Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs

A simple and yet hopefully entertaining episode this week, as Revs TJ and JA catch up with the latest news and events. We have a good chat about media messaging around COVID, review some of the themes from last week, including a challenging letter in The Times from a former Dean of Wells advocating for the opening of cathedrals for worship. And after many months, Jamie's MP replies to his letter. Was the response what he was hoping for? Most important of all, we have a substantial listener feedback session, in which we give full voice to the various things that people have written to us about.Many thanks once again to all our listeners, especially those who are new, and do get in touch at any point at irreverendpod@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter @irreverendpod. It is great to hear from you!Support the show

Dear listener. Just a regular week with the home team Tom and Jamie. We review the latest pronouncements by the government to the effects that lockdown is going to last a very long time. We review the status of and growing hostility toward so-called lockdown sceptics. Jamie reveals why he prefers to use the term "anti-lockdown". We review the latest Lord Sumption controversy as he is accused of saying that some lives are intrinsically more valuable than others. And we look at the state of play in the church by reviewing Fr Jonathan Beswick's article on keeping churches open before turning to the latest cathedral craze: shutting down Holy Communion and administering COVID vaccination instead.Stay tuned to the very, very end as we tuck in a little bit of amusing listener feedback which we left out in the main pod.As always please keep in touch with suggestions, comments, criticisms etc at irreverendpod@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter @irreverendpod!Support the show

As a special treat for our listeners, Tom and Jamie sat down for an extra conversation this week on the topic of the Real Presence in the Eucharist. We settle the age-old question of whether or not the bread and wine really turn into Christ's body and blood...well, sort of.As always please follow us on Twitter @irreverendpod and email the show at irreverendpod@gmail.com!Support the show

Rev Daniel French, vicar of Salcombe and occasional Spectator columnist invites us to revive the habit of regular Bible reading.   In world of swamped by trivia, false and fake news,  and wild conspiracies on Left and Right, we can be pleasantly surprised to find that the Bible holds a balanced view of life, a deep realism.  Using some personal anecdotes and pastoral experience Daniel invites us to open the "good book" and not be too worried if at first we feel daunted because even reading a few pages in Genesis will give a kernel of the whole thing.   Daniel's email is cybervicar@gmail.comSupport the show

We had the privilege of a return visit to Irreverend Land from US commentator Esther O'Reilly, sharing some in-depth perspective on the crazy events in Washington D.C. on January 6th, the legacy of Trump, the possibility of ever-greater levels of censorship and ostracisation for conservatives and maybe Christians in the US, the breakdown of the social fabric of Western Civilization, and whether or not Tom is a Zwinglian when it comes to Eucharistic Theology. So, basically, everything that is important right now.Along the way we reference a rather provocative piece from Rod Dreher, The Left's Reichstag Fire, and we look at a piece from Mere Orthodoxy, After Evangelicalism, which attempts to conflate evangelicalism, Trumpism and scepticism about the government response to COVID.For Garry Williams' excellent piece on why churches should remain open, see here: https://pastorsacademy.org/blog/why-churches-must-gather-for-corporate-worship/.If you are a Christian or otherwise looking for an open church in England, or if you have a church you'd like to list, please go to https://uklockdownchurches.wordpress.com.Esther's blog can be found at https://www.patheos.com/blogs/youngfogey/ and she goes by @EstherOfReilly on Twitter. We also mentioned on the show A Morning in a Diner with Michigan's COVID Rebels from the US Spectator.As always, please follow us on Twitter @irreverendpod, rate us on iTunes or elsewhere, and send comments, critiques, suggestions, immolations to irreverendpod@gmail.com!Support the show

Rev J shares a brief meditation upon passages Psalm 46 and Isaiah 64. In the midst of the shaking of the nations and the weariness of the peoples, we must nevertheless bestir ourselves to take hold of God, praying for renewal in our hearts and in the Church.Do be in touch at irrevendpod@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter for updates!Support the show

We are back with a bang this week. TJ Pelham returns from his well-earned parental leave to spread abroad his fatherly wisdom. And we are joined by educator, journalist, political activist and now Church of England ordinand Calvin Robinson!We talk about the madness of yet another damaging and ineffective lockdown and sceptical case made by Alistair Hames for a grudging acceptance. Along the way Jamie and Tom have a gentle disagreement over the issue of the COVID vaccine and we all share concerns about whether or not the government will truly release us from lockdown once a certain amount of vulnerable people have had the jab.We hear about Calvin's experience as a teacher and assistant principal, and how the COVID measures, particularly the shutting of the schools, is disadvantaging the poor and marginalized. And we discuss Calvin's contribution to the defund the BBC campaign and why we are being badly served by our state broadcaster and other mainstream media.We conclude the show with a plea to priests and other church leaders to keep their churches open, and draw attention to a new website set up by a friend of the show, Andy. If you are keeping your church open, please register it on this site so that people nearby can find out where you are and that you are still worshipping together. If you're looking for a church to attend, do check out the site and see if it can help you out: www.uklockdownchurches.wordpress.com.For everything about Calvin, please go to his personal website.Please go to iTunes and give us a rating and a review to help others get to know about the show, and feel free to share the news with your friends!Send suggestions, comments, criticisms, exhortations, denunciations to irreverendpod@gmail.com!Follow us on Twitter at @IrreverendPod.Thanks and see you next time!Support the show

Happy New Year to all our listeners! This is a special episode in lieu of the normal podcast. Rev. J looks back at the crazy year we’ve just had and forward to the future, stressing the need for repentance for our folly and faith that the Lord has purposes for whatever might be coming next. As always please do be in touch with comments, suggestions and criticisms at irreverendpod@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter @irreverendpod!Support the show

A special episode, Rev'd Dr J.A. Franklin's Midnight Mass sermon. The readings are taken from Isaiah 9:1-7 and Luke 2:1-14. A very happy Christmastide to all our listeners!As always, please get in touch: irreverendpod@gmail.comSupport the show

Daniel French is back as co-host with J.A. Franklin this week as Tom is away on parental leave following the successful reception of his new child. Congratulations to him!On the show, we review all of the week's doom-mongering warnings about the Christmas period. We talk about Daniel's recent and popular Spectator piece on the Vicar of Dibley taking the knee in fealty to BLM. And we conclude with a conversation about a recent document released by the Church of England Bishop's Recovery Group on the Covid vaccinations. Why does this document exist and what is it supposed to achieve? We also take into account the Church of England vision for the 2020s diagram and ask what does it all mean.We'll be taking a break for a bit now so we'd like to wish all our listeners a very Happy Christmas and to thank them for listening to our show throughout the last few months. As always do be in touch with anything at all at irreverendpod@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter @irreverendpod. You can also rate and review us on iTunes. Thanks so much!Also Mentioned:Rod Liddle - In Defence of the Booing Millwall FansSupport the show