The Church Times Podcast

The Coronavirus, Church & You survey was set up to assess experiences of and responses to the Covid-19 pandemic among churchgoers in the UK. In this week’s podcast, Church Times editor Paul Handley discusses the results of the survey with its creators, the Revd Andrew Village, Professor of Practical and Empirical Theology, and Canon Leslie J. Francis, Visiting Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, both at York St John University. They consider levels of stress and spiritual well-being during lockdown, the highs and lows of online worship, and give insights from clergy and lay people, Evangelicals, and Anglo-Catholics. “Clergy are interesting. . . If you look at lay people, they were less stressed, but they were less happy. Clergy reported better spiritual wellbeing, but more stress.” You can still take part in the survey: https://yorksj.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cAYhUS8YSvn0ir3 Podcast edited by Serena Long Get the Church Times delivered for 10 weeks for just £10: www.churchtimes.co.uk/10-weeks

On the podcast this week, Canon Jessica Martin reads an extract from her much-anticipated new book, Holiness and Desire: What makes us who we are? The extract is published in this week’s Church Times (3 July). “Trusting the scriptures is not wilful blindness, but a speaking act of love. Because of love, I believe that the power of a medieval anonymous lyric to move me to tears signals an authentic rather than an historically naïf response. Because of love, I believe that a paradisal early memory of playing with my brother on a carpet of cherry blossom is a present earnest of the joys of heaven, not a corrupted image of a lost event. The fount of all these is the same as the belief which turns me towards my spouse trustfully rather than in suspicion. “As with my spouse, I pursue my relationship with scripture assuming that the process of becoming which led to this communicative moment will, in the end, fulfil and not betray my trust — not because it is a history of perfection (that’s true neither of writing nor of people), but because love underpins the conversation; love makes it possible.” The Revd Dr Jessica Martin is a Canon Residentiary of Ely Cathedral. Holiness and Desire: What makes us who we are? is published by Canterbury Press at £16.99 (Church Times Bookshop £15.30). Picture credit: ©David Hartley/Church Times Podcast edited by Serena Long Get the Church Times delivered for 10 weeks for just £10: www.churchtimes.co.uk/10-weeks

The final of Theology Slam 2020, a competition to find engaging young voices who think theologically about the contemporary world, took place online on Tuesday 23 June. On this week’s podcast, you can hear the talks of the three finalists, who spoke on Theology and Disability, Theology and #MeToo, and Theology and Race. “‘Where are you?’ is the cry of the human spirit to God. It’s written on the placards of protestors; it’s whispered by the survivor of sexual abuse.” The winner was Augustine Tanner-Ihm, who spoke about the Church’s responsibility to work towards a “radical new Christian inclusion”, his own experience of racism within the Church, and the importance of belonging. Augustine was previously interviewed on the podcast. “Accessibility is being able to get into the building. Diversity is getting invited to the table. Inclusion is having a voice at the table. But belonging is having your voice heard at the table.” Get the Church Times delivered for 10 weeks for just £10: www.churchtimes.co.uk/10-weeks

This week’s podcast guest is Chine McDonald, a writer, broadcaster, and Head of Community Fundraising and Public Engagement at Christian Aid. Chine has written the Lift Up Your Hearts article for this week’s Church Times, and talks to Ed Thornton about how books, art, and music — as well as her faith — have sustained her during lockdown. “The Christ that I believe in is a Christ who . . . suffers with us, and part of the incarnation is the fact that God is right there with us in the horribleness, in the gruesomeness of life.” They also discuss the Black Lives Matter movement and the programme that Chine recently presented on BBC Radio 4, No Justice, No Peace: Religion and protest (reviewed in our Radio column this week). Here, they cover the Black experience both within and outside the Church; whether the Bible can be used to combat racism; and the Church’s own history, in the UK and the US, which has been at the forefront of both the civil-rights movement and some of the most racist groups in society. Podcast edited by Serena Long. Get the Church Times delivered for 10 weeks for just £10: www.churchtimes.co.uk/10-weeks

On this week’s podcast, Ed Thornton talks to Augustine Tanner-Ihm about racism in the Church of England and beyond. “I really wanted to share God’s love, transform this society with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and do it in whatever context God calls me to.” Augustine, who recently completed his ordinand training at Cranmer Hall, Durham and has since been applying for curacies, received an email reply from one parish rejecting him “firstly” on the grounds that “the demographic of the parish is monochrome white working class, where you might feel uncomfortable”. Augustine has lived, trained, and worked almost exclusively in white working-class communities — “If anyone is looking for ordination in the Church of England and they are BAME, then you understand that you are probably going to be in an all-white parish, because the majority of the country is white” — and was disappointed that there was no attempt to enter into a conversation about how he might feel as a black man working in a white-majority parish, before his decision was made for him. They go on to discuss the current spotlight on the Black Lives Matter movement and what needs to be done to address structural injustice in the Church. Augustine is one of three finalists in Theology Slam 2020, which takes place online on 23rd June. His talk will be about Theology and Race. Find out more here: https://www.licc.org.uk/events/theology-slam-live-final/ Podcast edited by Serena Long. Get the Church Times delivered for 10 weeks for just £10: www.churchtimes.co.uk/10-weeks

“All that we’ve ever done is about getting young people out of their rooms and into the community and working alongside us, and through lockdown we’ve been doing the opposite of that. . . So that has been very difficult.” On this week’s podcast, Ed Thornton talks to Gareth Sorsby, joint CEO of YMCA Exeter, about the impact of the coronavirus on an organisation whose work is grounded in face-to-face social contact and community integration. Eighty-seven per cent of young people at YMCA Exeter have reported that they struggle with self-harm, depression, and anxiety, all of which have risen as a result of the current crisis; Gareth explains how they have adapted their services to cope. From video conferencing youth groups, to virtual coffee shops, daily art competitions and group gaming sessions, the team at YMCA Exeter are doing everything that they can to ensure that the most vulnerable in society can live anxiety-free. “I have been really pleased with the resilience of young people: how they do get on with it, how they do figure out ways to cope,” Gareth says. “And they do reach out for support where they can get it, as well.” Find out more about YMCA Exeter’s work at https://www.ymcaexeter.org.uk. A Covid-19 resources page is at https://www.ymcaexeter.org.uk/covid-19-information. Podcast edited by Serena Long. Get the Church Times delivered for 10 weeks for just £10: www.churchtimes.co.uk/10-weeks

On the podcast this week, Church Times columnists Paul Vallely and Angela Tilby discuss the big story of the week: Dominic Cummings’s trip from London to County Durham during the lockdown. They talk about (and disagree on) whether the public outrage has been fair, and consider the reactions of the bishops. Writing in this week’s Church Times, Paul Vallely says: “Mr Cummings, with his legal loopholes and rule-rewriting, desecrated the dignity of ordinary people’s sacrifices. That’s what he appears, for all his cleverness, to lack the empathy to understand.” Angela Tilby is more sympathetic to Mr Cummings’s predicament, and warns against the danger of scapegoating individuals during a time of national crisis. This podcast is presented by Ed Thornton and edited by Serena Long. Get the Church Times delivered for 10 weeks for just £10: www.churchtimes.co.uk/10-weeks

This week, Ed Thornton talks to Madeleine Davies about her new book, Lights for the Path: A guide through grief, pain and loss, published today (21 May) by SPCK. It’s available to order from the Church Times Bookshop for the special price £8, and an extract is published in this week’s Church Times. “Lights for the Path is part memoir and part theological reflection on the theme of death,” the Head of Theology at Youthscape, Dr Phoebe Hill, says. “Skilfully woven together and littered with literary references, Davies offers a gracious acknowledgement and comfort for the whole range of emotions a young person experiencing a death will encounter. “Sharing her own story of losing her mum as a teenager, and the stories of others, this book is a window into the deeper questions of life: what happens when we die? Why would God allow this? Davies gives no trite answers; this honest account exposes the simplistic answers for what they are, and creates a safe space to air your true thoughts, your true feelings and your true questions for God.” The Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Revd Dr Sam Wells, says: “If it can’t be happy, make it beautiful. Madeleine Davies offers us this exquisite gift, born from her own grief, her compassionate heart, and her listening soul. “With elegant simplicity she attends to the fear, fury and fragility of loss, bringing forth wisdom, gentleness and insight in equal measure. Above all she gives us humility and patience, as she lets people tell their own stories and leaves unresolved what no comfort can easily heal. Anyone who faces the agony of loss could wish for no finer companion.” Madeleine Davies is the features editor and deputy news editor of the Church Times. This is her first book. (Church Times Bookshop special price £8; CH Bookshop: 0845 017 6965). At the end of the interview, Malcolm Guite reads his sonnet “Pilgrimage”. Podcast edited by Serena Long. Get the Church Times delivered for 10 weeks for just £10: www.churchtimes.co.uk/10-weeks

This week, Ed Thornton talks to the Rt Revd David Wilbourne about his biography of John Habgood, a former Archbishop of York, who died last year, aged 91. The book is called Just John: The authorized biography of John Habgood, Archbishop of York, 1983-1995 (SPCK), and is available from the Church Times Bookshop for the special price of £16. In an obituary published in the Church Times, Rupert Shortt describes Habgood as “the outstanding British Anglican leader of his generation, and perhaps the country’s most distinguished churchman tout court”. He has been described by several people as “the best Archbishop of Canterbury we never had”. In a review of Just John published in the Church Times, Richard Harries writes: “David Wilbourne, who was Habgood’s chaplain for four years, and whose writing is well known to readers of the Church Times, has written an informative and attractive life of his former boss, which will be essential reading for anyone who wants to understand this turbulent period better. . . “Wilbourne follows Habgood’s career as a theological teacher, ecumenist, writer, and church leader, underlining his key part, for example, in liturgical revision, and especially on the ordination of women. . . “Wilbourne has given us a warm picture of an estimable human being and a deeply serious Christian.” Get the Church Times delivered for 10 weeks for just £10: www.churchtimes.co.uk/10-weeks

On the podcast this week, Ed Thornton talks to the Revd Steve Morris about the important part played by Forces chaplains in the Second World War, and today. They include Captain Leslie Skinner, who Mr Morris writes about in this week’s Church Times, which marks the 75th anniversary of VE Day. “Skinner spent his time conducting funerals, digging graves, and praying with the dying and wounded,” he writes. “At one point, he went alone into a “cooked” tank full of burned human remains so that the men didn’t have to do it. He wanted to protect them from some of the horror.” Mr Morris is the Vicar of St Cuthbert’s, North Wembley, in the diocese of London. At the end of the podcast, the deputy editor of the Church Times, Glyn Paflin, reads from the Leader published in the paper on 11 May 1945, entitled “Thanks be to God”. It is also published in this week’s paper and on the website. Get the Church Times delivered for 10 weeks for just £10: www.churchtimes.co.uk/10-weeks