The Church Times Podcast

The Church Times
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  • RELIGION & SPIRITUALITY
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY
The Church Times Podcast

News, interviews, book reviews, and discussion each week from the Church Times - the world's leading newspaper on faith and the Church.

  1. Book Club Podcast: The Bell by Iris Murdoch

    5 DAYS AGO

    Book Club Podcast: The Bell by Iris Murdoch

    The Bell by Iris Murdoch is the choice for this month’s Church Times Book Club. On the podcast this week, the Revd Jeremy Davies, retired Canon Precentor of Salisbury Cathedral, who has a long and abiding interest in the works of Iris Murdoch, discusses the book with Francis Martin, who has written about the book in this week’s Church Times. Published in 1958, The Bell is hailed as a great work of philosophical and psychological fiction. The story centres on a group of characters, all with complex problems, who seek refuge in a lay religious community in rural Gloucestershire. Their community sits alongside a medieval abbey inhabited by Benedictine nuns. As the two neighbouring communities await the arrival of a new replacement bell for the medieval bell tower, the story takes an unexpected turn when the missing bell is found and retrieved from the lake near by. The Bell is published by Vintage Classics at £10.99 (Church Times Bookshop £9.89); 978-0-09-947048-9. https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9780099470489/bell?vc=CT804 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 www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

    27 min
  2. Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani: Encouraging the weary with a word

    SEP 27

    Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani: Encouraging the weary with a word

    The Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, gave the plenary lecture at the Church Times Festival of Preaching this month in Great St Mary’s, Cambridge (Features, 20 September). In the lecture, she spoke about the weariness she has detected in the Church and in society at large. She also explained why she worries, for practical and theological reasons, about the C of E’s drive to increase in size and numbers. “The constant mantra that we must grow, indeed that we are going to grow if we follow the strategy, the deliberate setting of targets to increase the number of worshippers, the judging of a church’s success according to its size — all this is putting undue pressure on clergy who are overstretched and congregations whose morale is low. . . “We cannot and must not continue placing unreasonable and unrealistic expectations of growth in numbers on the shoulders of our clergy. If growth is to happen, it will be God’s doing.” Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

    32 min
  3. Diarmaid MacCulloch on Lower Than the Angels: A history of sex and Christianity

    SEP 20

    Diarmaid MacCulloch on Lower Than the Angels: A history of sex and Christianity

    On the podcast this week, Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch is interviewed by Paul Handley about his new book Lower Than the Angels: A history of sex and Christianity. In a review of the book in this week’s Church Times, Penelope Cowell Doe writes that “one of his main concerns . . . is to show that the Church has never been univocal in speaking about sex, and that there is not one unbroken line in its approach to marriage and celibacy. He writes: ‘there is no such thing as a single Christian theology of sex. There is a plethora of Christian theologies of sex.’” Lower Than the Angels is published by Allen Lane at £35 (Church Times Bookshop special price £28). https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9780241400937/lower-than-the-angels?vc=CT220 Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

    44 min
  4. John Cottingham in conversation with Andrew Brown

    SEP 13

    John Cottingham in conversation with Andrew Brown

    Truth and morality are central to the thought of the Roman Catholic philosopher John Cottingham, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Reading and an honorary fellow of St John’s College, Oxford. Andrew Brown interviewed Professor Cottingham for the Church Times this week, and this podcast brings an extended version of the interview. Professor Cottingham explains why he thinks that Descartes is a much more religious writer than many believe, and why he became dissatisfied with a secularised view of morals. Andrew Brown observes: “Philosophy, he feels — and thinks — should always maintain contact with the human problems that animate it in the first place.” Professor Cottingham has published more than 30 books, 16 as the sole author. They include How to Believe (Books, 1 April 2016), Philosophy of Religion: Towards a more humane approach (Books, 4 September 2015), and his most recent book, The Humane Perspective (Oxford University Press). Andrew Brown is the Press columnist for the Church Times. He writes about religion, technology, ethics, and literature. https://substack.com/@andrewbrown Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

    49 min
  5. Book Club Podcast: Sarah Tarlow on The Archaeology of Loss

    SEP 6

    Book Club Podcast: Sarah Tarlow on The Archaeology of Loss

    Sarah Tarlow is on the podcast this week to talk about her memoir The Archaeology of Loss, this month’s Church Times book club title. Susan Gray has written a reflection on the book in the 6 September edition of the Church Times: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/books-arts/book-club In her candid memoir, Sarah Tarlow excavates her memory to piece together the events and experiences leading up to her husband’s suicide, and traces the complicated grief which followed. Using her archaeological insights, the author makes parallels between what she has encountered through her professional work, tracing the rituals of death and commemoration, with the reality of her own personal situation. Nothing prepared her for the grim reality of caring for someone whose personality had been so affected by illness, and for her own struggles facing up to the actuality of loss. Sarah Tarlow is Professor of Historical Archaeology at the University of Leicester. She is in conversation with Sarah Meyrick, whose latest novel is Joy and Felicity (Sacristy Press, 2021). The Archaeology of Loss is published by Picador at £10.99 (Church Times Bookshop £9.89). https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781529099553/the-archaeology-of-loss?vc=CT106 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 www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

    29 min
  6. Bishop Andrew Rumsey and David Watson on the value of church buildings

    AUG 9

    Bishop Andrew Rumsey and David Watson on the value of church buildings

    On the podcast this week, we bring a fascinating conversation between the Bishop of Ramsbury, in Salisbury diocese, Dr Andrew Rumsey, and the podcaster and mindset coach David Watson, about church buildings and the contribution that they make to communities. Dr Rumsey is the co-lead bishop for church buildings; his recent folk album, Evensongs, was recorded in a 12-th century church in Wiltshire (Podcast, 20 October 2023). He is the author of the author of the highly praised books Parish: An Anglican theology of place (Books, 21 July 2017) and English Grounds: A pastoral journal (Books, 11 March 2022). This podcast first appeared on the David Watson Podcast, which explores the interesting people of this world, and what makes them tick. Find his podcast at https://www.youtube.com/@davidwatsonpodcast, at https://www.davidwatson.life/podcast-1, and on podcast platforms. Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

    43 min
  7. Book Club Podcast: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

    AUG 2

    Book Club Podcast: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

    The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell is the choice for this month’s Church Times Book Club. On the podcast this week, Caroline Chartres, who has written this month’s Book Club reflection on the book, is in conversation with Sarah Meyrick. Maggie O’Farrell transports the reader to Renaissance Italy in her latest historical novel The Marriage Portrait. It is based on the true story of teenage bride Lucrezia di Cosimo de’ Medici, the inspiration for Robert Browning’s poem “My Last Duchess”, who died only a few years after marrying the esteemed Duke of Ferrara. In the book, O’Farrell reimagines the Duchess’s fraught final years, following her journey from the safety of her childhood home in Florence to the remote hunting lodge where her husband keeps her captive. Sections of the story are told from the first-person perspective, and Lucrezia’s fear that her husband is out to kill her is palpable. The Marriage Portrait is published by Tinder Press at £9.99 (Church Times Bookshop £8.99); 978-1-4722-23880-3. https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781472223883/marriage-portrait?vc=CT002 Caroline Chartres is a contributing editor to the Church Times. Sarah Meyrick is assistant editor of the Church Times and is to be its next editor. Her latest novel is Joy and Felicity (Sacristy Press, 2021). 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 www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

    20 min
  8. Can traditional and contemporary styles of worship exist in harmony?

    JUL 19

    Can traditional and contemporary styles of worship exist in harmony?

    Can organs (and organists), choirs, instrumental music groups, and praise bands exist in harmony? This question was considered by an expert panel at the first Church Times Festival of Faith and Music in York (News, 3 May), held in partnership with the Royal School of Church Music. The panellists, who all have experience of traditional and contemporary styles, were: Peter Asprey, Director of Music at Holy Sepulchre London, the National Musicians’ Church in the heart of the City of London. The Revd Pete Gunstone, Minor Canon for Worship and Nurture at Bradford Cathedral. Tom Bell, a freelance organist who is also Director for the North of England, North Wales, and the Isle of Man at the Royal College of Organists. Find out more about forthcoming Church Times events at https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/events including the Church Times Festival of Preaching in September: https://festivalofpreaching.hymnsam.co.uk https://faithandmusic.hymnsam.co.uk Picture credit: Duncan Lomax Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

    43 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.6
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

News, interviews, book reviews, and discussion each week from the Church Times - the world's leading newspaper on faith and the Church.

Information

  • Creator
    The Church Times
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2024
  • Episodes
    365
  • Rating
    Clean
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    © All rights reserved
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    The Church Times Podcast

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