Nomad Podcast

Priest Karen Rooms and transgender poet, author and educator Jay Hulme describe what it's like for them to be part of an ancient and LGBTQ+ affirming church. As they recall the story of their developing friendship, their conversation guides us through the pandemic, Jay's early faith experiences and Karen's reflections on being a cisgender heterosexual woman entrusted with the care of a diverse and...

We chat with author of With All Your Mind: Autism and the Church , Erin Burnett about her personal experience and research into autism and the unique ways Christians with autism understand and experience God. We ask her why she was initially attracted to more fundamentalist expressions of Christianity, what triggered her deconstruction, and why she’s now more at home in progressive Christian space...

In this Devotional podcast, psychologist and theologian Richard Beck explores what it means to take sides without becoming hardened, and how he remains hopeful in a world on fire. 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...

Nomad hosts Anna Robinson and Joy Brooks have a conversation about the challenges of joys of experiencing a shifting faith, their ambivalence to the word deconstruction, the deconstruction groups they’ve been hosting and what they’ve learnt from them.  If you'd like to be part of one of these group, contact Anna through her website . Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-fr...

In this episode we speak with social psychologist, theologian, activist and author of God Is a Black Woman , Dr Christena Cleveland . Christena speaks with us about her journey of unmasking the white male image of God and the hurt, hopelessness, and racial and gender oppression it has caused. Christena shares with us the intellectual and spiritual journey that led her to the sacred black feminine...

In this episode we chat with native American, author, songwriter and storyteller, Terry Wildman. Terry was also the lead translator and general editor of the First Nations Bible , a fascinating project that produced a translation of the New Testament that reflects the language, symbolism and rituals of native peoples. So we ask Terry to unpack indigenous spirituality for us, and to reflect on how...

In this episode we speak with author and director of creative writing at Alma College, Sophfronia Scott . We speak with Sophfronia about how her faith has been shaped by the author, monk and mystic, Thomas Merton.  Having struggled to connect with Merton through his autobiography, Sophfronia immersed herself in his journals, and there she found a mentor, friend and kindred Spirit. So we ask her wh...

In this episode we chat with clinical social worker and a trauma-informed coach, Brian Peck . Brian grew up in a fundamentalist Christian church and upon leaving he began to realise the trauma this had caused, which triggered his faith deconstrcution. He now specialises in helping people work through their experiences of religious trauma. So we talk to Brian about why religious spaces seem predisp...

In this episode we speak with former church pastor, author and teacher Keith Giles . Like many evangelicals, Keith inherited a dispensational understanding of the End Times. If you’re not sure what that is, think anti-Christ, mark of the Beast, the rapture, Jesus’s return, and the New Jerusalem. Keith slowly became aware that this was a relatively new, ill-informed and damaging way of reading the...

Merry Christmas to One and All from Nomad Podcast.  In this devotional episode, Fr Azariah France Williams recalls the story of Viraj Mendis , who sought sanctuary in the UK from Sri Lanka. He lived for several years in a room in the Church of the Ascension, in Hulme, Manchester, being protected by the community. In 1989, the police raided the church and he was forcibly deported. This episode also...

The former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams carries a lifelong love for the theology and practice of the Eastern Church. His recent book, Looking East in Winter gives a window into the beautiful contemplative practices of the Eastern tradition. In this conversation we explore the life of contemplation, political solidarity, simplicity, and "the natural process of becoming natural." After...

When Hannah Malcolm was approached to write a book on climate grief, she chose, instead, to edit a book compiling voices from across the global church. The resulting picture is an extraordinary collage of very different experiences, all of which begin to suggest the many different ways in which everything is connected.  In this conversation we glimpse the church as something far richer and more di...

Claire Gilbert is a theologian, writer, and founding director of Westminster Abbey Institute. When she discovered that she had Myeloma - terminal cancer in the blood - she began her way by writing letters to a circle of trusted friends. The journey drew her home to nature, to her body, and to her long love for the mystic, Julian of Norwich. The letters are now published in the book Miles to Go Bef...

Cop26 is a gathering of world leaders, meeting this November in Glasgow to review agreements to reduce carbon emissions. While the meeting was being confirmed, the Young Christian Climate Network planned a relay pilgrimage from Cornwall to Glasgow.  In this podcast Rachel Mander talks to us about what’s at stake in this historic gathering, about faith and activism, about how poorer countries are b...

In this episode we listen in on a conversation between Alex Clare-Young and Sarah Hobbs about their trans experience. Alex is a transmasculine non-binary minister with the United Reformed Church, currently completing doctoral research into trans theology. Sarah is a trans woman, who leads a consultancy business, and is a speaker and trainer. Together they co-chair the Open Table Network, a partner...

In this episode we’re joined by religion and contemporary spirituality commentator, Diana Butler Bass. Diana talks about her latest book Freeing Jesus , in which she tracks the evolution of her understanding and experience of Jesus. From liberal Methodist beginnings, through fundamentalist evangelicalism, to a more progressive Christianity, Diana has never lost her interest in Jesus, or her openne...

Every month we produce a podcast for our supporters called Nomad Revisited . In each episode Tim Nash and Nick Thorley enter the Nomad archive and chose an episode from the last 12 years, and spend an hour or so reflecting on how their faith has evolved since then. It’s an exercise in self forgiveness and compassion, as they are often confronted with terrible interview technique, poor audio qualit...

This episode is a conversation between good friends Emma Morton and Lyn Baylis. Emma is a former pastor, art therapist and activist, whose faith led her towards pagan spirituality and community. Lyn has practiced her pagan spirituality all of her life. She’s been a priestess for 40 years, is a Multi-faith minister, and is the UK Coordinator for LifeRites and Senior teacher on the LifeRites Foundat...

Natalia-Nana is a teacher, trainer, and coach in Equity, Diversity, and Liberation. In this episode we talk about what it means to decolonise our faith, why it is important and how we can go about it. Jemimah and Natalia-Nana explore the relationship between deconstruction and the work of decolonising and dismantling. They discuss the impact of colonisation on the ways we think, relate, and the wa...

On this episode we’ve invited Liz Pattison and Jim Robinson to have a conversation around their experiences of death. Jim lost both his parents at quite a young age, and Liz recently lost her partner. They share their experiences of grief and loss, how friends, family and church responded, and how their faith has evolved through these experiences. It’s an honest, real, insightful, moving and hopef...

Miles Irving has been foraging since childhood. Having journeyed through Pentecostalism, he returned to his first passion for wild foods, and began to discover that our relationship to what we eat bears deeply on our relationship to everything. In this episode, Miles and David Blower spend a day eating nothing but foraged food and talking through the joys, trials and transformations that come of e...

Many of us inherited a faith that had a lot to say about life after death. But as our faith shifted and evolved we were left increasingly unsure whether these beliefs had any basis in reality, or were just fairly tales. Well, it turns out science has an increasing amount to say on the subject. So, we interviewed Dr Bruce Greyson , a self proclaimed “skeptical scientist”, who as well as being a ver...

In this episode Jemimah McAlpine talks about her transformative experience of dance and her thinking about the theological significance of dancing. She and David Blower discuss dualism and embodiment and how reconnecting with our bodies can lead to an experience of wholeness and connection with the earth and everyone around us. Jemimah shares how embodiment has changed her understanding of God and...

It’s always a pleasure to have author, activist, and public theologian Brian McLaren on Nomad. This time we talk with Brian about the vital role that doubt plays in our faith development. Brian breaks down the faith journey into four stages - simplicity, complexity, perplexity and harmony. He talks about the struggles and joys of each stage, and how it’s only when we embrace our doubts that we can...

In this podcast, David Benjamin Blower converses with musician, podcaster and activist Samantha Lindo on the subject of music: music as a wisened friend, music as a gatherer of people and radical energies, and music as a kind of prayer that can halt the Powers that Be, even just for a moment. Interview starts at 23m 44s Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is...