During Adrian Leak's time as a parish priest, he wrote many monthly 'letters' for the local parish magazine. His inspiration was the wide and colourful experience of life as a country parson, and the wish to share his reflections with non-believers as well as believers. Like Adrian's previously published volumes, The Golden Calves of Jeroboam is comprised of mostly edited versions of those letters, which appeared in The Withyham & Blackham Parish Magazine, as well as a few adapted from sermons. The book is a collection of fifty short pieces, ranging widely over topics briefly related to church occasions and Christian faith including Easter, Christmas, Pentecost, weddings, funerals, parenthood, prayer, belief, and hope. Their style is anecdotal, humorous and allusive. Though much of the material was written during Adrian's time as a country parson, it is only occasionally autobiographical.