Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs

In this episode of Question the Rev, Rev'd Jamie says that he doesn't doubt the basic truth of Christianity but that sometimes he doubts whether he is making sense of it personally. He also gives some pastoral advice on how to approach doubts.  Responding to another question on helpful books to understand Christian history, Rev'd Jamie recommends Dairmaid MacCulloch's 'A H...

In this solo episode, Church of England Rev Jamie Franklin responds to Matt Hancock's recent interview on Diary of a CEO. Beginning with a meditation on Ephesians 5, he argues that the Christian conception of love is superior to the superficial understanding portrayed by Hancock in his interview. Link:  Diary of a CEO with Matt Hancock Notices: Thanks to our Patreons! Support us from £1.50 pl...

Rev'd Jamie Franklin says that we must forget in the sense that we mustn't have bitterness or anger towards those who have hurt us, but that, in many cases, it is still wise to remember what has been done so that we can make good decisions in the future. He also says that our ultimate unity in the Church is based not on whether we agree entirely about the past but on Jesus Christ and the...

Church of England vicars Thomas Pelham, Daniel French and Jamie Franklin get together to offer a spiritual perspective on current events, this week again talking quite a bit about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Also featuring commentary on the disbanding of the disastrous SAGE committee and Nicola Sturgeon posthumous apology to witches burned at the stage in Early Modernity. Our Scriptural refle...

In this episode of Question the Rev, Church of England vicars Tom, Jamie and Daniel answer a question about common pitfalls for new converts to Christianity. What are they and how can they be avoided? Notices: Thanks to our Patreons! Support us from £1.50 plus VAT per month: https://patreon.com/irreverend Jamie's Good Things Substack blog/newsletter: https://jamiefranklin.substack.com Irrever...

Church of England vicars Thomas Pelham and Jamie Franklin get together to offer a spiritual perspective on current events, this week focussing mainly on issues arising from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.  It is important to note that, although we discuss these events abstractly, we pray for peace and for God's comfort for all of those who are suffering. Topics: - Just War Theory vs. Chris...

Church of England vicars Thomas Pelham and Jamie Franklin get together to offer a spiritual perspective on current events being joined by special guest Laura Dodsworth. This week: How to apply the teachings of Christ on non-judgmentalism to unjust political situations and commentary on the ending of Covid restrictions and the Bishop of London's response to the situation. With Laura we discuss...

Church of England Revs Daniel French, Thomas Pelham and Jamie Franklin get together to offer a spiritual perspective on current events. This week: a question on the experience of God, in the news Trudeau invokes emergency power to confiscate money from rogue truckers, the Archbishop of Canterbury says that he is not solely responsible for the closure of churches in March 2020 and that he does not...

Church of England vicars Daniel French, Thomas Pelham and Jamie Franklin are joined by Lord Frost. Until recently David Frost has been at the heart of the UK Government and has been deeply involved in seminal moments in British history including the Brexit negotiations and the Covid crisis. A deeply principled man, he quit the government over his opposition to further Covid restrictions and has su...

Church of England Revs Thomas Pelham and Jamie Franklin get together to offer a spiritual perspective on current events. This week: NHS vaccine mandate U-turn, Canadian trucker rebels, an attempt to cancel some bloke called Joe Rogan, the Bible on trial in a Finnish court and a question on how Christians are meant to engage with a corrupt and immoral political system. Topics Covered and Timings: 0...

In this short clip, the Irreverend vicars respond to an email from regular listener Lizzie, who says that we must not allow ourselves to give in to recrimination and blame but must seek to tell a better story as we move beyond the trauma of the Covid-19 crisis in love and forgiveness. Notices: Thanks to our Patreons! Support us from £1.50 plus VAT per month: https://patreon.com/irreverend Jamie&ap...

Church of England Revs Thomas Pelham and Jamie Franklin get together to talk Scripture, news, the Church and pretty much everything else! Featuring this week more Boris partying during lockdown, NHS vaccine mandates, the Ukraine-Russian tension, the Bishop of London's comments on the end of Covid and the Church of England's mission to have ten global majority heritage bishops appointed t...

In this clip from the week's longer episode, Revs Jamie Franklin and Thomas Pelham reflect on the questionable ethical priorities that were involved in the decision to cause people to die alone in hospitals and elsewhere during the Covid-19 crisis. This relates to a broader conversation concerning the moral lostness of our culture: bereft of a code of ethics or unifying frame of reality as a...

Church of England Revs Jamie Franklin and Thomas Pelham get together to talk about the news and issues of the day. Topics Covered and Timings 00:00 Banter/Notices Book into Church Under Fire? event here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/church-under-fire-tickets-250117356747 00:15 Revelation 2:12-17, The Letter to the Church in Pergamum 00:31 Question the Rev: The Implications of the Archbishop&apos...

Church of England vicars Jamie Franklin and Daniel French are joined by Associate Professor of Healthcare at the University of West London Dr Paula Boddington to talk medical ethics in the context of the Covid-19 vaccination drive, particularly with reference to the recent comments made by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. Topics Covered: - Divisions in society and the unethical weaponis...

Church of England vicars Jamie Franklin and Daniel French are joined by Associate Professor of Healthcare at the University of West London Dr Paula Boddington to talk medical ethics in the context of the Covid-19 vaccination drive, particularly with reference to the recent comments made by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. Topics Covered 0-48 Minutes: Jamie and Daniel - The Church's...

A special first-ever Irreverend live stream. Reflecting on things past and things to come in the New Year 2022 and taking questions from patrons of the show! Notices: Thanks to our Patreons! Support us from £1.50 plus VAT per month: https://patreon.com/irreverend Jamie's Good Things Substack blog/newsletter: https://jamiefranklin.substack.com Irreverend Weekly Sermon Audio: https://irreverend...

For our final episode before Christmas, Revs Tom and Jamie respond to Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby’s claims that being vaccinated is the moral thing and Christian thing to do .  They compare and contrast the archbishop’s approach with that of Michael Nazir-Ali who says that churches should stay open this Christmas as they play a vital and unique role which should not be abandoned due to t...

After a customary bit of catching up and discussion on our Scripture passage for this week (Revelation 2:1-7), Tom and Jamie were joined for the majority of the episode by James Delingpole. James is a journalist and podcaster who has been at the forefront of the resistance to the corporate media's take on the Covid-19 phenomenon. We talk about how James' political and spiritual views hav...

Revs Tom and Jamie sat down in-person for the first time to discuss all the big issues of the day from a Christian perspective. Following on from our meditation on Revelation 1:17-20, we talk about the fear that new restrictions will induce. On the same day as said restrictions were being discussed, Boris Johnson faced questions in the House over his illegal Christmas gathering at Number 10 Downin...

In this special extra episode, Rev'd Jamie talks about how we should approach prayer in these dark times, specifically with reference to how to pray for political leaders. He also addresses the question of how we should understand and use the imprecatory Psalms, that is, those Psalms that call down God's judgment and vengeance upon one's enemies. Notices: Thanks to our Patreons! Sup...

For this special episode, we were hosted by Danny Doran and The Infinite Jigsaw Podcast . Danny asked Revs Jamie, Daniel and Tom to reflect on six key themes salient to the last twelve months: lockdowns in the UK and abroad; Trump, the US election and Biden; government overreach and the facemark mandates; vaccination, vaccine passports and big pharma; children as collateral damage; and climate cha...

In light of the fact that our regular episode is different this week, Reverend Jamie shares a couple of notices and leads us through the next section of the Book of Revelation, encouraging us to keep our eyes fixed on the glory of Jesus Christ in this Advent and season, regardless of what political turmoil is going on around us. The Scripture this week is taken from Revelation 1:10-16. For Susan S...

Revs Daniel and Jamie were joined by American journalist and author of The Benedict Option and Live not by Lies Rod Dreher for the second half of this week's episode. We spoke to Rod about the challenges facing Christians today as secular society moves in a direction ever more antithetical to Christianity. We also get Rod's most up-to-date thoughts on movements in the culture, including...

Revs Tom and Jamie get together to talk the Book of Revelation, COP26's Tower of Babel style failure, Rev Jamie's controversial tweet about having large families and Rod Dreher's article in support. In the final hour we were joined by cultural critic and commentator Esther O' Reilly/Bethel McGrew and discuss the Austrian vaccine apartheid, Esther’s coming out as a real person,...