The Church Times Podcast

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

On the podcast this week, Ed Thornton talks to the Revd Helen Gheorghiu Gould, who is a member of the Interim Ministry Steering Group. She speaks about what interim ministry (IM) is, why it works for some parishes — such as those navigating change or seeking healing of conflict — and what the future might hold for it. Until March, Ms Gheorghiu Gould was interim-ministry adviser for Chelmsford diocese. She put together the Interim Ministry Resource Book to support and expand interim ministry in the Church of England (News, 9 April). Read more about IM and download the resource book at https://www.interimministry.org.uk/. Read a feature on Interim Ministry in this week’s Church Times (14 May). Find out about 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, Christopher Totney, director of music at St John’s, Devizes, is interviewed about his new anthem, “God Of All Creation”, which was the winner of the Royal School of Church Music’s Music Sunday competition. He is interviewed by Stefan Putigny, the Royal School of Church Music’s Magazines Editor. A recording of the anthem, sung by St Martin's Voices, is played after the interview. The world première of the anthem will be on the annual RSCM Music Sunday on 6 June, which celebrates the part played by music and musicians in church life. The podcast also features a talk by Prebendary Chris Thorpe, “Creating worship that connects: Liturgy as a tool of mission in reaching out”, which was given at the “Creativity out of Crisis” webinar last October, hosted by the Church Times and the RSCM. Prebendary Thorpe is the author of books which include Ploughshares and First Fruits: A year of festivals for the rural church (Canterbury Press) (Books, 1 January 2021) and Apprentices and Eyewitnesses: Creative liturgies for incarnational worship: Lent, Holy Week and Easter (Canterbury Press) (Books, 8 March 2019). The Church Times and the RSCM are hosting a webinar on Tuesday 18 May, “Lift Up Your Voices, Lift Up Your Hearts”, which will explore questions of music and worship. Subjects include how congregational singing could come back stronger after the pandemic, what next for choirs, and a training taster session for clergy who are not musicians. Speakers include the director of the RSCM, Hugh Morris; John Bell; Brenna Conin; and Gill Fourie. For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.churchtimes.co.uk/events 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 the podcast this week, Cole Moreton talks to Gareth Higgins about his new book, How Not to Be Afraid: Seven ways to live when everything seems terrifying. Their conversation was recorded at the UK launch of the book, held online on Thursday evening. You can watch the whole event at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMs0NEJH5mQ. In the book, Gareth explores the root causes of fear and shows how we can break its power through life-giving stories, simple spiritual exercises, and practical steps to take as individuals and communities. The book is available to buy at a 20-per-cent discount at the Church Times Bookshop. Dr Gareth Higgins is a speaker, storyteller, and activist, who grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and now lives in the United States. He is editor of The Porch Magazine. Cole Moreton is a writer and broadcaster. His debut novel The Light Keeper (Books, 10 January 2020; Podcast, 27 March 2020) is out in paperback on 21 May. https://www.hownottobeafraid.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.