The Profile

Andy Peck chats with a man who has served in small-church ministry for over 40 years. Having pastored a church in the US which grew and then shrank, he founded a ministry supporting pastors of small churches. They talk about why some churches remain small, how you can be ‘heathy’ and small and what to do if you have tried to change things and failed. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christ...

Shell Perris - once a singer in a Christian girl band - now leads Alive Ministries which helps families worship. She works with Gary Spicer at The Lions which guides Christians in setting up and running successful businesses, not just to make money, but to create social change. Through their work they hope to help, mentor, train and bring ideas into fruition. In this episode of The Profile they sp...

Andy Peck chats with the national director of Development Associates International (DAI UK) about their leadership training and support of Diaspora Christians including overseas students. They talk about her background in community health and development in rural Nepal and urban India and what led her into leadership in the first place. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK...

Podcaster Carey Nieuwhof has said being a pastor 'nearly killed' him. Not that he felt a particular call to church leadership initially. Nieuwhof grew up in a Christian home to immigrant parents who lived in Canada but it wasn't until he was 13 and his parents had moved to an Evangelical Presbyterian church that he felt he gave his life to Christ. Ministry did not initially attract him and instead...

Andy Peck chats with the authors of Healing Leadership Trauma: Finding emotional health and helping others flourish (IVP). They discuss how past trauma can impact a leader’s style and approach, what signs we should look for, and what we might do to get support. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Check out the latest offers at premierchristia...

After a tough year Wycombe Wanderer's Jason McCarthy was looking to assess his priorities. He was having a successful career as a defender but after a close relative died and during a nasty spell when he got held up at knifepoint he began to question what success was. One day he overheard teammates talking about Jesus and became intrigued. He asked more, prayed and gave his life to Christ but init...

Singer and songwriter Victory Boyd grew up in a big musical family. She's one of nine children and credits her parents for her musical success and the investment they put into her and her siblings. As a family they moved to New York with little money but a lot of faith and sold CDs around the city which helped support their family. Now she's a successful musician signed to Roc Nation, a music labe...

Andy Peck chats with Phil Moore about his transition from serving as pastor at Everyday Church Wimbledon for a new kind of discipling based ministry. They explore his new book, ‘The Forgotten Manifesto of Jesus’ and how new believers can become leaders within their sphere of influence. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Check out the latest...

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce is one of the most outspoken pro-life activists working in the UK today. She is the Director of 40 Days for Life and March for Life UK which uses volunteers and prayer to encourage women to believe that their pregnancies are important. Last year she was arrested twice for praying outside abortion centres and has fought -successful - to challenge those arrests and the buffer z...

Andy Peck chats with Kate, the founder of Next Leadership and her co-director Cham. As the first black and Asian ministers in the Baptist Union of Great Britain respectively, they share their experience as pioneers. They look at what racism is, and what we can do to tackle the issue in the settings where we lead. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christian mag...

Australian-born Christine Caine is an author, and activist. She grew up to Greek immigrant parents in Sydney but from the age of 3 she was sexually abused by men living in her house. In her childhood and early adult life she lived with great shame but in this episode explains how Jesus set her free from it. As an adult she found out she and her brother was adopted. She discovered her own name was...

Andy Peck chats with the author of ‘The Unhurried Leader’, who is the founder of a range of ministries, resources and events for leaders who wish to slow down. They talk about Alan’s journey to near burnout, how he recovered and what he says to leaders who fear they can’t keep going at their present pace. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. C...

Actor David Gyasi (pronounced 'Josse') is on a career high. He's appeared in Hollywood films such as Interstellar with Matthew McConaughey and alongside Halle Berry in Cloud Atlas. You can also catch him as UK Foreign Secretary in the Netflix series of The Diplomat. But getting there had its struggles. He and his wife - became teenage parents unexpectedly. It meant adjusting to a different kind of...

In a classic re-run, Andy Peck chats with the retired Baptist minister and Cambridge scholar about how we should best understand Luke and Matthew’s portrayal of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. Does the likely scandal surrounding the events mean that there is rather more going on that we have imagined The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christian magaz...

Gospel singer songwriter Michelle John has sung with some great names in the music industry including Eric Clapton and Maria Carey though as she says - she still feels like "Michelle from Peckham". John grew up on a council estate in South London and was encouraged to go to church by a neighbour and local institution 'Mr Grant'. She began singing in the choir. Through Providence and talent she was...

Andy Peck chatted with the leadership enabler at CPAS (Church Pastoral Aid Society) about the work of equipping lay leadership to serve in the local church. They discuss how moving from Holy Trinity, Brompton to revitalise a church in Fulham helped shape his ministry and what we might look for and why it is that so are reluctant to step into leadership roles. The Profile is brought to you by Premi...

With parents in full-time ministry Joy Clarkson lived in several American states growing up including Texas, Tennessee, Colorado and California. She was often home schooled which lead, as she says to a 'transitory childhood.' But moving while young also allowed her to witness different types of Christianity and people. Books became 'friends' and she began keeping a journal as a young person admitt...

Andy Peck chatted with the founder of ‘The Stones Cry Out’ about how planned Holy Land tours were halted by the Israel v Hamas hostilities but ended up adjusting his work in even better ways. They also discuss why the traditional nativity scene is way off reality. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Check out the latest offers at premierchris...

Evangelist Rico Tice had a classically English boarding school upbringing but his early life was more international. Born in Chile he grew up in Africa, later attending Sherbourne boarding school in Dorset in the sixties and seventies which he describes as 'tough' and 'Darwinian'. Like many men of his generation it instilled in him a sense of duty. After his Godfather died in a climbing accident h...

Andy Peck chats with the Principal of Cliff College, Derbyshire about the challenges of leading a Theological College. How has the focus changed over the years? How are issues regarding sexuality covered given the divisions with the national Church? How might character be formed alongside the necessary academic focus? The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christia...

Lex Renick has lived many different lives and she's still only 27-years-old. When she was still in middle school she began to experience gender dysphoria going on to identify as a transgender man taking testosterone and even having a double mastectomy. She grew up in a Christian household in California but it was not a happy home. She experienced emotional and sexual trauma which, in her own words...

Andy Peck talks to the author of ‘On the way to work: a Christian approach to thinking differently about success and fulfilment’. Chris has 30 years’ experience working at director level in financial services and shares four important principles for leading and managing well: selfless service, acting authentically, solving problems and developing diversity. The Profile is brought to you by Premier...

At the age of just six Nancy Goudie felt the powerful presence of God to the point she was unable to move. She became a Christian and later with her husband Ray set up the band Heartbeat which had mainstream, international and TV success appearing on BBC1's Top of the Pops in the 1980s. As the founder and singer, Goudie describes it as a 'vehicle' helping thousands to draw closer to God. Trust in...

Andy Peck talks with the CEO of Food For Purpose (FFP) about how our diet and exercise levels affect our life as a leader. If we are to ‘love God with all our strength’, what should be eating and not eating to ensure we are capable of leading well for years to come? The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Check out the latest offers at premierchr...

The Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani has been Bishop of Chelmsford for nearly 4 years. As a woman, she's one of 18 female bishops in the Church of England out of 42 in total. She was born in Iran in the sixties and it was her early life and experiences which shaped who she is today, a church leader who speaks out with a nuanced voice against injustice for refugees as well as those who feel marginal...