The Church Times Podcast

This week’s podcasts brings another highlight of the most recent Church Times Festival of Faith and Literature, which took place in Winchester in late February: Mark Oakley’s talk, “What if this were the world’s last night?” John Donne’s lessons for today’s Church. “[Donne’s] commitment to nearness means resisting soundbite theology, any quick clarity or easy answer,” Dr Oakley says. “It means resisting turning honest complexity into dishonest simplicity; it means bearing with each other, seeking to read the lines of yourself and others, so that — and this, I feel, might be Donne’s great contribution to us as a Church — we are not charged to be relevant, but resonant. Our faith is not an opinion column, it is not a hobby, it is not the latest fad: it is seeking to address the perenial depth of what we experience as being human. Resonance happens in a deeper place than relevance.” The Revd Dr Mark Oakley is Dean of St John’s College, Cambridge, and Canon Theologian of Wakefield Cathedral. His books inclued The Splash of Words (Canterbury Press), which won the 2019 Michael Ramsey Prize. He recently received the Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship at the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lambeth Awards 2023. https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.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

Sir Terry Waite was held hostage in Lebanon in the 1980s and ‘90s, while a special envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie. He was in captivity for the best part of five years, most of this time in solitary confinement. Last week, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the King’s Birthday Honours list. When his book, Solitude: Memories, people, places (SPCK) was published in 2017 (Books, 24 November 2017), he was interviewed by Sarah Meyrick. The book is available in paperback from the Church House Bookshop. 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

The General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church met in Edinburgh last week. Francis Martin has been there to report for the Church Times. He sat down with the Primus, the Most Revd Mark Strange, Bishop of Moray, Ross & Caithness, to talk about how the meeting has gone. Bishop Strange also spoke about the part he played in the Coronation; why he enjoyed last year’s Lambeth Conference; and the suspension of the Bishop of Aberdeen & Orkney, the Rt Revd Anne Dyer. Detailed reports of the Synod will be published in the 16 June issue of the Church Times, and will be available online. 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, the writer and journalist Emily Rhodes talks to Ed Thornton about Emily’s Walking Book Club, which she wrote about in this week’s Church Times (Features, 9 June). The book club, which meets monthly on Hampstead Heath and also has a monthly Zoom and a Live Discussion Thread, recently discussed Ronald Blythe’s rural classic, Akenfield. On the podcast, recorded while walking round Clissold Park, in north London, Emily talks about how members of the book club responded to Akenfield; how a walking book club can foster community and meaning; and whether there are similarities to pilgrimage. Find out more about Emily’s Walking Bookclub at https://emilyswalkingbookclub.substack.com Emily Rhodes is a writer and journalist, whose features and reviews have appeared in publications including the Financial Times, The Spectator, The Guardian, and the TLS. https://emilyrhodeswriter.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

My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor is the choice for this month’s Church Times Book Club. On the podcast this week, Canon Richard Lamey, who has written this month’s essay about the book, is in conversation with Sarah Meyrick. Read the essay here: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2023/2-june/books-arts/book-club/book-club-my-father-s-house-by-joseph-o-connor My Father’s House is a historical thriller set in Rome in 1943, when the city was under Nazi occupation. The story follows the journey of a group of Jews, diplomats, and escaped Allied prisoners who try to flee Italy. They take refuge in the Vatican City, and their escape is facilitated under the guise of a choir, by a courageous Irish priest. Tension builds as the Gestapo begin to suspect the priest’s secret operation. The novel is based on a true story, and is a retelling of the workings of the Rome Escape Line, covering the heroic work of Mgr Hugh O’Flaherty. My Father’s House is published by Harvill Secker at £20 (Church Times Bookshop £18); 978-1-78730-082-8. Canon Richard Lamey is the Rector of St Paul’s, Wokingham, and Area Dean of Sonning, in the diocese of Oxford. The Church Times Book Club is run in association with the Festival of Faith and Literature: https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Sign up to receive the free Book Club email once a month. Featuring discussion questions, podcasts and discounts on each book: churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup Discuss this month’s book at facebook.com/groups/churchtimesbookclub 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’s podcasts brings another highlight of the most recent Church Times Festival of Faith and Literature, which took place in Winchester in late February: Gaia Vince in conversation with the Rt Revd John Pritchard about her book Nomad Century: How to survive the climate upheaval (Features, 2 December, Books, 23 December). In a review of the book for the Church Times, the Rt Revd David Chillingworth described it as “a remarkable and important book. It takes a hard look at what our world may become as the effects of global warming gather pace. . . “Vince suggests that the response of humanity to these challenges [of climate change] must be the one that it has always used: migration. Migration is ‘not the problem. . . migration is the oldest survival trick.’ Hence the title, Nomad Century.” Nomad Century is published by Penguin and is available to buy from the Church House Bookshop; 978-0-24152-231-8. https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9780241522318/nomad-century Gaia Vince is an award-winning science journalist, writer, and broadcaster, and an honorary senior research fellow at UCL. The Rt Revd John Pritchard is a former Bishop of Oxford. https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Photo: KT Bruce Music for the podcast is by Twisterium 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

So far this year, there have been 18 school shootings in the United States, and a total of more than 200 mass shootings in the country. On the podcast this week, the Bishop of Colorado, the Rt Revd Kym Lucas, is interviewed about this epidemic of gun violence, and talks about her own experience of a shooting in her son’s school. Interview by Francis Martin. “When I tell people what I do, I say: ‘I’m a follower of Jesus. And I mean that Jesus who said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The one who said, “Those who live by the sword (or the gun!) will die by it,’”’ she says. “It is very odd notion that somehow being a follower of Jesus makes you an advocate of violence, or even a proponent of violence, in terms of gun ownership. I find that very strange.” Music for the podcast is by Twisterium 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 month’s Church Times Book Club choice is Of Stone and Sky by Merryn Glover. On this Book Club Podcast, Ian Bradley, who has written an essay about the book in this week's Church Times, interviews the author. Of Stone and Sky is published by Birlinn and is available from the Church Times Bookshop for £8.99. Of Stone and Sky is a novel set in the hills and straths of the Scottish Highlands. At the heart of this multi-generational saga is the mystery of the disappearance of the Highland shepherd Colvin Munro. One of the main narrators of this modern-day redemptive tale is Mo, the missing shepherd’s foster-sister. Mo is a Church of Scotland minister, and her voice becomes the book’s moral compass. In the book, the author covers a range of themes relevant to the use of the Highlands, including land ownership, ecology, and the challenges facing sheep-farming. Merryn Glover is a novelist and radio dramatist. She was born in Kathmandu and brought up in Nepal, India, and Pakistan, where her Anglican Australian parents worked as Wycliffe Bible Translators. The author now lives in the Upper Spey Valley, in the Highlands, which provides the setting for Of Stone and Sky, her second novel. The Revd Professor Ian Bradley is Emeritus Professor of Cultural and Spiritual History at the University of St Andrews. His latest book, God Save the King: The sacred nature of the monarchy, is published by Darton, Longman & Todd at £8.99 (Church Times Bookshop £8.09) (Comment, 28 April). The Church Times Book Club is run in association with the Festival of Faith and Literature: https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Sign up to receive the free Book Club email once a month. Featuring discussion questions, podcasts and discounts on each book: churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup. Discuss this month’s book at facebook.com/groups/churchtimesbookclub Photo: © Stewart Grant Music for the podcast is by Twisterium 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, there’s a chance to listen again (or perhaps for the first time) to a conversation between Professor Robin Dunbar and Dr Mark Vernon. They discuss Professor Dunbar’s book How Religion Evolved and Why It Endures, which is now available in paperback from the Church House Bookshop. In a review of the book for the Church Times (Books, 29 April 2022), Dr Vernon wrote: “The longstanding tendency has been to treat the almost universal presence of religious beliefs and rituals in human populations as a by-product of human needs, from lessening the terrors of death to bolstering the moral imperatives that support sociality. But, instead of treating religions as noble lies or discardable delusions, Dunbar presents the evidence for religious practices’ being a necessary part of human evolution. This necessity is why he thinks that religion will endure and resist secularising pressures.” Dr Robin Dunbar is Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Oxford, and a Fellow of the British Academy and of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Dr Mark Vernon is a psychotherapist and writer. His latest book is Spiritual Intelligence in Seven Steps (Iff Books, 2022). His other recent books include Dante’s “Divine Comedy”: A guide for the spiritual journey (Angelico Press, 2021) (Podcast, 10 September 2021) and A Secret History of Christianity (John Hunt Publishing, 2019). Photo: 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, Richard Harries is interviewed about his memoir, The Shaping of a Soul: A life taken by surprise. In a review of the book in the Church Times (Books, 6 April), Stephen Platten wrote: “The pages breathe throughout a certain confidence, but failures are not swept away, and the writing is permeated by a consistent generosity.” Lord Harries was Bishop of Oxford from 1987 to 2006, after which he became a crossbench life peer in the House of Lords. He is the author of more than 40 books focused on art, literature, politics, social issues, morality, and, theology. He is also a frequent contributor to the Church Times. The Shaping of a Soul: A life taken by surprise is published by John Hunt at £18.99 (Church Times Bookshop £16.99); 978-1-80341-162-0 Read an extract at https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2023/31-march/features/features/richard-harries-new-memoir-theology-and-sherry-in-the-officers-mess 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