars and learn about their favourite pastimes.

An introvert by nature, the reverend Mr. John Diehl pursues hobbies which indulge that side of his personality because the demands of his profession require him to be outgoing.

So it comes as no surprise when the rector of St. Paul's church, Paget lists his hobbies as: gardening, flower arranging, needlepoint, music (organ and piano), and jogging.

"Each day begins with an early morning jog along the railway trail with my dog Adam. At the end of the day I pursue my solitary projects before spending the evening with my wife,'' Mr. Diehl said.

In fact, gardening is a passion with the erudite clergyman from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. One might even say it's in his genes.

"My grandfather -- also a clergyman -- was a great gardener, and my father, who was a doctor, was a rose propagator for Jackson-Perkins,'' Mr. Diehl related. "As a child I used to hate gardening, but now I love it.'' With a wry smile he recalled how once he was sent to weed a flower garden -- just about the worst job imaginable to a juvenile -- and he pulled up all the flowers, leaving the weeds behind! "That was a good way to get out of it,'' he said.

Today, Mr. Diehl takes such pleasure in gardening that whenever he and his wife Lynne arrive at a new parsonage, he sets about leaving his mark on the grounds while she tackles the interior.

"I grow flowers, not vegetables,'' he explained. "Vegetables are work, flowers are fun.'' To make life even simpler, Mr. Diehl concentrates on perennials because, as an itinerant preacher, he does not wish to place an unfair burden on his successors at any parsonage he occupies.

The Paget Rectory is proving an exceptional source of delight to the Diehls, not least because of its splendid architecture and the acres of landscaped grounds.

"The grounds were planted by a rector's wife in the 19th century, and she did it in the style of Capability Brown, a renowned British landscape designer,'' Mr. Diehl explained. "They are absolutely wonderful, and she designed them so well that there is complete privacy when you're at the house.'' At the moment he is concentrating his efforts on an area known as "the palm court'', as well as the front entrance.

"It is a small, walled garden which I have been designing and working on as my personal garden. And I am also landscaping the immediate front of The Rectory.'' Like all avid gardeners, Mr. Diehl is always on the look-out for new plants and shrubs to enhance the Rectory collection, and openly confesses to being an inveterate snipper whenever something takes his fancy. ("He's a terrible thief!'' his wife joked).

The green-thumbed cleric also believes in "recycling'' -- moving plants and trees from one location to another to achieve a better effect.

"It's like fixing a room in a house. You move things around. When I think a colour is not right I move it. I don't worry about the time of the year, I just talk to the plants and pray. I love to talk to my plants and they seem to thrive.'' In addition to working in the garden, Mr. Diehl has expanded his hobby to include raising plants from which others can benefit.

"As part of my outreach to the community, I am now starting to raise plants which I will donate to the National Trust and the Garden Club of Bermuda -- of both of which I am part -- as well as to other organisations such as St.

Paul's Boys' Brigade.'' As if that were not enough, he also grows potted plants on the sun porch for display throughout the Rectory.

"I love potted plants in the house because I think they make the air fresher,'' he explained.

But it is not simply as a gardener that this multi-talented hobbyist functions. He also arranges what he grows -- beautifully. It is a talent inherited from his mother, who won many prizes US garden club prizes. Large pedestal arrangements are a specialty.

"I have a natural gift for spatial perspective. I don't know why I do them, but I know they are right,'' he said of the arrangements.

In addition to learning the basics of floral art by watching his mother, Mr.

Diehl took lessons from Sheila McQueen, a student of the famous British flower designer Constance Spry, while he was studying at Britain's Royal School of Church Music.

One of his great delights since being in Bermuda has been the discovery of so much lush foliage, which has given him another new avenue to explore.

"When I first arrived I saw the National Trust's Christmas decorations in St.

George's, which I thought were splendid, and I observed how people use natural materials to produce arrangements in the English tradition. In England I had a wonderful abundance of flowers to work with, but here there is no reason to buy flowers because there is so much greenery in this wonderful country,'' he enthused.

"On hold'' at the moment is intense pursuit of Mr. Diehl's musical talents, which at one time nearly became his career.

A serious student of piano and organ from an early age, he was professionally advised to enrol in the prestigious Royal College of Church Music with a view to becoming a priest-musician, but eventually he opted for the priesthood alone.

"In England I was surrounded by superb musicians so I decided to stick to what I do best -- the priesthood,'' is how he modestly describes the closing of a significant chapter in his varied life -- which also includes a chaplaincy at the Royal College and studies with the organist of the Chapels Royal (the Queen's organist) at St. James' Palace in London.

Influenced by his wife, the bridge-playing clergyman has also resumed another of his hobbies -- needlepoint -- with memorable results. Specialising in "bargello'', a needlepoint style originating in Italy, he presented his wife with a set of seat covers for her dining room chairs, often makes little gifts for friends, and has his eye on embellishing the seat of an antique chair at the Rectory as a further legacy of his stay.

In conjunction with Mrs. Diehl, the Renaissance man is also planning a further permanent legacy of their stay here: good Bermudian art to grace the Rectory walls. Thus far the collection includes a Desmond Fountain print in a cedar frame acquired at a sale, a Birdsey given by a parishioner, and an original water colour of St. Paul's by David Coolidge.

"We are trying to make the Rectory a house that will celebrate Bermuda,'' Mr.

Diehl said. "We are so thrilled to be here. The people are wonderful and so supportive -- they want us to succeed. The culture here still is not adversarial in many ways. It is a gentle society where people really seem to appreciate one's successes.'' THAT'S FLOWER POWER! Creating spectacular arrangements is just one of Mr.

Peter Diehl's hobbies. Delighted by the abundance of lush foliage available in Bermuda, the rector of St. Paul's church, Paget loves to fill his home with beauties such as these.