The Church Times Podcast

At the age of 91, Richard Holloway has written what he says “feels like the final book”: Last Words, in which he reflects on his long and fascinating life. Richard Holloway is interviewed by Malcolm Doney in this week’s 12-page Books for Christmas supplement, and a recording of their telephone call is on this podcast. The book is also reviewed by Angela Tilby. “I’ve always had a melancholic side to my nature. Melancholy is not sadness,” he says in the interview. “It’s a kind of mood you fall into when you consider the passingness and transience of things. Our lives just flow towards the end, but you look back on memories, your parents, your schooldays — all of that, and, as I get older, I spend more time doing that. . . “And this is a grateful kind of looking back, I guess, at the way my life went, people I owe a lot to, especially my parents, my mother . . . a reflection on what has been, what feels like the final run.” Last Words is published by Swift Press at £16.99 (Church Times Bookshop £15.29); https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781800755338/last-words?vc=CT228 If you already subscribe to the Church Times, why not give a gift subscription to friends or family this Christmas? Visit: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/subscribe

This week’s episode is an interview with the Archbishop of York, recorded a week after his return from a five-day visit to Israel and Palestine. The interview is by Francis Martin, staff writer, who travelled with the Archbishop’s delegation, reporting on the trip for the Church Times. The Archbishop spoke about what moment of the visit most resonated for him; being confronted by heavily armed settlers; and why he believes that Israeli actions in Gaza are “genocidal acts” and the situation in the occupied West Bank amounts to “apartheid” and “ethnic cleansing”. Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

The Bishop of Washington, DC, the Rt Revd Mariann Edgar Budde, made headlines in January when she preached before President Trump at the traditional post-Inauguration service of prayer for the nation, in Washington National Cathedral. She pleaded with him directly to be merciful to migrants and LGBTQ people (News, 24 January, Features, 5 September). Bishop Budde was a speaker last month at the Festival of Preaching, organised by the Church Times and Canterbury Press, in Southwark Cathedral. The theme of the festival was “Preaching Truth to Power”. On the podcast this week, there is a chance to hear the sermon that she preached at the festival eucharist. “I wasn’t speaking only to the President and his supporters gathered at the cathedral: I was speaking to and for those listening around the country,” she said. “One of my favourite homiletics professors used to say ‘Sometimes, we speak to the people; other times, we speak for them.’ But I didn’t feel like a prophet: I felt like a pastor, speaking to and for a country that I loved. . . “The task isn’t to preach to those who aren’t listening, but to those who are, who are trying to make sense of what’s happening. . . We have the sacred duty to give voice, yes, to factual truth, as best we can discern it, but also a moral truth rooted in the teachings of Jesus and the prophetic tradition of our faith.”

On the podcast this week, Dr Selina Stone is interviewed about her new book, A Heavy Yoke: Theology, power and abuse in the Church, by Dr Lisa Adjei, the C of E’s Head of Racial Justice Priority. It was recorded at the book’s launch last month at Bridewell Hall in London. In A Heavy Yoke, Dr Stone lifts the lid on the ways in which Christian theology can, often unwittingly, uphold existing power structures to the detriment of the flourishing of the whole Church. It calls for a more rigorous and critical understanding of Christian theology and how it is shaping Christian leaders, churches, and organisations. Reviewing the book in this week’s Church Times, Lyle Dennen describes it as “well written, challenging, and disturbing. . . Stone’s powerful contention is that it is not just some bad apples on a good tree: there are narratives, twisted theologies, and cultures that significantly enable abusers to control others and justify terrible behaviour.” Read the Church Times review of the book here: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2025/10-october/books-arts/book-reviews/book-review-a-heavy-yoke-theology-power-and-abuse-in-the-church-by-selina-stone Read Dr Stone’s recent Analysis piece, “Theology can be spiritually abusive”, here: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2025/12-september/comment/analysis/analysis-theology-can-be-spiritually-abusive Photo credit: Tom Perkins New to us? Or know someone who is? Receive 10 weeks of full access to the Church Times – plus subscriber-only benefits – all for just £5* this October. Select the trial offer and add the code Archbishop106 at checkout. Visit www.churchtimes.co.uk/subscribe *first-time subscribers only. UK only.

A team from the Church Times was at Canterbury Cathedral on Friday, where the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury was revealed: the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally. She will be the first woman to hold the post. On the podcast this week, Francis Martin guides us through a memorable day. It includes the Archbishop-designate’s address in the cathedral, shortly after Downing Street announced her nomination; Sarah Meyrick’s interview with Bishop Mullally and episcopal colleagues; and Amelia Braddick seeking reactions from members of the public. Picture credit: Neal Turner for Lambeth Palace New to us? Or know someone who is? Receive 10 weeks of full access to the Church Times – plus subscriber-only benefits – all for just £5* this October. Select the trial offer and add the code Archbishop106 at checkout. Visit https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/subscribe *first-time subscribers only. UK only.

The editor of the Church Times, Sarah Meyrick, is joined by Madeleine Davies, senior writer, and Francis Martin, staff writer, to talk about the challenges that will face the next Archbishop of Canterbury. This week’s edition contains an eight-page pullout exploring what lies ahead for the next Archbishop of Canterbury. On the podcast, Madeleine talks about her article, which looks at the state of the Church of England that the next Archbishop will inherit; and Francis reflects on his piece, which is about the most pressing issues that will be in the next Archbishop’s in-tray. Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

In this week’s Church Times, Madeleine Davies has written an indepth feature about the so-called “quiet revival” among younger people, following a recent report by the Bible Society (News, 8 April). On the podcast this week, Madeleine talks about her article with the editor, Sarah Meyrick. They discuss how the research has been received; whether it resonates with what is happening in parishes; what might be attracting young men to church in particular; why the mainstream media has taken such an interest in the “quiet revival”; and more. Read Madeleine's article here: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2025/15-august/features/features/quiet-revival-myth-or-reality Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader Festival of Preaching: Truth to power takes place in Southwark Cathedral on 13 September. More information at https://festivalofpreaching.hymnsam.co.uk

On the podcast this week, there’s another chance to listen to an interview with Elizabeth Oldfield about her book Fully Alive: Tending to the soul in turbulent times (Hodder & Stoughton). The book is now out in paperback and is available from the Church House Bookshop. https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781399810777/fully-alive Elizabeth is a journalist, public intellectual, and the host of the podcast The Sacred, which explores the deep values of a range of guests. She is a former director of the think tank Theos. In Fully Alive, she explores what it means to live life to the full, drawing on theology, philosophy, sociology, economics, science, literature, and psychotherapy, and on her own life as a millennial feminist with a husband and two children, living with another family in an intentional community. Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader Festival of Preaching: Truth to power takes place in Southwark Cathedral on 13 September. More information at https://festivalofpreaching.hymnsam.co.uk

The podcast this week comes from the General Syond meeting in York, where the Archbishop in Jerusalem, Dr Hosam Naoum, is interviewed by Francis Martin, staff writer for the Church Times. Dr Naoum speaks about life in the region, the welcome that he has received at the Synod, and the prospects of peace in the Middle East. “If I can reconcile myself as both Palestinian and Israeli and Arab and a Christian, that means that we can live together as Israelis and Palestinians. That’s something we can do,” he says. “We have done it for many centuries, actually, as Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the land of the Holy One, and we can do it again, but we need to be determined to walk the path of peace.” Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

On the podcast this week, Dr Alec Ryrie, Professor of the History of Christianity at Durham University, talks about his latest book, The Age of Hitler and How We Will Survive It, an examination of society’s fixation with the Nazis and the unravelling of the post-war moral consensus today. He argues that Adolf Hitler has replaced Jesus as the most important moral figure in the West (“we’ve replaced a positive exemplar who shows us what good is with a negative exemplar who shows us what evil is”), and how this has influenced thinking about human rights. Professor Ryrie wishes to hold on to the moral insights of the “Age of Hitler”, but argues that “they are not enough, and, at the moment, we are asking them to carry more weight than they can bear.” He challenges each side of the culture wars “to find a synthesis with the other”, saying that this is the only way in which each side “can truly secure the values which are most dear to them”. Professor Ryrie’s previous books include Protestants (Books, 28 July 2017) and Unbelievers: An emotional history of doubt (Books, 15 May 2020). The Age of Hitler and How We Will Survive It by Alec Ryrie is published by Reaktion Books at £15.95 (Church Times Bookshop £14.36) https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781836390824/age-of-hitler-and-how-we-will-survive-it?vc=CT204 Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader