The Church Times Podcast

This week, Ed Thornton is joined by Corin Pilling, UK director of Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries, a charity that seeks to raise awareness of mental-health issues in the Church. Corin talks about how he has navigated the challenges of lockdown, and explains what Sanctuary is doing to help churches and communities. Sanctuary UK this week launched a new app that features the “Together Again” conversation game, which prompts people to talk about the challenges that they’ve experienced during the pandemic, the anxieties they feel about restrictions being lifted, and their hopes for the future. The app is available is available for free at the usual outlets, including the Apple and Google stores. The Sanctuary Course, meanwhile, is an eight-week small group resource that is designed to help a church explore the topic of mental health through the lenses of theology, psychology, and lived experience. Corin Pilling was previously deputy director of public engagement at Livability (Interview, 19 May 2017). https://www.sanctuarymentalhealth.org/uk Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader.

THIS week, Ed Thornton is joined by Church Times cartoonist Dave Walker to talk about his new book on cycling: From A to B: A cartoon guide to getting around by bike (Bloomsbury). The book is on special offer at the Church Times Bookshop for £10.99. The book contains 100 full-page cartoons about the delights and challenges of cycling. The publisher describes it as a “cartoon manifesto for pedal-powered transport is a mixture of comedic insights and actually useful information, for everyone from beginners to seasoned cycling campaigners”. The broadcaster Jeremy Vine, who is a keen cyclist, has described Dave’s book as “Pure joy. Happy, generous, funny, kind, wise and full of fresh air. An absolutely wonderful book.” Dave also discusses on the podcast how more clergy and laypeople can be encouraged to cycle, especially to services. He has also written a feature about this for this week’s Church Times (16 July). https://cyclingcartoons.com https://cartoonchurch.com Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader.

England are through to the final of the Euros, after beating Denmark 2-1, in extra time, during a tense and thrilling semi-final match at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday night. What is it about Gareth Southgate’s approach to leadership that is inspiring the players to perform, and what lessons might there be for the Church? What does the humility of England’s players show about the link between character and performance? And what are we to make of this generation of players’ championing of social-justice causes? To discuss all this, and more, Ed Thornton is joined on the podcast this week by the Revd Peter Crumpler, a priest in the diocese of St Albans, a former communications director at Church House, Westminster, and an avid football fan. He has written previously in the Church Times about the relationship between football and faith,, and spoken about it on this podcast. The book he mentions in the interview, Thank God for Football!, by Peter Lupson, is published by SPCK and is available to buy from the Church House Bookshop. Picture credit: Alamy Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader.

On the podcast this week, Rowan Williams talks about his new book, Looking East in Winter: Contemporary thought and the Eastern Christian tradition (Bloomsbury Continuum) (Books, 25 June). It is available to buy from the Church Times Bookshop for the special price of £16. Lord Williams is in conversation with the RC Bishop of Trondheim, in Norway, Dr Erik Varden OCSO, who is a former Abbot of Mount St Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire (Features, 14 September 2018). The conversation was recorded at an online book launch last week, hosted by the Church House Bookshop and Bloomsbury. In the book, a Bloomsbury press release says, Lord Williams “introduces us to some aspects and personalities of the Orthodox Christian world, from the desert contemplatives of the fourth century to philosophers, novelists and activists of the modern era. He shows how this rich and diverse world opens up new ways of thinking about spirit and body, prayer and action, worship and social transformation, which go beyond the polarisations that we take for granted.” An extract from the book is published in this week’s Church Times (2 July). Lord Williams is a former Archbishop of Canterbury, and was the Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, until his retirement last year. His dozens of books include Candles in the Dark: Faith, hope and love in a time of pandemic (SPCK) (Books, 19 February); The Way of St Benedict (Bloomsbury) (Books, 13 March 2020); and On Augustine (Bloomsbury) (Books, 24 June 2016). Dr Varden’s books include The Shattering of Loneliness: On Christian Remembrance (Bloomsbury) (Books, 1 February 2019). Find out about other forthcoming Church Times online events at www.churchtimes.co.uk/events. Sign up to receive our email newsletter at churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader.

On this week’s podcast, Mark Oakley explores the role of lament in the midst of a pandemic, and how the work of R. S. Thomas can help us to find a voice. His talk given last Saturday at the R. S. Thomas and ME Eldridge Society Festival, in association with the Church Times. The online festival brought together people with an appreciation of the literary and artistic works, musical compositions, people and places associated with R. S. Thomas and ME Eldridge. Purchase a ticket here to access a recording of the entire event. https://rsthomaspoetry.co.uk Find out about other forthcoming Church Times online events at https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/events Sign up to receive our email newsletter at churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup Picture credit: Alamy Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader.

This week, Ed Thornton talks to the Revd Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes about her new book How to Eat Bread: 21 nourishing ways to read the Bible (Hodder & Stoughton). It's available to buy from the Church Times Bookshop for the reduced price of £10.99. “I found that over the years, I’ve continually had people coming up to me quietly asking how they should read the Bible,” she says. “There are quite a lot of books at a fairly academic level, but really very little that bridges the gap between Bible-reading notes and academic books on theological hermeneutics. . . “I’m trying to bridge that gap with this book, to have something that you can give to anyone, whether they’re a new Christian or an experienced Christian, that helps them think about the Bible.” An extract from the book is published in this week’s Church Times (18 June), and it is reviewed by Canon Anthony Philips in our books pages. The Revd Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes is Team Rector of St Luke in the City, Liverpool. Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader.

This week, Ed Thornton talks to Church Times columnist Paul Vallely about the cut to the international aid budget, which he describes in his column this week (11 June) as an “immoral and illegal act”. Paul explains the consequences of the cut for those in the developing world, and examines this week’s efforts in Parliament to reverse it, which culminated in an emergency Commons debate on Tuesday. He also offers his thoughts about the G7 summit, which begins tomorrow in Cornwall. “I am normally quite measured in my writing for the Church Times, but on this subject, if I sound very indignant, it’s because I am,” he says. “I think the Government has behaved particularly outrageously. The idea of taking the bread out of the mouths of starving people is just the real low point of the Boris Johnson Government.” Paul is a Senior Honorary Fellow at the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester, and a writer, broadcaster, and consultant who specialises in philanthropy, business ethics, and international development. Paul’s latest book, Philanthropy: From Aristotle to Zuckerberg (Bloomsbury) (Books, 11 September 2020), is available to buy from the Church Times Bookshop. Picture credit: Alamy Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader.

On this week’s podcast, we revisit an episode from January 2020, in which Ed Thornton spoke to Dr Stephen Tomkins about his book, The Journey to the Mayflower: God’s outlaws and the invention of freedom (Hodder & Stoughton). In a review of the book, published in the Church Times in September (Books, 4 September 2020), Sarah Mortimer wrote: “Tomkins’s vivid, fast-paced prose tells the story of the men and women who struggled against what they saw as the popish pollution still infecting the English Church. What they wanted was purity, but when this seemed impossible they began instead to demand freedom: the freedom to worship God correctly. . . “The story is told with verve and panache, and Tomkins has an excellent eye for the telling quote that captures the spirit of the protagonists.” The Journey to the Mayflower is available in paperback from the Church Times Bookshop for £12.99. Stephen Tomkins is the author of eight books on Christian history, including biographies of William Wilberforce and John Wesley. He is the editor of Reform magazine, and was previously deputy editor of Third Way. Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader.

This week, Dr Sanjee Perera interviews Chine McDonald about her new book, God Is Not a White Man: And other revelations (Hodder & Stoughton). The book explores what it means to be black and a woman in majority white spaces where black women are silently exiting the church, no longer able to tolerate casual racism, colonialist narratives, and lack of urgency on issues of racial justice. The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States, the Most Revd Michael Curry, says of the book: “What sets Chine's message apart from other truth-tellers . . . is her willingness to share deeply from her own life, to tap into her own experience. This isn't a finger-pointing book from a position of moral self-righteousness. This is a heart-opening book from one child of God to her brothers, sisters, siblings in the family of God. . . In Chine's description of God's mosaic, and the hard, intentional work it takes to make it a reality, you can hear echoes of Dr King's words, ‘Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.’” The conversation was recorded at an online book launch on Thursday evening, organised by the Church House Bookshop. The book is on offer at the Church Times Bookshop for the price of £13.59. You can read an extract from the book in last week's Church Times (21 May). Chine McDonald is a writer, broadcaster, and head of public Engagement at Christian Aid. She writes a diary column for the Church Times. Dr Sanjee Perera is the Archbishops’ Adviser on Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns. Find out about other forthcoming Church Times online events at www.churchtimes.co.uk/events. Sign up to receive our email newsletter at churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader.

This week, the poet and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama reads some of his sonnets and considers its the way in which sonnets can offer “a new gaze, a new point of view”. The talk was given on Saturday at an online event, “Send My Roots Rain: A poetry retreat,” organised by the Church Times and Canterbury Press. Tickets for a recording of the whole event are available at https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/events “The whole idea is that a sonnet is a small meditation on something that’s twisting on itself, looking at itself again, offering, perhaps, a new gaze, a new point of view,” he says. “Sometimes saying ‘this’ instead of ‘that,’ other times saying “both of these,” troubling the idea of the singular. Sometimes a sonnet starts off by saying ‘This is true,’ and then there’s the turn, and, by the end, it’s saying ‘Yeah, but this is true, too.’” Pádraig Ó Tuama’s most recent book, written with Glenn Jordan, is Borders and Belonging (Canterbury Press) (Books, 7 May). He hosts the Poetry Unbound podcast: https://onbeing.org/series/poetry-unbound/ www.padraigotuama.com Find out about other forthcoming Church Times online events at www.churchtimes.co.uk/events. Sign up to receive our email newsletter at churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader. Picture credit: David Hartley/Church Times