Nomad Podcast

Dave Andrews has lived and worked in intentional communities with marginalised groups of people in Australia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal. Through these experiences he developed a passion for seeing Christians and Muslims learning together what it means to follow Jesus. To this end, he proposes that we all observe the Jihad of Jesus. We caught up with Dave at the Greenbelt Festival to u...

The recent image of a drowned child washed up on a Turkish beach brought the refugee crisis into sharp focus. So to help us better understand the complexities of the situation and how best to respond, we've asked Dave Smith to send us a reflection. Dave is the founder of the Boaz Trust , a charity that houses, supports and speaks up for the most vulnerable and destitute refugees in Manchester.  “C...

Every now and then we treat you to Nomad Spirituality , a guest meditation based around the Church calendar. So we thought a reflection on Harvest might be in order. Bruce Stanley seemed like the man as he's a forager, owns a small holding, pioneered the Forest Church movement, and wrote the book on it. But rather than giving thanks, what harvest prompts Bruce to do is ask some challenging questio...

The idea of beauty has shaped Joanna Jepson's life and ministry. Born with a jaw defect she was mercilessly bullied through her childhood and into adulthood. But after successful surgery she then had to figure out how her internal self related to her new external self. She then went on to issue a legal challenge against the late abortion of a foetus with a cleft lip and palate. And later she becam...

10 years ago Marina Cantacuzino  began to interview people who had suffered all sorts of trauma, abuse and wrongdoing, but who instead of choosing vengeance chose forgiveness.  It's easy as Christians to think that we've cornered the market on forgiveness, but listening to these stories from people from a range of faith traditions and none is deeply challenging and inspiring.  So we asked Marina t...

Robert Song is a professor in the department of Theology and Religion at Durham Uni. He recently wrote 'Covenant and Calling', in which he challenges traditional ideas of straight and gay marriage, having children and celibacy and proposes a whole new category called 'covenant partnerships'. And he reaches these conclusions not by looking to Genesis, or pulling out proof texts, but by looking to w...

Nomad started out with a group of people wanting to explore new forms of church, so after six years we thought we'd once again explore this idea. Kelly Bean grew up in traditional church and never questioned its practices or structure. But over time she began to realise that the house group she led felt a lot more like church than what happened on a Sunday. So when her Church closed down, her hous...

Jewish blogger, Robert Cohen is back on the show, sharing with us lessons from his faith journey. So if you're interested in knowing more about the connection between faith, ancestry and land, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, interfaith marriage, what a Jew makes of church, and what a true prophet looks like, then this is the episode for you! “I think we’re all asking the same questions really. W...

Eve Tushnet is a freelance writer and blogger. And she's gay, Catholic and celibate. So we ask Eve to tell us the story of how she went from atheist lesbian, to Catholic and celibate. And what she learnt about love, friendship and what it means to commit to the Church.  “To the extent that the discussion of sexuality and same-sex relationships draws out what are the kinds of love that are open to...

With yet another terrorist atrocity in the news, this time leading to the deaths of at least 38 people in Tunisia, people are again asking, 'Is Islam inherently violent?' We ask Carl Medearis, an international expert in Muslim-Christian relations who has lived, worked and travelled in the Middle East for the last 30 years, to help us unpack this question.  “If you say, ‘Is Christianity violent?’ w...

Tom Wright is unquestionably one of the most influential New Testament scholars of our generation. It's hard to overestimate the influence he has had on the Church's understanding of Jesus and Paul. But what makes this great man tick? We asked you what you'd like to know about the man behond the theology. As a result, we ended up asking him everything from what his favourite childhood book was, to...

It's quite popular these days to refer to yourself as an activist. But Alastair McIntosh is the real thing. He's taken on major corporations, and won! Why? Because he believes much of the modern world is threatening our sense of place, which he believes is vital for humans to fully flourish. Tune in for a fascinating conversation!  “On the one hand, the sense of belonging to place is hugely import...

Rachel Held Evans is a hugely successful and influential progressive Christian blogger, author and speaker.  We talk to Rachel about her journey from a conservative evangelical faith characterised by certainty, to wrestling with questions, doubt, cynicism and despair, through to a new kind of faith. And we discuss the trials and tribulations of embarking on this journey under the gaze of social me...

Mike McHargue describes himself as a Christian turned atheist turned follower of Jesus. That's right, Mike was a fully-fledged conservative evangelical Christian, but his faith crumbled away and he found himself in the rather awkward position of being a Church deacon who no longer believed in God! Then Mike rediscovered faith, but in a very different way. Now he teaches on science, faith, atheism,...

What on earth are we meant to do with those passages in the Bible where God commands genocide, the stoning to death of rebellious children or poems about dashing the heads of babies on rocks?! Well, according to theologian, author and artist, Derek Flood, the answer is pretty straight forward, we just read the Bible like Jesus did. “Jesus represents the way of ‘faithful questioning’ and the Pharis...

Another General Election is upon us. Levels of apathy and disillusionment are at an all time high, and popular figures like Russell Brand are urging us to have no part in what he sees as a corrupt system. So the question we're wrestling with is: Why Bother Voting? To help answer this we've turned to Paul Bickley for help. Paul has experience working in parliament and public affairs and is currentl...

The Rapture is a curious doctrine, as it's not in the Bible, anywhere! But let's pretend it's real, and you missed it! How would you survive the collapse of civilisation? Lewis Dartnell's day job is to search for life on Mars, but for fun he wrote 'The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch'. It may sound a tad abstract, but it sheds light on our relationship with the planet and with eac...

Jesus told us to love our enemies. But surely not the monstrous soldiers of Isis?!  Rick Love is President of Peace Catalyst International, and Associate Director of the World Evangelical Alliance Peace and Reconciliation Initiative. He seemed like a pretty good person to ask what a Christian response to Isis would look like.  “Jesus is adamant about his peacemaking priorities. He calls us ‘hypocr...

Mike Stygal is a shaman (i.e. he whips himself up into an altered state of consciousness in order to hang out in the spirit world). He also happens to be the president of the British Pagan Federation. Oh, and he's married to a Christian. So he seems like the right guy to talk to about what Christians can learn from pagans (and indeed, what pagans can learn from Christians).  “Experiencing the real...

Britain is set to become the first country to have three parent babies! It's all to do with genetically modifying an embryo to prevent certain inherited diseases. But as with many scientific advances folks like us are left worrying about the scientific and ethical implications. So we asked the molecular biologist professor Denis Alexander to send in a reflection to explain all (which he does, in a...

For the final show in our 'Interfaith Easter' series we've asked Zen Buddhist Priest, James Ford, to reflect on Easter, which he does with great wisdom and insight. 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 Loung...

Our latest Easter reflection comes from Jason Mankey and Mike Stygal. Jason was a Christian, but became increasingly disillusioned with right wing politics and intolerant attitudes, and so began to explore paganism. But despite this, he maintained his love of Easter. You'll remember Mike from our recent interview. He's the President of the Pagan Federation. Enjoy!  Books, quotes, links → The creat...

For our sixth Easter reflection we've asked Paul Beaumont to mull over what Easter means for someone who has lost their faith. Paul was a committed evangelical Christian for 25 years, but when he began to be honest about his lack of spiritual experiences and his concerns about aspects of the character of God as revealed in the Old Testament, his faith began to unravel...  Books, quotes, links → Th...

Our latest Interfaith Easter reflection comes from Jay Lakhani. Jay is head of the Hindu Academy in London and Education Director for the UK Hindu Council. Oh, and he's a theoretical physicist! So sit back and enjoy an Easter reflection from a Hindu perspective. 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 th...

Our interfaith Easter series continues with Robert Cohen. Robert is a Jew, but one who is married to an Anglican Minister. This combined with the fact he lives in one of the least Jewish counties of England puts him very much on the margins. Needless to say, Robert has had a very interesting and unique experience of both Judaism and Christianity.   Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s th...