Nomad Podcast

What actually is prayer? What happens when we do it? What difference can it make, if any, to the events and circumstances we find ourselves in? Should we expect to sense God in prayer, or perhaps even hear him communicate to us? And if so, why do so few of us ever seem to have these sorts of experiences.  For many of us, these questions, and others like them, have led us to a place of disillusionm...

Greg Boyd is back on the show. This time he's tackling the tricky issue of violence in the Old Testament. How is it, for example, that the God revealed in Jesus loves his enemies and lays down his life for them, when the God we see in the Old Testament seemingly thinks nothing of killing his enemies? What does this tell us about the nature of God, and the nature of the Bible? Greg is certainly the...

At our recent offline Gathering, Mark Vernon - former Anglican Priest, turned atheist, turned Christian agnostic - led us in a Buddhist inspired meditation. To get the full benefit from this, you might want to sit near some other people (e.g. in a cafe, the library, or park, etc.) as it's all about how we perceive ourselves in relation to others.  If you want more from Nomad, check out our website...

This podcast comes to you from Nomad's first offline Gathering. We had a great weekend of food, drink, conversation, music and meditation. We also interviewed Mark Vernon . Mark was an Anglican priest but developed deep doubts about the faith. His subsequent journey took him through atheism, agnosticism, through ancient Greek philosophy, to a Christian faith that sees doubt and uncertainty as inte...

We recently invited the beloved listener to Nottingham for Nomad's first offline get-together. It was a splendid weekend of conversation, interviews, music, food and drink. And we recorded some of it for you. First up is a Q&A we did on the Friday night, where David Benjamin Blower asked us about the Nomad story and what impact the last few years of podcasting has had on our faith. Personally,...

We recently travelled to the Creature Conference in London, where we spent the day pondering the question 'Is Christianity Good News for Animals?'. Animal welfare used to be seen as an important expression of the gospel for leaders such as Spurgeon, Wesley, C. S. Lewis and many others. But more recently it seems to have dropped off the Church's agenda. So we asked theological ethicists Prof. David...

With Easter fast approaching, we thought it was about time we had a fresh look at the central symbol of our faith, the cross. And who better to help us than one of the world's most respected and influential theologians, Professor N. T. Wright. So we ask Tom how through the cross Jesus's revolution began, and why after 2000 year does it often look like the revolution is struggling to transform the...

For those of us who have been through some kind of faith deconstruction, spiritual practices often take on a new significance, as we seek to connect with God without what often feels like restrictive doctrinal and organisational frameworks. Scottish theologian and activist Alastair McIntosh recently wrote Poacher's Pilgrimage about a soulful journey he took across the Islands of the Outer Hebrides...

Lent is upon us once again. A wonderful counter-cultural season where we reflect on those things we might need to give up. So we asked Brian Draper to send us something that would help guide us through this time. And he came up trumps with a reflection on the transforming power of stillness. So tune in if you're feeling overwhelmed, stressed out and frazzled, and join us as we commit to intentiona...

We've been wanting to do an episode on money for a while now, so when the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby  put pen to paper and wrote his first book -  Dethroning Mammon  - all about the dangers of money, we seized upon the opportunity and headed off for Lambeth Palace . We asked the Archbishop what his life experience has taught him about money and how it shapes what we value and where we p...

In both Liverpool and Bradford, Barbara Glasson has drawn together communities that have provided safe, honest, authentic spaces for the poor, marginalised, disillusioned, and people from other faiths and none. As well as being a spiritual home for these people, she believes they have an important message for the mainstream church. So we ask Barbara how she formed these communities, and what wisdo...

Priest, poet and feminist theologian, Rachel Mann is a trans-woman. From an early age she had a profound sense that her body didn't reflect her gender. After a long, frustrating and painful journey she emerged into the woman she is today. We ask Rachel to look back over this transition and reflect on what it means to be human, what place gender has in our identity, and what she's learnt from seein...

What are 21st Century educated, questioning Christians supposed to make of the Devil and evil spirits? Are they literal spiritual beings who spend their time trying to lure us into sinful acts? Or should we see them as metaphors for social injustices that we need to confront? We ask professor of psychology , author and blogger Richard Beck. Tune into the podcast for a conversation full of insight,...

It's that time of the year again! We thought we'd have a week off interviewing, and so we've arranged a little Christmas reflection for you. Nicola Slee is a feminist practice theologian and poet who is currently director of research at The Queen's Foundation of Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham. In this podcast, Nicola reflects the implications of Jesus being born a girl. Now there's...

Sally Smith joins us for part 3 of our Welcome the Stranger series. In this episode we hear about the fascinating and inspiring story that emerged when Sally opened the doors of her dying church to asylum seekers and refugees. She's seen large numbers come to faith, she's reunited mothers with their children, she's personally housed refugee families, and her church has become a hub for work with t...

Our regular listeners will remember our Welcome the Stranger refugee special where we looked at the crisis through the eyes of a Syrian refugee and a refugee charity worker. The aim was to raise awareness and money through the sale of David Benjamin Blower 's album Welcome the Stranger.  On this week's podcast, we're looking at the crisis through the eyes of Dave Smith who decided to do something...

Gungor - a multi-grammy nominated Christian band - were the toast of the evangelical worship scene. That is until it became clear that Michael was having significant doubts about his faith. This did not go down well among evangelicals, to say the least. So we talk with Michael and his wife Lisa about the impact this faith deconstruction had on their music, their careers and, more significantly, th...

Brian McLaren has a knack for articulating what many of us are feeling. For a decade he has been the voice of those Christians who are concerned about, for example, the Church's overemphasis on doctrinal belief, its lack of inclusivity, and its lack of concern for the many global issues we are facing.  In his latest book - The Great Spiritual Migration - he draws together all these themes into a m...

Mark Yaconelli is - among many other things - a storyteller. Such is his belief in the power of stories that he founded The Hearth , a gathering of local people who simply share their own stories. Mark has seen this simple gathering profoundly impact his local community. So we ask Mark why it is that stories can have this effect, and what role stories played in his own 'dark night of the soul'. So...

Kester Brewin was founder of one the UK's most creative and innovative alternative worship communities, Vaux. He went onto write The Complex Christ , a critically acclaimed book calling for an emerging Church. But over the following years he began to realise that Christianity was just another means of trying to escape his childhood pain. Tune into the podcast for a challenging and important critiq...

Christianity can be quite a disembodied faith. Muslim's have prayer positions, Hindu's have yoga, Buddhists have Tai-Chi, whereas Christians tend to pray with little more than a bowed head. We ask theologian Paula Gooder why Christians have separated the spiritual from the physical, and what damage this has done for the faith. And we ask how our faith might be reshaped if we approached it in a mor...

Mindfulness has exploded in popularity over recent years, with seemingly every other community centre, school, health service and therapist offering it. But what benefit, if any, does it offer the follower of Jesus? Author , speaker and retreat leader, Brian Draper , believes it has a vital role in Christian spirituality, but only as a doorway to something much deeper, embodied and life-giving. “A...

With the dust just beginning to settle after Britain's decision to leave the European Union, we thought we'd take the opportunity to look at our relationship with politics. Was Jesus political? Should Christians engage in party politics, or be a prophetic voice from the margins? We bring these, and many other questions to political theologian Roger Mitchell . So tune in for an insightful and chall...

Is faith based purely on belief, and a strong faith holding to those beliefs with certainty? If so, what happens when our beliefs evolve and shift? Prof. Peter Enns  - author of The Sin of Certainty -  believes that we've misunderstood the nature of faith, and it is actually trust rather than certainty that lays at it's heart. And it is this trust that can withstand the inevitable uncertainties, q...

The question 'who is God?' used to be the starting point for religious reflection, but increasingly spiritual seekers are concerning themselves with the question 'where is God?'. We ask historian, religious commentator and author of Grounded: Finding God in the World , Diana Butler Bass , about her faith journey and how her shift from a vertical to a horizontal theology dramatically reshaped her f...