The Church Times Podcast

This week, Madeleine Davies talks to Vicky Walker about her new book Relatable: Exploring God, Love and Connection in the Age of Choice. Picture credit: Dipesh Dhimar

The Archbishop of Canterbury delivered the William Temple Foundation’s annual lecture on Monday, at Lambeth Palace. It was entitled Reimagining Britain: Faith and the Common Good. The William Temple Foundation’s director of research, Professor Chris Baker, described it as “a realistic but hopeful assessment of the state of the nation, the place of the church and religion, and the prospects for a r...

The Church of England has been talking a lot about estates ministry of late. Madeleine Davies has visited the Byker Wall Estate in Newcastle, where a church is thinking imaginatively about mission. She tells us about it. And we hear from three of the 21 4 21 young interfaith ambassadors about peacemaking and bridge-building. Photo credit: North News and Pictures

This week, the editor Paul Handley reports from Hong Kong on what has been going on at the ACC-17 - the 17th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council. Photo: Conrad Yu

This week, Ed Thornton talk to our Ireland correspondent Gregg Ryan about the reaction of political and church leaders to the killing of the journalist Lyra McKee last week, and her funeral at St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast. And we hear from the editor Paul Handley before he sets off for Hong Kong, to attend the 17th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, whose members are asking for more say...

“It really isn’t an exaggeration to say that the future of the human race is at stake”, said Rowan Williams in an Extinction Rebellion video last month. On Sunday, Lord Williams led a prayer vigil for the rebellion outside St Paul’s Cathedral, before the movement this week brought parts of central London to a standstill, as they demand the Government take more action to combat climate change. But...

This week, Madeleine Davies interviews Pete Greig, the “bewildered instigator” of the 24-7 prayer movement. He is also closely involved with the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Thy Kingdom Come prayer initiative. Pete is a pastor and the author of books including God on Mute and Dirty Glory. His latest book is called How to Pray: a simple guide for normal people, which is published by Hodder. It’s avai...

This week, Professor John Swinton speaks on why in a culture that prioritises speed, efficiency, and productivity, we should remember that love takes time. Professor Swinton is a former nurse, a minister in the Church of Scotland, and Professor Practical Theology and Pastoral Care at the University of Aberdeen. His books include Dementia: Living in the memories of God, which won the 2016 Michael R...

This week, Madeleine Davies talks to Rupert Shortt about his new book, Does Religion do more harm than good?, published by SPCK. We publish an extract in this week’s paper and John Saxbee reviews it in our books pages. The book is available from the Church Times Bookshop for £9 – go to chbookshop.co.uk. Rupert Shortt is Religion Editor of The Times Literary Supplement and the author of critically...

Adam Becket brings us the latest on Brexit - and how the C of E hopes that "tea and prayer drop-ins" next weekend will foster reconciliation among Leavers and Remainers. Madeleine Davies tells us about the first HTB-supported resource church in the Church in Wales - which is facing some opposition. And the editor Paul Handley talks about the Train-a-Priest Fund, which helps ordinands who face fina...

This week, Ed Thornton speaks to the writer and broadcaster Peter Stanford about his new book, Angels: A Visible and invisible history, published by Hodder. The book looks at the origins of angels in religious thought and asks why, in a secular age, they remain more compelling and comforting to many than God. You can buy the book at the Church House Bookshop for the offer price of £16 – go to chbo...

On Thursday evening (7 March), the final of the Theology Slam competition took place at St John’s Hoxton in London. It was a great evening with talks by Hannah Barr (theology and the #MeToo movement, Sara Prats (theology and mental health), and Hannah Malcolm (theology and the environment). The talks are featured on the podcast – and the winner is announced at the end. The winning talk will be pub...

What causes someone to go from being a committed Christian to a convinced non-believer? On this week’s podcast, Ed Thornton talks to Dr John Marriott, an expert on so-called “deconversion”. His book, A Recipe for Disaster, is published by Wipf & Stock.

This week, two gay priests of different generations talk about the challenges they've faced in the Church. They have both recently published books about their experiences. The Revd Marcus Green has writtenThe Possibility of Difference (Kevin Mahew) and the Revd Stanley Underhill's book is called Coming out of the Black Country (Zuleika). Both books are available at the Church Times Bookshop.

Transforming the one million who regularly attend Church of England services into “agents of mission” is crucial to the Church’s multi-million-pound evangelism push, the General Synod will hear next week. Ed Thornton talks to Madeleine Davies about the drive to give the laity confidence to evangelise - and whether English reticence stops them from doing so. Plus, Adam Becket catches up with the Ch...

This week, the education secretary Damian Hinds talks to Hattie Williams about why he would like more faith schools to convert to academies. The Bishop of Gloucester, Rachel Treweek, talks to Adam Becket about how churches must not ignore the realities of domestic abuse. And the Bishop of Liverpool, Paul Bayes, talks to Madeleine Davies about his new book, The Table.

Meg Munn was appointed first independent chair of the Church of England’s National Safeguarding Panel in September. She took over from the Bishop of Bath & Wells, Peter Hancock, who is the lead bishop on safeguarding. Meg Munn is a practising Methodist and former social worker and former MP, who established and chaired the All-Party Child Protection Parliamentary Group. She left Parliament in 2015...

This week, more Brexit uncertainty – what are the bishops saying? Adam Becket has been hearing from them. And we hear from the Revd Christine Smith, publishing director of Hymns Ancient & Modern, about the second Festival of Preaching, which is being organised by Canterbury Press Norwich and the Church Times

This week, a critical moment for Brexit: the Archbishop of Canterbury says that a no-deal Brexit would be a moral failure, and Dame Caroline Spelman calls on the Church to pray for the nation. What’s going on in the diocese of Oxford, where more than 100 clergy are uneasy with their bishops’ approach to sexuality? And, news of the finalists of the inaugural 'Theology Slam' competition.

On the first episode of the new year, editor Paul Handley talks about work of the groups charged with resolving the Church’s disputes about sexuality. He has been quizzing two of the people leading the Living in Love and Faith group, the Bishop of Coventry, Dr Christopher Cocksworth, and Dr Eeva John. What are the project’s aims and what will its work mean for the Church’s stance on same-sex relat...

This week, we talk to actor and playwright Justin Butcher about his new book Walking to Jerusalem: Blisters, hope and other facts on the ground, published by Hodder. It tells the story of a pilgrimage from London to Jerusalem in 2017, which marked three major anniversaries: the centenary of the Balfour Declaration; the 50th year of Israel’s military occupation of the Palestinian territors; and the...

This week, Ed Thornton talks to John Pritchard, the former Bishop of Oxford and a popular writer of books such as The Life and Work of a Priest, Why go to Church?, and God Lost and Found. His latest book is called Five Events that Made Christianity, published by SPCK. In the book, he takes readers on a pilgrimage of the Holy Land, as he unpacks the five great events that made Christianity: Christm...

This week, the Revd Fergus Butler-Gallie is in conversation with the writer and historian Tom Holland. They talk about Fergus's new book, A Field Guide to the English Clergy: A compendium of of diverse eccentrics, pirates, prelates and adventurers; all Anglican, some even practising. The conversation was recorded at an event at Hatchard’s Bookshop in London last month. The book is available from t...

On this week's podcast, Madeleine Davies speaks exclusively to Archbishop Justin Welby, in Blakeney, Norfolk, his childhood escape. The Archbishop speaks candidly, among other things, about why he draws on his difficult family history in his public ministry; whether he would have liked to have been an MP; and why he loves to mess around on boats. Subscribe to the Church Times Podcast on iTunes.

This week, freelance journalist Andy Walton joins us to talk about his recent visit to the diocese of Ely, which has ambitious plans to increase churchgoing. Andy visited a new church-plant in Huntingdon and spoke to people in the diocese about the plans. Plus, Madeleine Davies reports back on her recent visit to Norfolk with the Archbishop of Canterbury.