Premier Christian Newscast

Last month, the Rwandan capital of Kigali was the unlikely host of a gathering which will shape the future of the world’s third-largest Christian denomination – the Anglican Communion. Hundreds of conservative and evangelical delegates from across the world met in Kigali under the banner of Gafcon – the Global Anglican Future Conference. And there, they put a bomb under longstanding Anglican structures by declaring they would not accept Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the closest thing Anglicanism has to a pope, as their leader. Fired up by fury at how the mother church of Anglicanism – the Church of England, which Welby leads – has decided to bless same-sex unions, Gafcon has begun a struggle for control, and in some ways a struggle for the soul, of the Anglican Communion.  Guests this week: Susie Leafe, conservative Anglican activist Rico Tice, Church of England vicar Andrew Atherstone, evangelical church historian

The coronation service was unmistakably first and foremost a service of Christian worship. Charles came not to be commissioned into a constitutional role, but to anointed into a sacred, almost priestly, calling. And yet despite all this, in many ways, this month’s coronation was perhaps the UK’s first post-Christian enthronement. The country’s religious landscape is almost unrecognisable since 1953, the last time we did this, and Charles’s coronation reflected that in important ways too. So why do we crown kings the way we do? How did the coronation and monarchy become so enmeshed with Christianity and is this actually a good thing? And how has this coronation changed spiritually-speaking, and what might this tell us about the religious trajectory our nation is on? Guests this week: Rev William Gulliford, Church of England vicar and royal commentator Catherine Pepinster, religious affairs journalist and author of Defenders of the Faith: The British Monarchy, Religion and the Next Coronation Rhiannon McAleer, head of research and impact at the Bible Society

Believers living under repressive regimes or surrounded by violent extremists are still tragically subject to traditional persecution – imprisonment, physical attack, verbal threats and harassment, and even death. But increasingly persecution comes via the internet, on social media platforms, and sometimes even via the smart devices Christians use themselves. From facial recognition software to firewalls, what are the persecuted church dealing with today? How has one country, China, become a nexus of this kind of high-tech persecution? And what can Christians in the safe West do to fight back? Guests this week: Dave Landrum, the director of advocacy and public affairs for Open Doors Francis Davis, professor of civic leadership and international studies at Roehampton University Anna Lee Stangl, Americas advocacy team leader at Christian Solidarity Worldwide

“Without faith, places of worship and people of faith, this country would be poorer, blander, and less dynamic. Faith is a force for good, and the Government should do more to both understand and release the potential of this fantastic resource.” Those are the words of Colin Bloom, the government’s faith engagement advisor, in the conclusion of his report ‘Does government do God?’. Four years in the making, the 165-page report aims to explore the relationship between religious communities and the government. What is the relationship like between Britain’s churches, and it’s government? Do civil servants and ministers understand those of faith, and do they even want to work together where they can? This week we’re digging into the Bloom report and thinking about the future of the relationship between the church and state. Guests include: Colin Bloom, government faith engagement advisor and author of the report Tim Farron, evangelical Christian MP and former leader of the Liberal Democrats Daniel Singleton, national executive director of FaithAction Danny Webster, director of advocacy for the Evangelical Alliance

A new survey of more than a thousand churches has concluded weekly attendance has dropped by about 22% on average since before the pandemic. Intriguingly, the research also suggested a large part of this decline was because churches had cut the number of services they offered during the lockdowns and not resumed all of these post-covid. What lessons can we draw from this for ministers and pastors struggling to build their congregations back after the lockdowns? What place does online streaming have now there are no restrictions on attending worship? And who are those who drifted away during covid and never came back, and should we mourn their absence in the first place? This week we’re discussing church attendance post-pandemic and the rights and wrongs of counting success via bums on seats with Emma Fowle and Megan Cornwell from Premier Christianity magazine. The report about church attendance can be read here: https://oxford.anglican.org/post-covid-19-trends-patterns-and-possibilities.php

Last month, staff at BBC local radio stations went on strike in protest at major cuts heading their way. Among locally-produced shows due to be scrapped to make millions of pounds of savings are Sunday services and religious broadcasting, mostly to be replaced by programming produced nationally. These cuts come at a time when Christians from various parts of the church have accused the national broadcaster of marginalising religious broadcasting. Is the BBC really trying to squeeze out faith from its schedules? Should Christians be fighting to defend their quotas and protected slots, or is this actually a dead end? And what is religious public service broadcasting actually for – serving niche content for the dwindling band of churchgoers, or trying to showcase Christianity to secular society at large? Guests this week: Michael Wakelin, a TV and radio producer and formerly head of BBC religion Angela Tilby, retired Anglican priest and former BBC religious producer Paul Kerensa, a writer and comedian who’s recently written a history of the BBC and religion

Denominations are much quicker to close down churches based in poorer areas than those serving the rich. That’s the headline finding a report from the charity Church Action on Poverty, which scrutinised five denominations in Greater Manchester to examine what churches were shut down and where over the past decade. Is this indicative of a loss of faith in ministry to the poor, or just pragmatic economics? Why is British Christianity becoming ever more middle class and have we lost sight of the gospel bias towards the least, the last and the lost? Our guests this week: Philip North, the Bishop of Burnley in the Church of England Eunice Attwood, the Methodist’s Church’s church at the margins officer Niall Cooper, the chief executive of Church Action on Poverty.

It’s hard to spend any time in the church these days without constantly coming up against so-called Christian celebrities. Whether it’s worship leaders, authors or big-name pastors and speakers, it seems the entire infrastructure of the church relies on these high-profile individuals who have become famous for their ministries. But is any of this actually healthy? Nicky Gumbel, the head of Alpha has announced their next leadership conference will not publicise the names of its speakers and worship leaders in advance to try and counteract ‘Christian celebrity culture’. Should we celebrate efforts to damp down on fame? Or is it unavoidable that gifted Christians who offer their ministry to the church will become well-known, and, well, why shouldn’t they? This week I’m joined by Emma Fowle and Sam Hailes from Premier Christianity magazine to try and think through the pitfalls and blessings of celebrity culture in the church.

Almost exactly ten years ago, on 13 March 2013, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio became Pope Francis. In the subsequent decade, this previously obscure Argentinian cleric has revolutionised the papacy while steering the Catholic Church through sweeping reform, inside and out. He’s scandalised conservatives and thrilled some progressives, while overturning what the watching world assumed popes had to be like. In today’s episode we speak with two biographers of Francis to find out their assessment of the pope’s ten years in office. What has he achieved? Where have his ambitions fallen short? Why do some Catholics love him, and still more loathe him like few popes before. And what legacy will he leave behind when he does eventually leave behind the throne of St Peter?

In January, Pakistan’s parliament passed through tough new blasphemy laws. Already boasting some of the strictest prohibitions in the world which include the death penalty for insulting the Prophet Muhammad, the new laws extend protections to the prophet’s wives and close companions, creating new offences with penalties up to life imprisonment. But Pakistan’s increasingly harsh blasphemy legislation is a disaster for religious minorities in the country, especially Christians, who are frequently targeted by malicious accusations of blasphemy. This can incite mobs who enact swift extra-judicial punishment, sometimes killing their victims. Others accused of blasphemy can languish for years on death row, including the infamous case of Christian woman Asia Bibi. There have even been high profile government ministers assassinated by their own bodyguards for daring to question Pakistan’s blasphemy taboos. To explore the fate of the persecuted church in Pakistan and how Christians can support their brothers and sisters besieged by blasphemy laws, this week we're joined by Simon, a South Asia expert from Christian Solidarity Worldwide, and Michael Nazir-Ali, a British-Pakistani former Anglican bishop and now Catholic priest.

It all started on an ordinary Wednesday evening chapel service on 8 February, at a tiny Christian college in Kentucky called Asbury University. After the chapel service ended, a small number of students decided to carry on praying and worshipping, and didn’t stop all night. Gradually more and more began to join them in an endless stream of singing and praying, preaching and communing, sensing something of the Holy Spirit present in the auditorium. The round the clock worship continued for more than two weeks, drawing in tens of thousands of curious and excited visitors from across the country and around the world. It went viral online, with videos of the revival spreading fast on platforms such as TikTok, as well as grabbing the mainstream media’s curiosity too. Today we’ll hear from a handful of Christians who managed to get into the now famous Hughes Auditorium at Asbury University to taste and see for themselves what was happening. But we’ll also try to think about what these kind of revivals mean for the church – do they leave lasting fruit? Is it just hype and emotionalism? And what might set Asbury apart from similar outpourings of recent decades?

Kate Forbes was a relatively little known figure outside of Scotland until last week, when she announced she would run to succeed the resigning Nicola Sturgeon as head of the Scottish National Party, and therefore also become the First Minister of Scotland. But just seven days later and she, and her strong Christian beliefs, have been splashed all over the news up and down the UK. A member of the conservative Free Church of Scotland, Forbes has made no secret of the fact that her faith is not only central to who she is but also informs her values and her politics deeply. And it is this which is causing enormous problems for her nascent campaign to become SNP leader and Scotland’s most senior politician. She’s been grilled over her views on gay marriage, having children outside of wedlock, gender reassignment and much else. Some, including senior SNP figures, have decried her social conservatism or insisted it is unacceptable in a secular democracy for someone with strong Christian convictions to run for high office. Others have accused the media of running a hateful campaign against someone from a religious minority and stifling freedom of belief. It’s all getting pretty ugly, and we’re only one week into her campaign. Today’s Newscast is going to try and understand a bit more who Forbes is, and whether her evangelical beliefs have torpedoed her campaign already.

There’s only really one church news story to talk about today – the Church of England voting through radical new plans to offer blessings to gay couples for the first time. We dug into the history of the LGBT debate in the Church and where these proposals came from a few weeks ago on the podcast, and heard from spokespeople on each side of the, often bitter, debate. Today, we’re going to try and sketch out what happened last week, why it matters, and what’s coming next. We will head deep into Church of England headquarters in central London as the General Synod – the church’s national assembly or parliament – met last week over four gruelling days to wrangle over the details. There are angry protests, heartfelt speeches, endless amendments, procedural shenanigans, and by the end, the most momentous vote the C of E has seen for a decade.

They’re known by lots of different names. A social supermarket. The community larder. Your local pantry. But the fundamental idea is the same, and it’s spreading fast. More and more churches and Christian charities are opening these projects to feed their neighbourhood, tackle poverty, reduce food waste and hopefully bring marginalised people into a Kingdom-focused community. I wanted to find out why after a decade of soaring growth of church-based foodbanks, Christians up and down Britain were increasingly moving to a very different model of food support, and what that might mean for the future of the church’s social outreach during our current cost of living crisis.

Starting in 2018, a number of English councils have begun using anti-social behaviour legislation to create buffer zones around abortion clinics. These zones ban anyone from protesting, singing, holding placards, expressing an opinion or even praying. Despite murmurings of protest from pro-life groups, the pro-choice movement has won backing in parliament for a nationwide buffer zone law, which also has been picked up in Northern Ireland and Scotland too. In recent months a number of Christian pro-lifers have been arrested, fined and taken to court for what they allege was simply silent prayer in their heads nearby an abortion clinic. Are these laws a proportionate attempt to deal with harassment and intimidation at anti-abortion vigils, or do they go too far in trying to legislate away any right to hold a pro-life belief and act on it? This week we’re joined by Sam Hailes and Emma Fowle from the Premier Christianity team to discuss where these buffer zones are coming from and what it might mean for the future of the church’s engagement in the abortion debate.

Next month, the Church of England will finally begin to grasp the nettle of what to do about same-sex relationships. At a meeting of the church’s General Synod in London, vicars, bishops and ordinary churchgoers will debate new proposals from the church’s hierarchy which would give gay couples the chance to have their marriages blessed in church for the first time. The C of E’s most senior bishops hope this contentious compromise might draw a line under the tortuous and fractious debate on LGBT issues which has bedevilled the church for decades. But already loud voices on both sided are rising insisting the blessings idea is a non-starter. This week we speak to a prominent activist from both factions to hear what they think would be a better way forward, and how the synod showdown will unfold.

This week we’re looking back at the stories which have fired our imagination and caught our attention over the past 12 months. When it comes to the church world, there has been no shortage of headline-grabbing stories to keep us occupied, from pastors falling from grace to the endless rows over LGBT issues. We’ve seen iconic church leaders pass on the baton to the next generation and in some cases pass away. There have been long-awaited setpiece events and, entirely unexpected crises. So I invited Sam Hailes and Emma Fowle from the Premier Christianity magazine to join me to take a look at 2022 in church news and pick out some of the stories which most fascinated, outraged, saddened and encouraged them.

In the first weeks of September, two people died. The first was Chris Kaba, a 24-year-old unarmed black man who was shot and killed by the police in South London. Just three days later, Queen Elizabeth II also died. As a result, Kaba’s death and the anger it provoked very quickly slipped off the front pages. But the case merits more exploration, and in particular considering what role Christian leaders are or should be playing in the aftermath of another killing of a young black man by British police officers. The church has long been seen as an interface between Britain’s black community and the police, but how can they be salt and light in this complex and fractious relationship? Should pastors be drawing more attention to accusations of racism among the police and shifting to a more prophetic role, challenging the authorities? Or could the church do more to tackle gang crime and violence at the source and hopefully prevent these tragic confrontations with the law from ever occurring? This week we’re hearing two perspectives on this painful topic, from the founder of Street Pastors Les Isaac, and the Christian former gang member Sheldon Thomas.

This week we’re considering the fate of the church in a small Gulf state few had even heard of just a few years ago – Qatar. Before the tiny Arab nation controversially won the right to host the football World Cup, Qatar was fairly unheard-of in the West. And as millions of tourists and fans have descended on the country this month to take in the festival of sport, hundreds of millions more are watching intently from afar. With Qatar in the global spotlight, how are the Gulf nation’s small community of Christians faring? This week we speak with an expert on the persecuted church in the Middle East, and then an Anglican vicar leading a church in the capital Doha to find out what it’s like to be a believer in Qatar, and if the World Cup is a good or bad thing for the church.

Earlier in the autumn the Anglican Network in Europe consecrated three new bishops. This small group of about 35 churches, all Anglican but not part of the official Church of England, is busily growing and expanding, in part as it expects more conservative churches to defect from the C of E as the established church begins debating whether to permit gay marriage in church for the first time. While ANiE, as it is known, is small and far from a meaningful rival to the more than 12,700 parishes of the official Anglican denominations in Britain, its rise tells us something interesting about the state of play for conservative evangelicals. This week, I’m speaking to one of the new ANiE bishops and a well-connected evangelical church historian to try and understand what the network wants to be, and why it matters.

Last month, seven long years after it began, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, or IICSA, concluded by publishing its final report. Established in 2014 in response to fears of a Jimmy Savile-style abuse scandal lurking among high-level Westminster politics, IICSA has spent years examining the story of child abuse in England and Wales, hearing survivor’s testimonies, gathering evidence and scrutinising institutional failures. Now the £186m inquiry has finished its work and published its call for change in a sober yet devastating 468-page document. The church does not get off lightly. Of the 17 formal investigations IICSA carried out, an astonishing seven were focused on abuse linked to the church, including in-depth scrutiny of both the Catholic and Anglican Churches, as well as several church schools, bishops and dioceses. And among the horrifying accounts by victims are plenty from those who suffered at the hands of vicars and priests, bishops and monks. What did IICSA uncover about church-related child abuse? How will its recommendations affect churches? Did church authorities cooperate with the inquiry or does a culture of defensiveness still reign? And, perhaps most importantly, will IICSA cause any meaningful change for victims and survivors? This week, I’m joined by a safeguarding advocate, an abuse lawyer, and a survivor to talk about the end of IICSA, and what comes next.

Patriarch Kirill, the controversial head of the Russian Orthodox Church, declared last month that Russian soldiers conscripted into battle in Ukraine who died would have their sins washed away automatically. Despite the mounting evidence of war crimes committed by Russia during their unprovoked invasion and the fact that millions of Ukrainians worship in churches affiliated to the Moscow Patriarchate, the church has remained in lockstep with the Kremlin throughout, defending the war as righteous and just, perhaps even holy. Why has it stuck so close to Putin and his vicious and dirty war? What is the complex relationship between Russian Orthodoxy and Russian nationalism? And is there any hope for other world churches trying to engage with the Russian church in an effort to bring the fighting to an end?

When Rishi Sunak became prime minister last month, much was made of his groundbreaking ascent to Number 10. But as well as being the first ethnic minority politician to win the premiership, Sunak is also the first Hindu. Indeed, he’s the first non-Christian religious prime minister the UK has ever had. This fact has gone largely unmentioned in the media coverage, but is it actually significant to have a Hindu in Downing Street? Does anyone really care, and should we as Christians? Has he had an easier ride from the press compared to prominent Christian MPs such as Tim Farron? This week we’re gathering the Premier Christianity team to consider Sunak’s faith, how it might influence his politics (or not), and what it might mean for the church in Britain to be working under a non-Christian prime minister for the very first time.

Today we’re considering the painful question of how the church should reckon with its historic links to slavery. Every year, the entanglement of churches with the slave trade in the past is becoming clearer and clearer. Some Christians owned slaves, others profited from their labour, and sometimes this money was used to build churches or endow institutions. Does this matter? Is it worthwhile digging up centuries-old links nobody today would defend? And are financial reparations to the descendants of those enslaved by our predecessors a good Christian response to these revelations?

New research by the think tank Theos has offered a fascinating insight into those in the UK who say they are non-religious. It turns out this group is a complex mix of hardline atheists, apathetic agnostics, and ‘spiritual but not religious’ types. This week we are joined by the authors of the report and another academic who specialises in studying non-belief to understand more about the people who tick ‘none of the above’ on surveys about religion. We’ll also be discussing how should all of this reshape how the Church responds to the decline of faith and reaches out in mission and evangelism to non-Christians… You will shortly be able to download the report from Theos on their website here: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/research

This week we’re exploring yet another bitter controversy in the church’s ongoing wrangling over gay marriage. The daughter of the iconic anti-apartheid leader and South African archbishop Desmond Tutu was refused permission by the Church of England to lead the service for her godfather’s funeral because she is married to a woman. She accused the church of a ‘stunning lack of compassion’, while the bishop who would not give her the licence needed admitted the decision ‘violated all of my pastoral instincts’. So what might this episode tell us about where the debate has got to, and where it might be heading, ahead of a crunch decision by C of E bishops in the next few months which could bring its torturous decade-long discussion on sexuality into its final showdown? I’m joined by Sam Hailes from Premier Christianity to try and read the runes about what this funeral row might mean for the future of the church. Listen to the full interview with Mpho Tutu Van Furth on The Profile podcast from Premier here: https://pod.link/1188653078/episode/e2efb23707c7c3bd2b0640a6b5b9b5c8

Today’s episode is a little different to normal because we’re going to be handing over the show to a wide range of Christians – church leaders, ministers, worship leaders, bishops and others – to share their own personal reflections on Queen Elizabeth II. Her life, her faith and how her seventy year reign impacted them and their spiritual journeys. The late queen was not only the longest-reigning monarch in British history and the head of the Commonwealth, but also a proud follower of Jesus who inspired believers across the world with her humble yet deeply-held faith. This episode should give you just a flavour of the legacy on the church Elizabeth leaves behind.

This week we’re digging into a fascinating new survey which suggests younger generations might be more open to faith than their parents. The poll was published last month and found 56% of those aged 18-34 had prayed in their lives. This was much higher than the 55 and above cohort, where only four in ten of those surveyed said they had ever tried prayer. Commentators, including from the Church of England who commissioned the survey, have suggested the findings tell the lie to the common trope that interest in spirituality has been dwindling with every year that passes. Instead, maybe GenZers and Millennials are actually a really promising generation to evangelise to? Has the church been asleep at the wheel and missed a trick in trying to reach these prayerful young adults? Or is this actually a classic case of over-enthusiastic Christians reading far too much into a vaguely worded survey? In today’s show we’re asking two Christian journalists to help us unpick the findings of this survey and explore if there really might be a generational shift in secular Britain underway.

Today, Queen Elizabeth II will be laid to rest at a funeral attended by hundreds of international leaders and watched by millions around the world. Soon, our focus will inevitably shift from mourning the Queen to scrutinising her son, and our new King. On this week’s show we’re exploring what the accession of Charles to the throne might mean for the church – both the Church of England he is now the Supreme Governor of, but also the community of believers across Britain in general. As Prince, Charles rattled cages with some of his remarks about faith and there remains uncertainty and confusion about his own relationship with religion. Will his reign offer change or continuity with his mother, who became perhaps the most admired public Christian in the land? Will he defend the faith, as every one of his predecessors has since Henry VIII, or move the monarchy forward to a multifaith, pluralistic age?

When the first covid lockdown hit, back in the spring of 2020, it was a devastating blow for big Christian events. With everyone legally mandated to stay at home, everything from Word Alive to Big Church Day Out to Focus was forced to cancel their gatherings, sometimes with just a few weeks’ notice. At the time, some feared some conferences wouldn’t be able to bounce back from this bolt from the blue, with losses of up to a £1m predicted for some events. There were dark warnings that alongside the many other losses from coronavirus, it might claim another unexpected victim: the Christian summer festival. But those fears have turned out to be wide of the mark. This year, all the major events cancelled in 2020 returned in person. In today’s episode we talk to those running three of the biggest conferences to find out how they survived covid, what it was like to bring their events back, and how the two years of lockdown might have changed the Christian festival for good.

This week we’re diving into the world of the Catholic Church’s ambitious reform programme. Pope Francis launched a drive to overhaul the church last year, urging Catholic leaders in each country to hold synods which would consult ordinary, lay believers about the issues they wanted change on. But what happens if the answers coming back from the Catholics in the pews aren’t what the Vatican want to hear? A row has broken out this summer between the German Catholic Church – which has led one of the most far-reaching and radical synodal programmes – and Rome. German lay Catholics have said they want change on flashpoint issues such as married priests, women’s ordination and blessings for gay unions. But the Vatican has pushed back hard, insisting that the synodal processes were not intended to open up sweeping doctrinal reforms and warning the German path could lead to outright schism in the Catholic Church.

In amongst the comings and goings of Westminster over the last few weeks, there might have been one event that slipped your attention. The International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief saw religious leaders flock to central London to talk about persecuted people of faith. Whether it is Christians being attacked in Nigeria – as we heard about just a few weeks ago on the show – or Muslim Uighurs facing a possible genocide from the Chinese regime, there is no shortage of persecution crises around the world right now. Hosted by the UK government, the conference brought together international politicians, civil society groups, parliamentarians from around the world, and dozens of faith leaders to raise the profile of freedom of religion and urge governments everywhere to step up action to protect persecuted minorities. Premier’s Sophie Drew was there and brings this report featuring Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Prince Charles and former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Twelve-year-old Archie Battersbee was found unresponsive and severely brain damaged at his home in April. He never regained consciousness and had to be put on ventilation to be kept alive in hospital. For several months he was the subject of a legal tussle between his doctors who believed he was brain dead and that his life support should be turned off, and his parents who argued he could recover and fought to keep his life support on. Eventually, the hospital won out, and Archie was allowed to die. In this week's show we hear from Archie's mother about how the family's growing Christian faith sustained them, and also try to unpick the legal and religious arguments at stake in the courtrooms. And finally, we look into the contentious role of the Christian Legal Centre, who have played a central part in a series of similar controversies around severely ill children in recent years.

Christians are no strangers to the world of boxing. In fact there is a disproportionate number of believers competing compared to other sports. Not an event goes by without someone having a Bible verse written on their shorts or someone giving glory to God in a post-fight TV interview. So what draws people to this dangerous game and does a belief in God give you an advantage in the ring? For this week’s episode we’re handing over the microphone to Premier’s Marcus Jones, who has explored boxing and Christianity’s complicated relationship.

Last year, more Christians were killed in Nigeria than the rest of the world combined, according to data from the charity Open Doors. And attacks against believers have only increased in 2022, culminating in a horrific atrocity in June when at least 40 worshippers were killed during a Pentecost service. Yet even as the shootings, bombings and kidnappings increase, Nigeria’s government, the international community and the global church seem strangely unconcerned and mostly inactive. Why is the Nigerian Church under such persecution, and what factors are behind the recent rise in attacks? What can be done to stop it, and how can Christians elsewhere in the world speak up for their brothers and sisters risking their lives to go to church? This week we’re joined by two Nigerian experts, Ayo Adedoyin and Khataza Gondwe, to tackle the urgent question of persecution in Nigeria. Find out more about Christian Solidarity Worldwide's work in Nigeria - https://www.csw.org.uk/our_work_country_nigeria.htm  PSJ UK's website - https://psjuk.org/

On the 24th of June, one of the most momentous US Supreme Court decisions of the past century – Roe v Wade – was overturned. The constitutional right guaranteeing abortion for American women in all 50 states, which had stood since 1973, was no more. In the month or so since, the consequences of the end of Roe have started rippling out in all directions. Many states have already banned or severely restricted abortion, and others are planning to do so. And across the Atlantic, America’s rapidly changing abortion landscape is likely to also have repercussions here in the UK as well. This week we speak to a handful of British people working, campaigning and thinking about abortion, to consider what impact the overturning of Roe v Wade might have and how Christians should view this current moment – crisis, opportunity or both?

Next week, more than 600 bishops from around the world will descend on Canterbury to spend two weeks in prayer, worship, Bible study and discussion. Fourteen years in the making, this will be the 15th Lambeth Conference – a gathering of every bishop in the 46 independent churches that make up the Anglican Communion. But all is not well within global Anglicanism. Huge divisions on sexuality and marriage have left different Anglican churches heading in different directions. So what will actually happen at this much-delayed Lambeth Conference? What is at stake in the discussions between bishops and will any meaningful decisions get made? Or will bitter disagreements about gay marriage ultimately tear the Communion apart? Joining us this week to unpick the Lambeth Conference are former bishop Graham Kings, church journalist Madeleine Davies, and vicar, theologian and blogger Ian Paul.

This week we’re digging into the thorny question of whether church leaders should get involved in politics. The British government’s new policy of forcibly sending asylum seekers to be assessed and resettled in Rwanda has provoked unprecedented criticism from Church of England archbishops and bishops, and other prominent Christian voices. Justin Welby famously said in a sermon the plans would not stand up to the judgement of God. But, as normally happens, their intervention was met with a stern backlash from many MPs and ministers. Stick to religion, they were told, and don’t try to baptise your unpopular left-wing views in the language of faith. Is it right for Christian leaders to express political opinions and attack government policy? Is the allegation that bishops only criticise right-leaning governments actually true? And how can the church defend its right to speak into questions of morality and values, without antagonising its own members on either side of the political spectrum? Joining me this week to think these issues through are Sam Hailes and Emma Fowle from Premier Christianity magazine.

Franklin Graham, son of famous US evangelist Billy Graham, is in the middle of a UK evangelistic stadium tour. It's a triumphant return for the American preacher after his last attempt at a UK tour in 2020 saw all eight venues cancel on him after pressure from activists opposed to his language on same-sex relationships. But is Graham’s brand of no-holds-barred American evangelicalism likely to find a hearing in post-Christian Britain? Do big stadium evangelistic crusades even work anymore? Or should the UK church be standing up his freedom of speech and resisting cancel culture, regardless of our personal views on his politics?

This week we’re digging into something little covered in the media – the decline (and possible rebirth) of the Christian bookshop. Bricks and mortar stores selling Christian resources have been steadily closing down for decades, hit by competition from the internet, declining footfall on the high street, and maybe simply that there are fewer and fewer Christians to sell to. In today’s episode we’re going to explore if the few shops that remain will all eventually shut down too, or has the rate of decline finally slowed? Would it even matter if Christian bookshops became a relic of the past? And is there a better Kingdom-focused use for this network of high street locations, rather than catering to the already-saved?

Five years ago, two suicide bombers targeted Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority in twin deadly attacks on church services. The Palm Sunday blasts in 2017 left 45 worshippers dead and more than 120 injured. For this week’s Newscast we’re diving back into the Premier archive to bring you a fascinating and tragic documentary exploring the impact the Palm Sunday bombings have had on Egypt’s embattled Copts. Premier’s Eno Adeogun travelled to Egypt to make this on an earlier anniversary of the atrocity, and we’re really pleased to share it with Newscast listeners now.

A perfect storm of rocketing prices and bills in everything from petrol to energy to food has meant making ends meet is getting harder and harder for millions, not just in the UK but around the world too. Many people were already struggling as a result of the pandemic lockdowns and recessions, and so the impact of soaring inflation – which hit a 40-year high of 9% in May – has been devastating for those struggling to get by. What can the church do about this? We've gathered a panel of three Christian anti-poverty activists to discuss the cost of living crisis and how believers can be the hands and feet of Jesus during this season.

In the first episode of this brand new podcast we look at how the church in the Ukraine and around the world responded to the war with Russia. How should we respond when under attack, and how do we know what news to trust?

Raising awareness around mental health is well embedded in the church, but how well are we doing at actually caring for those experiencing mental health problems in our congregations? In this episode we explore new research from Kintsugi Hope on what those in the pews really think about mental health, plus we interview Christians who live with mental health conditions about what churches must do to become safer, healing spaces.

Brian and Bobbie Houston - the Australian power couple who have grown the Hillsong movement from a church plant in the Sydney suburbs to an empire that today spans 125 sites across 27 countries - are the church’s Global Senior Pastors no more. The couple stood down earlier this year amid a series of scandals, including allegedly failing to report Brian’s father’s historic sexual abuse and a mysterious incident when Brian Houston accidentally went into the wrong hotel room at a conference, before spending 40 minutes inside with the female occupant. This week we are joined by Jonty Langley and Graham Nicholls to try and go beyond the lurid headlines about the very public fall of the Houstons to figure out what impact their departure might have for Hillsong and to consider what lessons, if any, we might learn from this sorry episode about accountability and oversight for church leaders.

The Church of Scotland's general assembly voted 274 to 136 just a few weeks ago to change their laws to allow gay marriages in church for the first time. The culmination of years of debate and an even longer campaign, the decision was marked by celebration from some in the church and deep regret from more conservative elements. The Church of Scotland has now become the seventh major denomination in Britain to permit either same-sex weddings or blessings, since gay marriage was legalised in 2014. Today we’re going to think about how the Scottish move may affect other churches also locked in internal conflict over this issue. Will the other hold-outs, most notably the Church of England, soon follow suit in rewriting their marriage doctrine? Is the momentum towards affirming LGBT relationships now overwhelming, or will we see further fracturing and division within British Christians over this flashpoint issue? This week, we're joined by two of Premier’s news team, Sam Hailes and Marcus Jones, to consider where next for the church’s debate on same-sex marriage.