The Profile

Father Patrick van der Vorst gave up a successful career in the art world, including his home, his possessions and even his dog, to become a Catholic priest at 52. Born in Bruges, he grew up attending mass and learned about monastic living at boarding school. His parents loved art and auctions, where you could touch as well as look, and he found himself torn between the art world and a religious c...

Helen Thorne-Allenson is Director of Training and Resources at Biblical Counselling UK, where she helps churches to offer compassionate and theologically grounded care to those who are struggling. She's worked with London City Mission and is an experienced speaker and counsellor, known for tackling difficult pastoral topics like mental health issues, domestic abuse, anxiety and sexual purity with...

At 16-years-old Terry Virgo became a Christian through his sister during the years of Billy Graham’s greatest impact on Britain. He went on to train at London Bible College at a time of the charismatic movement of the 1960s. It shaped his early faith and ministry. Virgo spent 11 years leading an Evangelical Free Church in East Sussex, before moving to Brighton in 1979. From there a network grew in...

Bishop of Kensington and acting Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Dr Emma Ineson has spent more than 25 years in ordained ministry and now holdsone of the Church of England's highest-ranking posts. She began with a curacy in the Diocese of Sheffield, moved on to the Lee Abbey community in Devon as a chaplain, and then spent years training the next generation of clergy at Trinity College, Bristol. She...

Theology and National Director of Alpha UK, Chloe Swart was raised as a pastor's child, she had early exposure to stories of faith and the miraculous through her parents, an influence that shaped her later academic and ministry work. Chloe holds a PhD in theology, where she studied healing miracles in Wales. Sending out questionnaires, she gathered testimonies from over 600 people who reported phy...

Canon Yvonne Tulloch was born into a Christian Brethren household and grew up attending church several times a day. From a young age she had a close relationship with God, married as a teenager, trained as a secretary but with her heart set on missionary work. Following a series of powerful visions she felt God call her to ministry despite the fact that as a woman at that time, she was barred from...

British entrepreneur and Christian philanthropist Peter Vardy leads the Vardy Group, the automotive dealership business built by his family over three generations. Now 47, he is the son of Sir Peter Vardy, whose Sunday Times Rich List fortune is estimated at around £140 million. Like his father before him, Vardy has shaped the family business according to his faith. It's one that was delivered to...

As a child, Lebanese-born broadcaster Rita El-Mounayer had first-hand experience of war. Both her parents were Christians, but came from different traditions. After her mother died, her father used to distract his family from the violence outside by hooking up a car battery and turning on a black-and-white TV. It fostered a lifelong interest in broadcasting and how powerful it could be. El-Mounaye...

British Theologian and Apologist Dr. Amy Orr-Ewing began her early academic work at Oxford and holds a doctorate there in theology, later serving as President of the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. Her faith has shaped a career spent defending Christianity's intellectual credibility to sceptics, students and secular audiences worldwide, from university campuses to the UK Parliament and US...

WayMaker founder Andy Robinson grew up in a Christian household in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, describing Jesus as just 'always there'. As a younger teenager he took the opportunity to forge his own unique relationship with God and consciously became a Christian, deciding to dedicate his life to Christ. He went on to have a family and a successful career in software, and, at the same time volunteered a...

Cris Rogers is an 'urban theologian' best known for reviving church life on one of East London's toughest estates. He was born and grew up in a working-class environment in West Yorkshire and studied art before moving onto theology at Trinity College, Bristol, and later King's College London. He became a priest in 2008 and was among the first clergy commissioned specifically to the Church of Engla...

Graham Daniels grew up with football in his blood, signing for Cardiff City as a young player while still at school. He went on to study philosophy at Cardiff University, playing for the club throughout his studies but it wasn't until he reached 21, that he really gave his life to Christ. Rather than leaving football behind, Daniels found a way to weave his sporting career together with a call to...

How do you know whether you are being whispered to by the evil one? Spiritual warfare and the unseen battle for our soul has always fascinated theologian Joel Muddamalle. He was brought up in a strong Christian household in India. His grandparents were arguably the he strongest influences on his life. As missionaries, he saw first hand how hard you had to work to reach people in marginalised rural...

How do you know whether you are being whispered to by the evil one? Spiritual warfare and the unseen battle for our soul has always fascinated theologian Joel Muddamalle. He was brought up in a strong Christian household in India. His grandparents were arguably the strongest influences on his life. As missionaries, he saw first hand how hard you had to work to reach people in marginalised rural co...

With 18 Grammy Awards and decades of ministry behind her, CeCe Winans remains a living example of a life surrendered to God through the gifts He gives us. Winans grew up as one of ten children in Detroit, straight into a household saturated with gospel music. Her parents raised their family in the Pentecostal tradition, and church was the foundation of everything, including the music that would de...

Long-time presenter of The Leadership Show Andy Peck has died aged 64 following a short battle with cancer. Andy spent over three decades encouraging and equipping Christian leaders through presenting Leadership special editions of this podcast, as well as wider broadcasting for Premier Christian Radio and writing for Premier Christianity magazine. In this special episode, we air a previous interv...

Pete Hughes is the founding and senior pastor of King's Cross Church (KXC), an Anglican church he planted in central London in 2010. Back then, the zone 1 destination was a grimy, transitional area on the brink of massive transformation. The vision behind the plant, in Hughes's own words, was "to recklessly give themselves away to God, each other and the people of King's Cross and beyond." Without...

Luke Smith the national leader of the Fusion Movement, a Christian student mission, has spent his life calling students to follow Jesus. His own journey began at university in the 1990s. Since then Luke has walked alongside students through the transformative journey from "nervous fresher to confident graduate" - convinced that the university years are formative for the whole of a person's life. A...

Ashley Banjo, is best known as the dance troupe leader of the hugely successful group Diversity who first captured the nation's hearts on the talent show Britain's Got Talent in 2009. They famously beat off favourite Susan Boyle for the crown and all when he was just 21. Banjo was raised in Essex, the son of a former heavyweight boxer and a dance teacher and began dancing at age five. It was a pas...

Andy Peck chats with the executive director of Wycliffe Bible Translators which featured in the Sunday Times best places to work survey last year. Why was this charity able to achieve such good results? They explore why they believe they are able to get so much right and how this might translate into your working environment. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading...

Jay Painter and Lewis are digital creators who have captured global online attention by documenting a unique, real-time journey through faith. It's a compelling premise: Jay, is a Christian and felt a strong conviction to invite his best friend, Lewis very much an atheist, to attend an Alpha course. What began as a personal invitation transformed into a social media docuseries where they can now b...

Andy Peck chats with the co-founder of Eastgate Church, Gravesend about setting a biblically based cultural shift in a church in the UK and the Netherlands where he helps lead a team part-time. They talk about the importance of demolishing the strongholds that can grip the thinking of a congregation and how to set a new course that enables communities to flourish under God. The Profile is brought...

British journalist Lauren Windle has had quite a faith journey. After years of cocaine and alcohol addiction, she got sober 12 years ago and went on to study neuroscience and addiction studies grounding her recovery in faith and academic rigor. Windle has built a career as a journalist for outlets including Vogue, Marie Claire, HuffPost, MailOnline and Woman Alive often writing about faith, dating...

Andy Peck talks with the co-founder of A Rocha UK and now Head of Theology, A Rocha International. What led him to be concerned for the environment? Why found a charity? Has the UK church ‘got the message’ several decades later? How different is leading in the UK and Internationally? How might church leaders today get involved? The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leadin...

Laura Anderson, known to hundreds of thousands of followers as Less Waste Laura is one of Scotland's most passionate voices in the fight against plastic pollution. Raised in Newton Mearns, Scotland, with a lifelong love of the outdoors, her environmental awakening came on a New Year's Day walk when she discovered plastic waste strewn across a white sandy beach on the east coast of Scotland. Inspir...