Nomad Podcast

Why in our multicultural society is the Church still predominantly led by, and our theology predominantly written by, white men? We head to Birmingham to meet up with one of the UK's leading black theologians, Anthony Reddie . We ask him if the Church is racist and if so what we can do about it? And, what difference would it make to our understanding of God and what he is doing in the world if we...

We have a humanitarian disaster unfolding on our doorstep. Many of us feel frustrated at our government's half-hearted response, yet we feel overwhelmed and powerless to do anything ourselves.  In this episode we hear from Adel Hamad, a Syrian refugee who made the trip to the UK. We then hear from Naomi Jemmett, who works with refugee children who have made similar journeys. And finally we hear fr...

Why is the Church divided into over 40,000 denominations? Why do Churches in the same town often have very little to do with each other? Why are Christians always fighting on social media? It doesn't seem much like the one new humanity Jesus came to establish! To find some answers we quiz social psychologist, Christena Cleveland , author of Disunity in Christ . “In the secular world or in the acad...

Professor Gary Burge joins us on the podcast to help us get our heads round the complexities of Israel/Palestine. Gary was a student at the university of Beirut, he now lecturers in the US on the New Testament and the Theology of the Promised Land. He regularly visits the Middle East and has close connections to Christian leaders from Damascus to Jerusalem to Cairo. So tune in if you're wrestling...

Apparently the vast majority of us feel uncomfortable talking about death, and haven't spoken to anyone about our end of life wishes. Jon Underwood thinks this is having a profoundly negative effect on society. So he pioneered the Death Cafe movement where people gather together, drink tea, eat cake and talk openly and honestly about death. "Death can shake us beyond cultural constraints and make...

Wayne Jacobsen - author of The Shack - was a successful pastor. But as his disillusionment with the institutional nature of church grew, he decided to walk away and begin to search for the church Jesus was building. 20 years later he says this was one of the best decisions he ever made. “Structure is like our skeleton, any time you’re seeing your skeleton it’s not good. The skeleton supports the l...

With Pentecost almost upon us, we offer you our 7th and final refection. Associate Professor of Psychology, blogger and author , Richard Beck has the privilege of closing our this series. We hope you've found these reflections helpful. See you later on in the Church calendar. Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and...

In our sixth instalment of our Pentecost for Progressives series, we bring you Roger Mitchell . Roger teaches political theology at Lancaster University  and has pioneered a movement around the idea of Kenarchy , by which he means ‘self emptying power’. You can read more about this in his book Discovering Kenarchy: Contemporary Resources for the Politics of Love . But until you do, you can enjoy t...

Rachel Mann brings us our fifth Pentecost for Progressives reflection. Rachel is a Church of England priest, and is poet in Residence at Manchester Cathedral. She's also transgender, and brings something of her experience of wrestling with identity and faith to this fascinating refection. Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally t...

Our Pentecost series continues with a jazz inspired reflection from Sharon Putt. Sharon is a theologian, and author of Razing Hell and Executing God .  Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram...

Our journey towards Pentecost continues. This week's refection comes from freelance community theologian and author, Ann Morisy. Ann has researched and written on everything from the spirituality of public transport, through to the spirituality of ageing. But for us, she turns her attention to Pentecost. Enjoy. Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely...

Here's our second Pentecost reflection for you. This time Alastair McIntosh reflects on how his understanding of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit has changed and evolved, from one of judgement to one of spiritual activism.  Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access...

We've got a new Nomad Spirituality series for you, Pentecost for Progressives . Each week between Easter and Pentecost we'll be giving you a reflection from someone who's been through a faith shift/deconstruction, or who just views the faith with a critical eye. We asked them the question, what does Pentecost/Holy Spirit mean to you now? First up is Barbara Glasson. Enjoy! Books, quotes, links → T...

As well as our usual interview shows we like to give you some food for thought focussed around the Church Calendar. This Easter we've asked the Jesuit Priest, Father James Martin to reflect on how he relates to the suffering and resurrected Jesus. If you want more from Nomad, check out our website , and follow us on Facebook and twitter If you're looking for other people to share this journey with...

Easter is upon us, so we thought it was a fine time to look at the atonement again. So we popped down to Bristol to chat with Alan Mann. Alan asks the question, what could the atonement mean for a society that doesn't consider itself sinful in any traditional sense. Rather than 'sin' Alan believes the issue we now face is shame and it is this that Jesus's death needs to set us free from. Tune in f...

Robin Parry is a theologian best known for advocating universalism (see our interview with him on this very topic). More recently he's turned his attention to writing about The Biblical Cosmos . In this book he systematically lays out all the weirdness of the biblical universe, with its flat earth, the dead residing underneath it and God residing above a solid sky dome. Oh, and there's sea monster...

On Nomad we often talk about the changing nature of culture and how the church has changed (or not) in response. But rather than continuing to rely on our own anecdotal evidence, we thought it was about time we spoke with someone who actually knows what they're talking about.  Grace Davie  is a professor in the sociology of religion and wrote the influential book Religion in Britain . So she seeme...

Jamie Arpin-Ricci joins us on the latest leg of our Nomadic pilgrimage of hope. Jamie felt called to leave behind his comfortable middle class life and move to a high poverty and crime inner-city area. Obviously this presented many challenges, but none more so than being confronted by his own vulnerability. So we ask Jamie to reflect on what it means to make ourselves vulnerable before God and tho...

The UN said recently that 'Gender-based violence is perhaps the most widespread and socially tolerated of human rights violations.' We spoke to philosopher, sociologist and theologian Elaine Storkey about the reasons behind this, and how the church should respond. This led on to a fascinating discussion about what it really means to be a man.  “Almost every society on earth practices some form of...

Terry Waite travelled to some of the most dangerous places in the world, negotiating with the likes of Idi Amin and Colonel Gaddafi for the release of hostages. Then while working in Lebanon he was taken hostage by Islamic Jihadists. He was held for nearly 5 years, most of it in solitary confinement, was tortured and underwent a mock execution. Tune into the podcast for an incredible story of humi...

Last year we gave you our 12 Days of Christmas refections. We're adding to that series with a refection by the director of the missional community InnerChange , John Hayes. John reflects on the contradictions inherent in our modern celebration of Christmas. See you in 2016! If you want more from Nomad, check out our website , and follow us on Facebook and twitter If you're looking for other people...

On this edition of Nomad we thought we'd answer a few of your questions. Everything from 'Who are you two?', through to 'Is there a north-south divide in heaven?'. It's a marathon 2 hour something ride of beer fuelled banter and 'profound' insights! “Hold onto the hope that if you’re not praying and reading your Bible for a couple of years, and all you do in the evening – like me – is watch box se...

As if building a church of 10,000+, producing an international bestselling DVD series, writing critically acclaimed bestselling books , producing a hugely popular podcast , and having his own TV show wasn't enough, Rob Bell has decided to write a novel. And much to the frustration of all us lesser mortals, it's really rather good! But what does Milliones Cajones reveal about Rob's own struggle to...

Ever felt awkward and uncomfortable in Church, like you just don't fit in? Well, according to Jonny Baker that could well be the gift of pioneering. Jonny was pioneering before pioneering was a thing. Most notably he founded the alternative worship community Grace , and more recently he's pioneered a training course for pioneers . So if you're dreaming that things could be different, then tune int...

At the core of author and teacher Brad Jersak 's faith is the belief that God looks like Jesus. Simple enough, right? But what about the violent 'God of the Old Testament'? What about the parable's of Jesus that liken God to an angry king? And what about all the suffering in the world that God seems to simply stand by and watch. How do these look like Jesus? We caught up with Brad in Telford, and ...