All Things Considered BBC Radio Wales

Religious courts or councils have long existed in England and Wales, offering mediation or arbitration on a range of issues for the Jewish, Muslim and even Christian communities. With the recent establishment of the Sikh Council, Azim Ahmed discusses the nature of these institutions with a panel of guests. What are they, what do they do, and how effective are they?
Azim is joined by Dr Samia Bano, Reader in Law at SOAS, University of London; Rabbi Jonathan Romain, Convenor of the Reform Beit Din, and Professor Russell Sandberg.

“Run the straight race”
The line from a well-know hymn gives a clue to this week’s edition presented by Rosa Hunt. Throughout May the BBC is holding its annual Mental Health and Wellbeing Season which coincides with a week of awareness run by the Mental Health Foundation. This year the foundation is focussing on "moving more for our mental health”. During the programme we include an exploration of physical activity as far as faith is concerned.
In some faiths, worship is very much a sedentary activity and perhaps the only physical element is standing to sing hymns and songs and even then, that’s for those able to do so. Many find wellbeing in anything from private prayer and meditation to physical workouts and walks. We visit Glenwood Community Church and Wellbeing Space in Cardiff, where wellbeing and mental health are taken very seriously with a range of activities on offer to the locality including physical ones. It’s also a place where counselling is offered by professional counsellors.
We also speak to Jamilla Hekmoun, Chair of the Muslim Mental Health Alliance and a Research Fellow on the Faith and Mental Health Project run by the Woolfe Institute. On Friday 10th May the Institute is holding a workshop at Cardiff University “focussed on improving mental health provision for Muslim communities”.
As part of the BBC’s Mental Health and Wellbeing season, BBC Radio Wales will be sharing stories and tips this month on how to support your mental health and wellbeing.
LINKS
bbc.co.uk/mentalwellbeing
mentalhealth.org.uk
www.glenwoodchurch.org
https://www.woolf.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/mental-health-project

Roy Jenkins talks to former nun Catherine Coldstream, who has recently published a fascinating, challenging and highly praised memoir of her former life in a Carmelite monastery.
Following the death of her father, Catherine Coldstream abandoned her musician's life in Paris and sought spiritual solace in a monastery, and found what she thought was a vocation for life as a Carmelite nun. She was only in her mid-20s Yet on a rainy night 12 years later she would try to escape from the community which had once seemed idyllic. By that time it was riven between two factions, one for maintaining the old traditions at all costs, and the other for embracing the Catholic church’s modernising concern for individual welfare.
In recent years Catherine has been a teacher of religion and ethics, and in this conversation she reflects on both the good and the bad parts of her experience in the monastery to which she gives the fictional name of 'Akenside'.

Jonathan Thomas joins the audience in the Swansea Arena to watch the musical 'Jesus Christ Superstar' on its 50th anniversary tour. He speaks to three expert guests; Swansea born singer and song writer Steve Balsamo whose award winning performance of Jesus in the 1990s launched his career. Cameron Smith who writes a blog 'Middle Brow Musicals' and also for Premier Christianity Magazine. Lastly Revered Emma Ackland, Bishop’s Chaplain in the Diocese of Llandaff.
The show first launched in the UK at the Palace Theatre in London in 1972, one of the most popular shows of all time, the rock opera depicts the last few days leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion. Some Christians have called it blasphemous, others see it as an evocative retelling of Jesus’ final days. With church congregations declining, Jonathan Thomas explores these issues and what still draws audiences today to a story about Jesus’ life and death.