The Church Times Podcast

On this week's episode of the Church Times Podcast, Ed Thornton talks to the Rt Revd Professor N.T. (Tom) Wright about his new book, Paul: a biography, published by SPCK. The book traces Paul's journey from his early childhood through to his zealous persecution of the early church, to his experience at Damascus, and his tireless missionary journeys, ministry and writings, before his likely death as a Christian martyr in the mid-60s. The book is on offer at the Church House Bookshop for £16.99 – visit www.chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk. Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 - visit www.churchtimes.co.uk/subscribe

This week we discuss the warnings made by the Archbishop of Canterbury in his forthcoming book, Reimagining Britain, in which he argues that the UK is at a political and moral tipping-point. We also look at reactions to the Ecumenical Marriage Bill which was debated in the House of Lords last week, and reports on growing numbers of converts to Christianity.

This week, we discuss the life and influence of Billy Graham, the American Evangelist who died on Wednesday at the age of 99. We also look at the latest ministry statistics which show that although the Church of England had 14 per cent more theological students overall in 2017, more than eight per cent fewer were in residential training. Plus, we highlight a feature by Mark Vernon on recognising and responding to narcissistic personality disorder in the Church.

This week, we post an edited recording editor Paul Handley’s interview with Justin Welby about his first five years as Archbishop of Canterbury. In conversation at Lambeth Palace last week, the Archbishop spoke, among other things, about the limits of his power, the state of the Anglican Communion, the C of E’s struggles over sexuality, and his forthcoming book on the state of Britain. The interview is published in edited form in this week’s paper, and in its entirety on our website. You can try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 – visit www.churchtimes.co.uk/subscribe to find out more.

In a special edition of the podcast this week, we discuss the key debates, motions, and speakers from the General Synod of the Church of England, which met in London from Thursday to Saturday, last week. This included a debate on valuing people with Down's syndrome, a motion on Methodist communion, a presentation on safeguarding, and a review of the workings of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC). You can read the top stories from the Synod on our website churchtimes.co.uk and a full digest of the sessions will appear in our paper and online, on Friday.

Listen to a taste of our exclusive interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury, this week, in which he spoke on the challenges of safeguarding facing the Church, and the related issues the Archbishop himself has had to address, since taking office, five years ago. The full interview will be published in our paper and online, next week, and will be also made available as a Podcast. A full special edition Podcast will also be released on Monday, in which we will discuss the motions, debates, and key speakers at the General Synod of the Church of England currently meeting in London. The last session of this February Synod will conclude on Saturday afternoon.

This week, we discuss the warnings issued by the Bishop of Leeds, the Rt Revd Nick Baines, during a Brexit debate in the House of Lords; and an ongoing campaign from the Bishop of St Albans, Dr Alan Smith, on the negative impact of primetime gambling adverts on children. Plus, his Bill to name mothers on marriage registers

Malcolm Guite will be known to Church Times readers as the author of the weekly Poet’s Corner column. He is the chaplain of Girton College, Cambridge, and a poet, teacher and musician. His latest book, published by Canterbury Press, is called Love Remember: 40 poems of loss, lament and hope. It is, Malcolm writes, “written to give voice both to love and to lamentation, to find expression for grief without losing hope, to help us honour the dead with tears, yet still to glimpse through those tears the light of resurrection”. Malcolm came to the Church Times offices this week to talk more about the book. If you don’t already subscribe to the Church Times, and would like to read Malcolm’s column each week, along with a host of news, features, and reviews, go to churchtimes.co.uk/subscribe, where you can get 10 issues for £10.

This week we discuss the conclusions of a report from the Cathedrals Working Group on the sustainability, governance, and financial management of cathedrals in the UK. We also explore the second week in our series on young people and the Church: why people left church in their teens, gifts young adults can bring, and what the Church should know about young people.

As part of our new series on youth and the Church, starting this week, we look at the crisis facing the Church over its ability to attract – and nurture – a generation of young people, who are dwindling from congregations. Plus, the editor of the Church Times, Paul Handley, talks to Ed Thornton about the redesign of the paper which was revealed this week