St Paul's Cathedral

The Visitation by Ankita Saxena. The second in a series of new poetry for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. For each Sunday from Advent 2017 to Epiphany 2018, six exciting young poetic voices and one emerging digital artist reimagine the story of Christmas. Taking the Biblical text as a starting point, they each retell a story that is both personal and universal, layering it with meaning and peppering it with insight. They bring to life the humans behind a familiar narrative, and enable us to see them, and hopefully ourselves, in a new way.

Doorway by Antosh Wojcik. The first in a series of new poetry for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. For each Sunday from Advent 2017 to Epiphany 2018, six exciting young poetic voices and one emerging digital artist reimagine the story of Christmas. Taking the Biblical text as a starting point, they each retell a story that is both personal and universal, layering it with meaning and peppering it with insight. They bring to life the humans behind a familiar narrative, and enable us to see them, and hopefully ourselves, in a new way.

Advent is the season of waiting and contemplation, when we prepare for the joyful coming of Christ at Christmas. But waiting is not always chosen or joyful, and can bring times of great spiritual testing – through illness, old age, or the struggles and frustrations of everyday life. Margaret Whipp will explore the challenges of life’s waiting times and the skills they demand, drawing on vivid metaphors of wine-making, wilderness, winter and the womb, and how the paradoxical grace of patience can point to the kindness of the God who wait for us. Part of St Paul's Adult Learning Sunday Forum series. Recorded 3 December 2017.

Short version - this podcast features the Q&A only. Forgiveness is news. When someone forgives terrible harm done to them, from the victims of terrorism to the violently bereaved, the story is always news and often the person is treated as a moral hero. But does it take a special person to forgive and forget, or can we all learn to do it? And why is forgiveness central to Jesus’ teaching? Lucy Winkett, priest and theologian, and Marian Partington, whose sister was killed by Fred and Rose West, will explore the reality of the darkness in others and ourselves, and the radical path of forgiveness. Recorded 21 November 2017.

Short version - this podcast features Lucy Winkett's talk only. Forgiveness is news. When someone forgives terrible harm done to them, from the victims of terrorism to the violently bereaved, the story is always news and often the person is treated as a moral hero. But does it take a special person to forgive and forget, or can we all learn to do it? And why is forgiveness central to Jesus’ teaching? Lucy Winkett, priest and theologian, will explore the reality of the darkness in others and ourselves, and the radical path of forgiveness. Recorded 21 November 2017.

Short version - this podcast features Marian Partington's talk only. Forgiveness is news. When someone forgives terrible harm done to them, from the victims of terrorism to the violently bereaved, the story is always news and often the person is treated as a moral hero. But does it take a special person to forgive and forget, or can we all learn to do it? And why is forgiveness central to Jesus’ teaching? Marian Partington, whose sister was killed by Fred and Rose West, will explore the reality of the darkness in others and ourselves, and the radical path of forgiveness. Recorded 21 November 2017.

'Forgiveness is the most imaginative way of becoming free and offering freedom'. Marian Partington Forgiveness is news. When someone forgives terrible harm done to them, from the victims of terrorism to the violently bereaved, the story is always news and often the person is treated as a moral hero. But does it take a special person to forgive and forget, or can we all learn to do it? And why is forgiveness central to Jesus’ teaching? He talks about it almost more than anything else, even from the Cross. Why must we love our enemies and always forgive those who wrong us? What about justice? And could the most difficult thing of all be to seek and accept forgiveness, human or divine, when we need it for ourselves? Lucy Winkett, priest and theologian, and Marian Partington, whose sister was killed by Fred and Rose West, will explore the reality of the darkness in others and ourselves, and the radical path of forgiveness. Chaired by Canon Mark Oakley. Filmed 21 November 2017.

Do you feel more at home on the edges of faith than at the centre? Christian life has often been associated with conformity and a culture where people don’t feel able to ask questions. But Dave Tomlinson thinks our spiritual communities can be ‘laboratories of the Spirit’ where we explore issues of faith and spirit with openness, imagination and creativity. Can they be places where doubts and questions are an essential part of faith, and divine revelation can be found in art, science and the natural world as well as religious tradition? The Revd Dave Tomlinson is the author of the seminal book The Post-Evangelical and more recently How to be a Bad Christian… and a better human being (Hodder 2013) and Black Sheep and Prodigals: An Antidote to Black and White Religion (Hodder 2017). He is the Vicar of St Luke’s Holloway and a regular contributor to RBBC Radio 2’s Pause for Thought.

The works of John Donne, one of England's foremost poets and priests, were brought to life in words and music at St Paul's Cathedral on April 26 2012. St Paul's in association with Poet in the City and Winning Words, presented the special event in the cathedral where Donne was Dean from 1621-31. Speakers: Peter McCullough - lay canon of St Paul's and Professor of English at Lincoln College, Oxford Jo Shapcott - award-winning poet and President of the Poetry Society Mark Oakley - Canon Treasurer of St Paul's Mary Morrissey -- Lecturer in English, Reading University In addition, Andrew Carwood, world-famous tenor and Director of Music at St Paul's will sing Benjamin Britten's unforgettable settings of Donne's sonnets.

The Revd Canon Mark Oakley, Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral, interviews London artist Gerry Judah on his new piece recently installed in St Paul's Cathedral to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the First World War. This interview was recorded on 15th April 2014.