The Profile

During a recent visit to London, Shane Claiborne met with Premier Christianity’s Sam Hailes to discuss a number of issues close to his heart. Claiborne is well known as a social activist, author and campaigner who has long advocated for nonviolence and simple living. Recalling his formative experience working with Mother Theresa, Claiborne speaks about the importance of loving the person in front...

On this week’s show, the founder of The Message talks to Megan Cornwell about his life and ministry. Andy Hawthorne OBE was previously a member of the band The Worldwide Message Tribe, and has been involved in evangelistic efforts for over 25 years. In this in-depth interview, Andy explains why he believes the UK Church needs to do a better job at raising up evangelists, and comments on how 2020 i...

As his long-running Premier Christianity column draws to a close, Rob Parsons chats to editor Sam Hailes about his ministry with Care for the Family, the disruptive nature of technology and the power of vulnerability. The former lawyer has sold thousands of books, including The Sixty Minute Father and The Money Secret , and is known as an expert on family issues, but he’s as friendly, relatable an...

On day three of his new job as CEO of the UK’s oldest and largest evangelical unity movement, Gavin Calver met Premier Christianity’s Sam Hailes to discuss his vision for the organisation to become ‘braver’ and ‘kinder’. The pair also talked about secularisation, LGBT issues, social media, revival, the death of nominalism, whether or not preachers should talk about Brexit and why a global view of...

The actor best known for his portrayal of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot talks to Premier’s Justin Brierley about his faith. David Suchet, CBE was converted after reading Romans 8 in a hotel room Bible. In this in-depth interview he reveals what it’s like to be a Christian in the worlds of stage and screen, why he’s not a very good evangelist and what it was like to record an audio version of th...

Simon Thomas seemingly had it all. A successful and enviable career in TV, a loving family and a strong Christian faith. Then at quarter to six on Friday 24 November 2017, his world fell apart. Thomas was “utterly convinced” that his wife, Gemma, would be OK when she was first taken ill. But just three days after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, the 40-year-old passed away. Simon was...

Dr. Amy Orr-Ewing is a leading evangelist and apologist who is senior vice president with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. She talks to Justin Brierley about how her family converted to Christ, doing evangelism from a young age, confronting liberal Bible scholars at Oxford University, taking Bibles to the Taliban, and why her husband is called Frog. Amy and other speakers will be helping y...

Sam Hailes meets the well-known theologian and minister Sinclair Ferguson on this week’s show. Sinclair is Chancellor's Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in the US, and an assistant minister at St. Peter's  Free Church of Scotland in  Dundee . In this in depth interview he explains how he was called into ministry and shares lessons learned over many decades of teach...

It’s a double bill on The Profile this week. Megan Cornwell meets Mim Skinner, the author of Jailbirds: a book about women’s prisons, while in part two, Sam Hailes talks Steve Maltz, a Christian author best known for his teaching on the Hebraic roots of Christianity. The Profile is brought to you in association with Premier Christianity magazine. Request a free copy at premierchristianity.com  

Megan Cornwell meets Bernard Hibbs from The Bruderhof – a Christian community where all possessions are shared, faith sits at the centre of daily life and crime is non-existent. In part two, the Bishop of Burnley Philip North talks about his work in the Church of England and his desire to take the Gospel to the UK’s most deprived areas. The Profile is brought to you in association with Premier Chr...

On this week’s show, Megan Cornwell sits down with comedian Bec Hill, who is currently performing at Edinburgh Fringe. Born in Australia but now based in London, Bec Hill’s one liners have been featured in The Telegraph , The Guardian and Buzzfeed . She is best known for incorporating arts and crafts into her stand-up routines (which she describes as “paper-puppetry”). In this interview she explai...

On this week’s show, Tim Farron tells Sam Hailes how reading books on prophecy and apologetics played a key part in his decision to become a Christian. Farron also comments on how the “trials and tribulations” he experienced while leading the Liberal Democrats have enabled him to be more open about his faith.  The Profile is brought to you in association with Premier Christianity magazine. You can...

On this week’s show, the national leader of New Wine sits down with Premier Christianity’s Sam Hailes. Paul Harcourt explains how encountering the Holy Spirit at an early age dramatically altered his relationship with God and allowed him to “let go” of an over-reliance on his ability to rationally explain his faith. As New Wine marks 30 years of summer conferences, Paul also reveals exactly how th...

There are people walking the streets today who were formerly on death row in Uganda. Alexander Mclean is the man who has helped win their freedom. The founder of African Prisons Project, is a lawyer, humanitarian and award winning philanthropist who has long been passionate about setting the captives free. In this interview with Premier Christianity’s Sam Hailes, Alexander – a “prisoner by choice”...

The co-founder of Christian charity CARE reflects on a lifetime of campaigning in this in-depth interview with Premier Christianity’s Sam Hailes. Lyndon Bowring may not have changed his mind on the fundamental issues, but the way he talks about difficult and often divisive subjects has. The 71-year-old has long been an Elim minister and prolific teacher and still describes himself as an evangelist...

Pastor and founder of Power The Fight, Ben Linsday, shares his faith journey with Ruth Jackson and talks about his work with at-risk young people in South London. He offers advice about what the Church can do to curb the rise in youth violence. Ben challenges Christians to think about diversity and looks at the impact of racism on communities. He also share some parenting stories. Ben’s book We Ne...

Kojo Anim talks to LadyT about his time on Britain’s Got Talent, why he did the show, getting the golden buzzer from Simon Cowell and why that moment changed everything. He also talks about being broke, homeless, in foster care and the impact that had on his life growing up. Kojo will be on a national tour from 6th Feb 2020. Tickets available here - http://www.kojoanim.co.uk/ Follow Kojo on IG & T...

Natalie Collins is a Gender Justice Specialist who works with Christian organisations and others to educate them on gender equality and the abuse of women. Collins was in an abusive marriage herself and gave birth to her second child prematurely after her ex-husband attacked her. In this in-depth interview with Premier Christianity ’s Megan Cornwell she explains how Christian purity culture led to...

Pete Portal tells Justin Brierley his conversion story (involving a fight in a takeaway restaurant) and what that led him to establish a Christian rehab community in one of South Africa’s most infamous ghettoes. Pete shares the joys, struggles, miracles and heartache of ministering to and living with Muslim gang members and drug addicts. Pete’s book No Neutral Ground (Hodder & Stoughton) is out no...

The Rev Dr Clifford Hill is a sociologist, theologian and founder of the magazine Prophecy Today . In this in-depth interview with Premier Christianity ’s Sam Hailes, Dr Hill recalls his early life and explains how he was called to ministry at the tender age of 12, with his preaching ministry beginning soon afterwards. “What I preached in those day I don’t know, I shudder to think!” he quips. The...

Long before Rachel Treweek shattered the so-called stained-glass ceiling by becoming the first female diocesan bishop in the Church of England, she was challenging the status quo. As a young girl growing up in leafy Hertfordshire, the church she attended – a local traditional Anglican parish – had an all-male robed choir. With a keen sense of her own worth and talents, she asked the priest if she...

Rev Dr David Hilborn has spent most of his career working in theological education. The current principal of Moorlands college was previously principal of St John’s College, Nottingham and also played an influential role in the beginnings of St Mellitus College, now one of the largest training colleges in the Anglican Church worldwide.  In this in-depth interview with Premier Christianity ’s Sam H...

Jonathon Douglass (aka ‘JD’) has been making music with Hillsong United since the very beginning. What began as a church youth band based in Sydney, Australia has become a global phenomenon. Hillsong United have led worship in some of the world’s biggest stadiums, and their songs (‘Oceans’, ‘So Will I’, ‘Hosanna’) are sung by churches on every continent. At the end of May, the band released their...

In November 2015, RC Sproul Jr woke up in a hospital bed and discovered he’d been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Not only was it the worst day of his life, but it was also, paradoxically, one of the best. “It shattered any façade or capacity to pretend I’m better than I really was” he explains. But it wasn’t the first time he’d found himself in the Christian press for all the...

Andrea Williams, 53, is intense, driven and uncompromising. She often refers to Jesus as “the Lord Jesus Christ” and believes Christians have been “ashamed of the gospel” for too long. In this in-depth interview with Premier Christianity ’s editor Sam Hailes, she does not mince her words, as she challenges Christians to be bolder in speaking up for the truth. The founder of Christian Concern also...