The Profile

Jack Graham never set out to build a megachurch – he doesn’t even like the term. Nevertheless, under his watch, Prestonwood Baptist Church has grown to a membership of 45,000 – becoming one of the biggest congregations in America – since Graham became senior pastor more than three decades ago. Sam Hailes travelled to Texas to meet Dr Graham and find out why he backed Trump, how early trauma has in...

For reasons that were never fully explained to him, Ram Gidoomal CBE and his family were forced to flee their home in Kenya when he was just 16 years old. Having previously left India during the 1947 partition, they said goodbye to the life of wealth and comfort they had created for themselves in east Africa to arrive in a hostile 1960s London as refugees once more, with no money and little to the...

Sometimes the demands of leadership can overwhelm us. In this interview, mental health specialist Will Van Der Hart explains how Christians can build resilience and keep going when times are tough. This interview was conducted by Andy Peck, Premier's resident leadership expert. Will is a Pastoral Chaplain at Holy Trinity Brompton. Based on his book, The Power of Belonging, Will looks at being vuln...

Premier's resident leadership expert interviewer Andy Peck has been having conversations with preachers and pastors for the past 17 years. This week, Andy talks with Jen Baker who moved from Michigan in the USA to the UK in an Abraham style call where she knew very little of God’s intentions. She now helps Christians live without fear, through a writing and teaching ministry that takes her all ove...

The vicar of St Peter's Notting Hill, London first rose to public attention during lockdown, when he began cycling around his parish leading simple street corner services consisting of just a hymn and a prayer. Rev Pat Allerton now has thousands of followers on social media and has been featured in the national papers, who have focussed on his Eton education and good looks as much as his message....

As the year draws to a close, our presenter and producer Sam Hailes says thank you for joining us in 2022, and asks - who would you like to hear being interviewed next year? Send your requests to sam.hailes@premier.org.uk Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year, with lots of love from all the team at The Profile podcast and Premier Christianity magazine PS there's still time to bag a HALF PRIC...

Julie Roys has been described as a gossipmonger, an apostate and a liar. Such labels would cut most Christians deep, but not Roys. The 57-year-old Chicago-based journalist wears unfounded criticism as “a badge of honour” – she even has a mug printed with some of the more acerbic remarks she has received. For the last four years, Roys has been reporting on the egregious crimes committed in the Chur...

Premier's resident leadership expert interviewer Andy Peck has been having conversations with preachers and pastors for the past 17 years. This week, Andy Peck chats with Tim Alford, the National Director of LIMITLESS, the youth and children's movement of the Elim Pentecostal Churches in the UK and Ireland about how local churches might start groups designed to reach and disciple more young people...

Autumn Miles was trapped in an abusive relationship, until a powerful encounter with God during the depth of her despair set her on a path to freedom. She tells Premier Christianity's Sam Hailes the full story.    You can also read this story on premierchristianity.com

Have you realised that the Nativity plays in many local churches actually have little to do with the birth of Jesus as depicted in the Gospels? In this interview with Premier's resident leadership expert Andy Peck, Rev Dr David Instone-Brewer Research Fellow at Tyndale House, Cambridge, tackles some of the mythical elements surrounding the incarnation and suggests a new way and better way of under...

The unorthodox pastor Mick Fleming is a man on a mission, to change the Church – and society in the process. In this interview with Premier Christianity's Emma Fowle, the Burnley-based leader tells his story of abuse, homelessness and salvation. His own story of being thrown out of church, and miraculous experiences which prompted him to forgive the man who raped him, has resulted in a desire to s...

Premier's resident leadership expert interviewer Andy Peck has been having conversations with preachers and pastors for the past 17 years. This week Andy talks to Nick and Becky Drake who launched the ministry ‘Worship for Everyone’ in 2010 in order to unite all ages in worship. They serve at Gas Street Church in Birmingham, Nick as Associate vicar and Becky running ‘Worship for Everyone’ in the c...

After leaving the army, Patrick Barrett turned to alcohol to cope with trauma, but God called him back to his childhood faith using the most unlikely means. He tells Rachel Matthews the full story. 

In the midst of ongoing pressures on all our finances, Emma Fowle sits down with Emma Revie, CEO of the UK’s largest network of foodbanks, Trussell Trust. In this in depth interview, Emma talks about how her faith motivates her work and what she thinks should be done about the cost of living crisis. 

Powerful Leaders? is a book that exposes and explores how leaders are tempted away from a biblical model of leadership into illegitimate - and in the worst cases abusive - use of authority and power. It's written by Marcus Honeysett, the director of Living Leadership, a charity that focuses on healthy leadership and church culture. In this conversation with Andy Peck, Marcus explains how leaders c...

Calvin Robinson has attracted a huge following online in recent months, and is known for espousing strongly held opinions on contentious subjects such as the Covid vaccine. He's said that to be labelled a "conspiracy theory" is a "badge of honour", yet he doesn't want to be known as "controversial", arguing instead that he's voicing views which are shared by millions of others. In this interview w...

The Profile podcast is now bringing you a bonus interview every week! Premier's resident leadership expert interviewer Andy Peck has been having conversations with preachers and pastors for the past 17 years. You'll now be able to hear some of the best of his interviews. This week Andy meets the founder of Christian mental health charity Kintsugi Hope and author of Bouncing Forwards, Patrick Regan...

Anthony Ray Hinton spent 30 years inside an Alabamian prison waiting to be executed. Hinton doesn’t use the word “hell” lightly; nevertheless, that’s what decades of solitary confinement was like, he says. So how did he cope? “Faith keeps you from getting caught up in everyday trauma, because your life is so consumed with trying to live like Jesus. And it was no different for me on the row. I had...

The Profile podcast is now bringing you a bonus interview every week! Premier's resident leadership expert interviewer Andy Peck has been having conversations with preachers and pastors for the past 17 years. You'll now be able to hear some of the best of his interviews. This week Andy meets the UK Director of Care for the Family, Katharine Hill, who is the author of Left To Their Own Devices? Con...

Joseph D’souza is a civil rights advocate and Anglican bishop whose work in India has drawn the praise of many civil and religious leaders. In this interview with Premier Christianity's Sam Hailes, the primate of the Good Shepherd Church of India talks about his calling to advocate on behalf of poor and marginalised groups, and stand against the caste system, which he says is pervasive not just in...

The Profile podcast is now bringing you a bonus interview every week! Premier's resident leadership expert interviewer Andy Peck has been having conversations with preachers and pastors for the past 17 years. You'll now be able to hear some of the best of his interviews. This week Andy meets Hope Virgo, who has run award winning campaigns on mental health and eating disorders, including #DumpTheSc...

The head of 24-7 Prayer USA, Tyler Staton’s love affair with talking to God started when his youth leader challenged him to prayer walk his school every single morning for the whole of his summer holidays. Not only did find that he enjoyed God’s company, by the end of the year, half his classmates had been saved! In this interview, he chats to Emma Fowle about spiritual hunger, his latest book and...

The Profile podcast is now bringing you a bonus interview every week! Premier's resident leadership expert interviewer Andy Peck has been having conversations with preachers and pastors for the past 17 years. You'll now be able to hear some of the best of his interviews. This week Andy meets the Northern Irish church leader, speaker and author of Deep Roots of Resilient Disciples , Rick Hill. 

Anthony Evans is a worship leader, artist and vocal producer, well known for putting his own unique spin on some of the world's biggest worship songs. In this in depth interview with  Premier Christianity 's Sam Hailes, Anthony talks about the moment he discovered he could sing, his subsequent tour with Kirk Franklin and why the Christian music industry has been slow to bring diverse voices and so...

The Profile podcast is now bringing you a bonus interview every week! Premier's resident leadership expert interviewer Andy Peck has been having conversations with preachers and pastors for the past 17 years. You'll now be able to hear some of the best of his interviews. This week Andy meets TV presenter, and author of A Good Friend, Gemma Hunt.