The Profile

What would you say if a member of the Trump family asked you to put together an evangelical advisory board for the then presidential candidate? This was position Johnnie Moore found himself in. The long-time religious freedom campaigner decided to fulfil the request, but with certain caveats. In this interview he gives Premier Christianity's Sam Hailes all the details. Moore was visiting the UK pa...

Meet the man who turned up three hours late to his first date with his now wife, says he "crashed and burned" at university and had to endure 12 failed attempts at church planting. Tim Matthews is remarkably up front about the moments in his life which haven't gone to plan. But behind these tales is a much larger story of God's faithfulness. In 2014, the former accountant moved his family from Lon...

Christians need to rediscover their heritage of creating, not complaining. That's according to David Stroud, the senior leader of Christ Church London. In this interview with Premier Christianity 's Sam Hailes, the pastor, who has been leading churches for over 25 years, explains his vision for the "spiritual, social and cultural renewal" of London and beyond.  David is married to Baroness Stroud...

Steve Uppal is the pastor of All Nations, a growing multicultural church in Wolverhampton, and the author of ‘Rousing The Warriors’. He tells Justin Brierley the story of his parents’ radical conversion from a Sikh background to Christian faith and his passion for seeing revival in the UK and beyond.

When Hillsong first started in the UK, they attracted around 100 people to their Sunday services. Now a whopping 14,000 people turn up every week at the church's campuses across the UK. In this in-depth interview with Premier Christianity's editor Sam Hailes, the leader of the church explains how he's dealt with criticism along the way. He also pushes back against the assumption that Hillsong attr...

Bishop Joseph D'souza is the leader of the largest growing church movement in India, the Good Shepherd Church. He's also a human rights activist for the poor and marginalised people called Dalits, also referred to as untouchables. Premier Christianity 's deputy editor Megan Cornwell met Bishop Joseph on his recent visit to the UK to find out more about his organisation The Dalit Freedom Network. T...

Inderjit Singh Bhogal is a leading theologian and a former President of the Methodist Conference. Originally from an Indian Sikh background, he was just 11 years old when his family moved from Nairobi to the West Midlands. There were only two Sikh temples in the UK at the time, and Inderjit's nearest place of worship was a Methodist chapel. "I arrived in this chapel and was made to feel welcome,"...

Spurred on by her Christian faith, Baroness Caroline Cox has spent most of her political career drawing attention to the plight of persecuted people both at home and around the world. And she hasn’t been afraid to court controversy in the process. Most recently, she has argued the UK is prolonging the war in Syria and failing to acknowledge that Islamic State is far worse than the Assad regime. Pr...

John Stevens is the national director of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC), a family of 600 local churches who are "united by the gospel and by a common purpose". In this in-depth interview with Premier Christianity 's editor Sam Hailes, John explains how he first came to Christ and how early on in his Christian life, thought he might be ordained in the Anglican church. As...

Some of Rachel Gardner’s first words during this one-hour conversation were a warning. “I’m going to bring plenty of sass to this interview.” She didn’t disappoint. Adjectives such as ‘bubbly’, ‘gregarious’ or ‘extroverted’ somehow feel insufficient when it comes to the president of Girls’ Brigade England & Wales. Sassy is a much better descriptor. Whether preaching, writing or campaigning, Rachel...

Sarah Corbett is a professional activist, author and the founder of Craftivist Collective, a social enterprise which combines craft and activism to engage people in social justice issues "in a quiet, non-confrontational manner." The pioneer of "gentle protest" talks to Premier Christianity's Megan Cornwell about how deliberate, thoughtful actions can provoke reflection and respectful conversation ...

We're in Scotland for this week's episiode! Sam Hailes travelled to Refuel! - a new Christian festival in the Highlands run by The Filling Station. In the first part of the show he meets Tim Cheshire, the frontman of Christian band Superhero who is now heading up The Message Trust's work in Scotland. Speaking about his passion for mission, Tim says: "It doesn't matter how bad the state of the chur...

Bazil Meade has been working in the music industry for over two decades. He is the founder and principal of the world famous London Community Gospel Choir. Under his direction and tuition some of the industry’s finest gospel and RnB singers have blossomed and found successful careers. Premier Christian Radio's John Pantry sat down with Bazil to hear more of his story.  Follow Bazil on Twitter @Baz...

In 1992 John Kirkby lost virtually everything he had. Finding himself with debts of £78,000 and nowhere to turn he had hit rock bottom. But fast forward to today and the Yorkshireman's life has changed dramatically. Not only did he turn his finances around, but he met God in the process and is now the founder of the award winning debt advice charity Christians Against Poverty Premier Christianity...

JLS were one of the biggest boybands of their day. The group rose to fame after reaching second place on ITV's X Factor and went on to sell over 10 million records. In this in depth interview with Premier Christianity 's Sam Hailes, JB Gill recounts the highs and lows of his time in the band and explains how he's gone from winning BRIT awards to presenting programes about faith and farming on the...

After many years of alcohol abuse, Emma Heath was desperately lost. A decision to go into treatment and rediscover her faith led to healing and a role helping others in recovery. Sam Hailes hears the full story. In part two, we talk to Neil O'Boyle - the national director of British Youth for Christ. He talks about his experiences ministering all over the world and explains why the Church needs to...

Ken Fish, founder of Kingdom Fire Ministries tells Justin Brierley about his life story and training in supernatural healing ministry under John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard Church. Ken now ministers around the world and says he sees supernatural miracles on weekly basis. Nevertheless he saw his friend and evangelist Nabeel Qureshi die of cancer last year, despite Ken’s prayer ministry. He...

On the first part of today's show, Alex Williams meets Petr Jasek, a Christian worker who spent 450 days in prison in Sudan for offences including spying and inciting violence against the state. Petr always denied any wrongdoing, insisting he was in Sudan to document persecution against Christians there. Ostracised by other prisoners, he was beaten and found himself sharing a cell with Islamic Sta...

Sir Colin Humphreys was knighted in 2010 for his services to science. The Cambridge scientist tells Justin Brierley about his Christian faith, how he reconciles science and faith and his intriguing work looking at the scientific explanations for Old Testament events including the parting of the Red Sea in Exodus and the sun ‘standing still’ in Joshua. The Profile is brought to you in association w...

The pastor who conducted the wedding ceremony of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian dropped into the Premier studios just after speaking at the Alpha leadership conference at the Royal Albert Hall. In this in depth interview Rich Wilkerson Jr, who pastors VOUS church in Miami, Florida shares his testimony and introduces his new book  Friend of Sinners: Why Jesus cares more about relationship than perfe...

John Lawson lived a life of crime that resulted in a prison sentence. He still thought of himself as a good person until a passage in Ezekiel changed his life forever. Sam Hailes here's the full story on this special podcast-only episode of the show.  The Profile is brought to you in association with  Premier Christianity  magazine. For a free sample copy of the print issue visit  premierchristian...

On The Profile this week, Premier Christian Radio's John Pantry meets the co-writer of 'In Christ Alone' Keith Getty, who believes Christians are living in "the most thrilling moment in history". In this in depth interview the writer talks about life growing up, songwriting and why he 'doesn't care' about winning awards for his music. The Profile is brought to you in association with  Premier Chri...

It's a double-bill this week as Sam Hailes sits down with David Kinnaman and Ron Matsen. David Kinnaman is a bestselling author and president of Barna - a research company working with churches and Christian organisations. According to David's research, many people's perception of Christianity is negative, with believers often being viewed as 'extremists' by wider culture. Although he believes the...

Although he grew up in a Christian family, Graham Tomlin hasn't always believed in God. His teenage rebellion was a little unusual. "It wasn't sex, drugs and rock and roll," he says, "it was reading Nietzsche!" In time and through the help of Christian friends who stuck by him, he came to see the version of Christianity he'd rejected was "a childish" one. Now he's the President of the UK's largest...

Lucy Peppiatt is Principal of Westminster Theological Centre. She talk to Justin Brierley about how she came to faith, being a charismatic and a theologian and her extensive work uncovering the real meaning of what Paul wrote about women and worship in 1 Corinthians. The Profile is brought to you in association with  Premier Christianity  magazine. For a free sample copy of the print issue visit ...