Preaching Well

A barrister turns preacher. Stephen Foster (St Aldates, Oxford) strips preaching back to its core: speak Jesus, trust the Spirit, love the people in front of you. From serving coffee to leading a new generation of preachers, he shares what actually forms a voice that connects—across ages, doubts, and a culture that feels “pre‑Christian” again. Expect sharp honesty, surprising hope, and a simple ch...

Preaching isn’t performance. It’s clarity under pressure. In this lively, wisdom‑packed conversation, Paula Gooderpulls back the curtain on what really makes a sermon land. Do the deep work—but don’t show off your notes. Know your congregation— Choose one thing. Say it simply. Let it travel. From cathedral pulpits to small congregations, Paulaexplores how great preaching adapts, listens, and lives...

He tried to disprove Christianity — and met Jesus instead. In this episode of  Preaching Well , we are joined by Nicky Gumbel, the pioneer of Alpha, a storyteller of faith, and a quiet evangelist to millions. Nicky talks about the night he opened the New Testament as a sceptic — and found himself addressed. About preaching not as performance, but as love in motion: introducing people to Jesus beca...

What happens when a preacher shaped by student hostels, Pacific villages, and the aftermath of the Christchurch attacks steps into the pulpit? Bishop Eleanor Sanderson brings a rare mix of tenderness and power—prayer that burns deep, vulnerability that risks everything, and a global vision that refuses to shrink God to one culture. In this episode, she talks mission as apprenticeship, preaching as...

What if worship didn’t just include different cultures — but was shaped by them? In this episode of Preaching Well, Bishop Saju sits down with Ian Collinge, an ethnodoxologist —a listener of cultures, rhythms, stories, and songs. Not a curator. A guest. A learner. They talk about the move from multicultural worship (many cultures present) to intercultural worship (many cultures shaping the song to...

What if the most powerful theologians in the room are eleven years old? In this episode of  Preaching Well , Lat Blaylock — teacher, thinker, storyteller, and longtime shaper of young hearts — takes us to the frontier where school and church meet. Lat moves between classrooms and chapels, parables and poetry, Gandhi essays and jigsaw‑piece souls. He shows how children crack open questions adults a...

What happens when a preacher steps into the pulpit carrying stories of Belfast, Bosnia, Coventry — and the hard‑won wisdom of reconciliation? In this episode of  Preaching Well , David Porter — strategist, peacebuilder, listener, and longtime companion in conflict‑torn places — opens up the craft of preaching as a public act of courage, humility, and deep, attentive love. David talks flags and fra...

Bishop Graham Tomlin has preached through fire — literally. From parish pulpits to national crises, he’s carried a voice shaped by Scripture, culture, and the raw edges of human experience. In this episode, he opens his study, his honesty, and his hard-won wisdom.  We move fast: from Pascal’s “night of fire” to Grenfell’s ash; from the surprises hidden in familiar texts to the quiet weight of a pr...

What happens when preaching refuses to soothe and instead dares to tell the truth? In this episode of  Preaching Well , Professor Anthony Reddie — theologian, storyteller, disruptor, and one of the UK’s leading voices in Black liberation theology — takes us into the pulpit as a place of protest, imagination, memory, and mercy. Anthony speaks of Windrush beginnings, Bradford classrooms, family stor...

The Archbishop of York walks into the conversation with stories that spark, stretch, and surprise. Stephen Cottrell opens up about the craft he loves - preaching that overflows, reveals, repeats, slows down, and dares to invite. He talks about childhood outside the church, the moment Scripture made him weep in the pulpit, the joy of feeding the soul with art and poetry, and the fierce hope that ev...

What happens when the preachers who break open the gospel are the ones the world might overlook? In this episode of  Preaching Well , two vicars - Jonathan Macy, who preaches with a stammer, and Phil Bryson, who lives and preaches with a visual impairment—show us how the good news runs through weakness, courage, and raw honesty. Jonathan speaks slowly because he must. Phil preaches without seeing...

What happens when a preacher discovers that God is already speaking - and the sermon is simply joining in? In this episode of Preaching Well, Bishop Sam Corley takes us from a tiny 8am communion in his early twenties to pulpits across the country, sharing the moment when preaching snapped into place, like riding a bike with the wind in his face. He talks about reading Scripture like a long, living...

Preaching Well is where the art of preaching meets the pulse of the world. Hosted by Bishop Saju Muthalaly, Bishop of Loughborough in the Diocese of Leicester, this podcast explores how Christians can speak Scripture with power and precision - across cultures, contexts, and generations.

A bishop shaped by exile, welcome, and the slow courage of untying life’s hardest knots steps. In this vivid, searching conversation, Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani opens up about preaching that breathes - preaching rooted in honesty, tension, questions, and the kind of quiet conviction that still moves mountains. She speaks of fear in the church, the gift of asking better questions, the poetry of fa...

What if preaching is less about delivering answers and more about opening a door? In this episode of Preaching Well, Rev Dr Hannah Steele — theologian, missiologist, and everyday evangelism whisperer — invites us into a world where sermons feel like summons, stories become seeds, and the gospel grows where real life happens. Hannah talks about preaching as an invitation, evangelism as encounter, a...

What happens when a preacher treats language like a sacrament and poetry like oxygen? In this episode of Preaching Well, Dean Mark Oakley invites us into a world where sermons breathe, words stretch, and faith grows in the tension between doubt and delight. He moves from John Donne’s “nearness of the preacher” to the postcards of Nazareth; from poetry that startles the soul to taxi cab grace in Dr...

What happens when a preacher treats Scripture like a flame—something to break open, not decorate? In this episode of Preaching Well, Canon Dr. Hueston Finlay takes us inside a life shaped by Ireland, engineering, Cambridge, Windsor, and the fierce conviction that sermons should breathe, not perform. Hueston speaks of listening as prayer, imagination as obedience, and preaching as a kind of sacrame...

⚠️ Content Notice This episode contains sensitive discussions about suicide, extreme poverty, and honour based violence. These themes may be distressing for some listeners. If anything in this episode affects you, reach out to trusted friends, family, or professional helplines in your area. You’re not alone. A refugee boy from Kenya walks into a London pub… and meets Jesus. That moment sparks a li...

What happens when a preacher carries a whole people’s story into the pulpit? In this episode of Preaching Well, the Revd Dr Kelly Brown Douglas—trailblazing priest, womanist theologian, and voice of moral fire—opens her heart and her history. She takes us from a rainy Dayton street to Harlem classrooms, from enslaved ancestors to vigils, from lectionary wrestling to preaching with butterflies in h...

What happens when preaching crosses borders—and finds its voice on the move? In this episode of Preaching Well, Dr. Jared Alcántara takes us from New Jersey housing blocks to Honduran heritage, from migrant churches to megacities, from jazz like improvisation to the art of preaching that reads a room, shifts gears, and crosses cultures without losing the gospel’s center. He opens up the craft: int...

When Dr. Chris Gnanakan walks into a room something shifts. In this episode of Preaching Well, he takes us from Palm Sunday nerves to preaching in North Korea, from crowded classrooms to hidden churches, from American halls to back street gatherings in Asia. He unpacks the fire in his bones, the power of one big idea, the danger of twisting truth, the art of stories that hit the heart, and the cou...

What happens when a preacher of 35 years sits in a room full of new voices and tells the truth—that preaching is still hard, still mysterious,still thrilling? In this episode of Preaching Well , Bishop Saju and Kat sit down with Bishop Martyn Snow , who opens up abouteverything: the content of his first sermon at seventeen, the stories that shaped him, the African night that rewired his preaching,...

What if preaching isn’t a performance, but a pilgrimage? In this episode of  Preaching Well , Rowan Williams - poet, priest, theologian, and one of the most extraordinary Christian voices of our time - invites us into the landscape where sermons are born. He speaks of childhood pulpits in Wales, the confidence of abundance, the ache of mystery, the courage of hope, and the quiet, stubborn joy of s...