Church ahead: Recent Episodes
Rev L
Weekly Christian podcast talking about big issues facing the future of church with Rev L all the way from the North of England.
Final episode.
The downward riff of Kashmir.
What is Christianity like past peak?
The downward slope....
All episodes will remain available until the end of 2026.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Week 2 of our summer pop festival
Led Zeppelin still on stage playing Kashmir
Do we ever get there?
Next time the final episode.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Welcome to our final pop festival.
Led Zeppelin play the song Kashmir.
What's it got to do with Rev L becoming a Christian?
Next time ; do we ever arrive in Kashmir?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Conclusion to 4 years of this podcast.
Goodbye to the North.
3 predictions for the future.
Next time our final pop festival
Please find the song Kashmir by Led Zeppelin.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We meet Lovely liberals.
Final candidate of 3 types of church.
Can they rescue Christianity from decline?
This the final theological series of this podcast.
2 weeks break then please join us for conclusions on Friday 17 April...
leading to Spring pop festival
Who will be on stage for our finale?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We are looking at the top 3 versions of church.
African Christians add a lot but can they save the day?
Will the African addition turn round church decline?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Last theological series ;
3 best bets for the future of church.
This week evangelical.
Are they really our best hope?
Next week African addition.
Final pop festival coming soon...
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
If religion is out can church adapt?
Can Christianity compete in a world putting religion behind?
Next time final series ; what church will take us into the future?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Why is Christianity worldwide split between boom & decline?
Why does a country move on from church?
Next time what version of church will define the future?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Final stop on global circumnavigation.
What does Chinese church feel like?
Is it the same as mainstream society or different?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
What is the church like in New Zealand?
Any cathedral open?
Will Rev L wake up?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Rev L is back from travels.
We visit Grace Cathedral San Francisco.
How strong is the American church?
Next week New Zealand...
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Are 18-24 year old young men quadrupling their presence in church?
We look at the landmark Quiet Revival report from Bible Society.
Next time what did we find in San Francisco, New Zealand and Beijing?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Our final week on Incarnation.
How much God does incarnation bring?
Happy Chrimbo.
Next episode 6 February 2026.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We are in the middle of a deep dive into Incarnation.
What is the quality of God's presence through Jesus?
Do we experience God without Jesus?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We begin a 3 week Advent series.
What difference does Incarnation make?
Was this world godless before Jesus?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Holy Trinity Brompton
How is this London church bending Christianity emotionally?
This is our final week with the charismatics.
Next time ; what if Christ never came?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We look closer at the New Wine networkss
St Werburghs Chorlton
A church plant 5 years in
What was the subsidy?
Was it well spent?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We spend 3 weeks in charismatic church
Is New Wine more than old rope?
We visit St Philip's Salford.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Andy Burnham mayor of Greater Manchester met Theos think tank.
Who got the better of who?
Next time ; empire HTB.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Sanctuary in the 1980s.
Church of the Ascension Hulme Manchester gave a Sri Lankan man sanctuary for over 2 years.
Were they serving or obstructing justice?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
A new series on church in society in past and present
Why does church not talk about witches?
Pendle Lancashire 1612.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Meet the Bish bot.
Who needs expensive human bishops?
This concludes our series on artificial intelligence.
Next time ; meet the Witches...
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We interrupt our series on artificial intelligence
to look at 4 leaders in the news.
Next week the Bishbot!
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
How will ai affect preaching?
Will your sermon sound like a call centre or a love letter?
Next time make your fortune with our Bishbot...
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
How will technology change worship?
What makes worship authentic?
Next time preaching ai...
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
New series on new tech.
How will artificial intelligence change church?
Pastoral thingy...
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
'The Eclipse of Christianity and why it matters'.
Does this 2024 book by Rupert Shortt get to the why?
Next time artificial intelligence and church.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Welcome back to the final year of Church ahead.
Brian Clarke was the most important stained glass artist in the world.
Was leaving church behind wreckless?
Next time The Eclipse of Christianity by Rupert Shortt...
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
2025 summer music festival ends today at Glyndebourne.
Wagner's final opera Parsifal.
Do the punters want sacred?
Is your sacrament plastic?
Were Oasis any good?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Summer music festival week 2.
Wagner's opera Die Walkure.
Obedient son or disobedient daughter?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Welcome to Bayreuth Germany for our summer music festival
Why is God the Father in trouble?
Are personal gods finished?
This episode is dedicated to Martin Graham 1942-2025.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Today we visit Church of the Holy Name.
How could a dead pope welcome Rev L?
What do Catholics offer students?
Next time our summer pop festival finishes the term.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Today we visit a charismatic Anglican church plant.
Fabric Ardwick Green.
It looks great. What is the substance?
Only 2 weeks to our summer pop festival...
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We visit Holy Trinity Platt on Pentecost Sunday
Do students go to church?
Why do Evangelicals love students?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We begin a new series on university students.
Why are students so important to church?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
7th Day Adventists.
What would Jesus make of them?
What nickname?
Are the historic churches right to dismiss these children of 19thc America?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Have you ever chatted to Mormon missionaries?
Are they America's greatest export?
BTW is God American?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Are Jehovah's Witnesses part of Christian Church?
We begin a 3 week series looking at those groups many established churches see as lying just beyond proper Christianity.
Do you respect JWs?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Is Church ahead getting anywhere?
What have we learned?
5 signs of hope.
Next year on this podcast...
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We start the new term with a view behind the scenes.
How is this thing made?
Who listens?
What do they say?
Next time ; First 3 years summary.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We begin the new term with the death of Pope Francis.
Are you a pape?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Fourth and final episode in our 2025 Lent series about Salvation.
Does salvation skew Christian charity?
Does Christianity over emphasise one day?
We take 2 Fridays off now.
Please join us again Friday 2 May 2025.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Week 3 of our 4 week 2025 Lent series.
Do you have enough drama in your testimony?
Do Christians look down on everybody else?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
What is Salvation?
Our Lent series gets to a definition.
What do you make of foodbanks?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Salvation is our Lent theme 2025.
Do you know any decent songs about salvation?
Did Bob Dylan rise to the subject?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Today we end our series on the Church of England.
What do the general public make of it?
Why is there so much appetite for bad news?
Next time ; our Lent series.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
After the problems with bishops and vicars
are the Church of England's lay people any better?
Next time we finish our series about the Church of England.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Are vicars are thing of the past?
Is the role too hard?
How do they keep going?
We are nearing the end of this series about Church of England.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We are wading through the problems facing Church of England.
Are the bishops any good?
Have we got the right people?
Who would want the job?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
What is the current mood music in Church of England?
Do clergy dissing C of E on TV resemble the Jeremy Kyle show?
Is this a cleansing or an ending?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We are looking at the problems of the Church of England.
Today the drain of buildings...
Are church buildings an asset or liability?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
What are Church of England money issues?
Waste.
Misery.
Would you rather run fast food franchise than
an Anglican parish church?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We are looking at the headwinds faced by Church of England.
Does anyone still want a national church?
Next week the money!
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Why does everyone have it in for the Church of England?
Do the critics' punches land on the Anglican chin?
2nd week in our series on C of E problems.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Why is Rev L miffed?
Which armchair theologian has stolen his thunder?
Does C of E matter?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
2024 awards.
What was the most important book of the year?
Church of the year?
Please join us again on Friday 10 January 2025.
Happy Christmas...
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
3rd of 3 preachers.
Meet Fr Martin who understands the northern English soul.
Is Stockport taking over Rome?
Who is our 2024 priest of the year?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Loveday Alexander is our 2nd of 3 preachers.
How does she exceed Rev L's expectations?
Is she the greatest blessing of Alderley Edge?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We are profiling 3 talented preachers.
Last week we introduced Jonathan.
Here is your health warning against this talented gang leader.
What does Jonathan have in common with Gary Glitter?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
A new series on 3 brilliant preachers.
First Jonathan.
A leader in whom we see both light and darkness.
How could he have such a hold over people?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Why was Justin Welby forced to resign?
What light does the Makin review shed?
Is the Church of England governable?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
The final episode in our Judaism series.
Today we fly our first Kite.
What if Christianity is not Judaism upgraded but slightly spoiled?
Our kite is a version of Christianity that goes back to Judaism.
Will it fly?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Meet Rabbi S.
Is he the best Archbishop of Canterbury we never had?
He laments the sight of Jews turning either inwards or outwards.
Is the Christian church any different?
Has Church ahead finally got to the bottom of the issue facing us?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
As an outsider what puzzles you about Judaism?
How about diet and dress?
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks' view about Jewish pride.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Judaism or Christianity? Which is better?
We consider community, history & text.
How Mr Finneron set Rev L on a long slow path uprate Judaism.
Next time ; what puzzles me about Judaism?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Do the Jews deserve the land of Israel?
Is this a fair question?
What question does Deuteronomy ask?
Next time ; what do the futures of Judaism and Christianity have in common?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
A new series on Judaism.
1983 Rev L arrives in Israel.
Rev L leaves Israel.
What is the story in between?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
4th and final episode on black majority churches.
We dare to ask the potentially irrelevant question ;
will they appeal to white worshippers?
Next time ; Judaism.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
3rd of 4 weeks in black majority churches.
Things are looking up in Newton Heath, Manchester.
Is the future of church in England going to be more ethnically mixed or seperate?
Will English Christianity replicate the segregation of USA?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We are looking at the new wave of black majority churches.
How are they changing the landscape of church buildings?
Bringing redundant traditional churches back to life.
Creating new worship spaces.
And perhaps the best is yet to come.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Welcome back after the summer break.
A church crawl along New St takes us into black majority churches.
How did this white theologian find the experience?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We finish our 2024 summer pop festival with a tribute to Sinead O'Connor.
Sinead as booed off stage at the Bob Dylan tribute concert in 1992. Today we link her with her hero's first Christian song on his first Christian album.
Sinead was the most talented artist we have featured here in Dublin.
Do you have a contract with the Holy Spirit?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Welcome back to Dublin for 2024 summer pop festival.
Up on stage today local band U2 play One.
What is this bittersweet song really about?
Can we pray Bono into church?
Next week Sinead O'Connor.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Welcome to Dublin for our 2024 summer pop festival.
On stage today Hozier sings Take me to Church.
What does Ireland think of Christianity?
How Irish is Hozier?
Next week 'One' by U2.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
3rd of 3 weeks talking about inclusivity amongst Evangelicals.
Vaughan Roberts is an important naysayer against sexuality reform in Church of England. He is not one of the "inclusive evangelicals" but is he more inclusive and more evangelical than them? Can't we credit our opponents with helping this issue?
Do you agree with Rev L that evangelicals now talking openly is the big line in the sand we have already stepped over?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Last time Inclusive Church.
This time "inclusive evangelicals".
What do they bring to the party?
What will their conference be like?
We pay tribute to the contribution of Rev Marcus Green & Rev John Peters.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
What is Inclusive Church?
Is it really inclusive?
Are liberal Christians any more inclusive than conservative Christians are faithful?
Is welcome a better value than inclusion?
This is the first of 2 episodes about inclusion.
Nearly there...summer pop festival coming soon.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
What do we want to be?
What is our language of aspiration.
Do you want to be holy?
Next week Inclusive Church.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Centenary episode. Yes 100!
Do you see yourself and your own life in Church?
The world around us is developing a rich vocabulary to define who and what I am. Can Church catch up?
Why do some people prefer tv to church?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Final week in the Manchester new town of Wythenshawe.
Niklaus Pevsner thought he could see a pattern in the opening of churches.
Can we see a pattern in closing of churches?
This episode is in tribute to Mrs M Prophet (one of Wythenshawe's finest women).
Next time when Church talks about me can I recognise myself?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
This time we put the Church of England in a boxing match with some young competitors.
Will they fight clean or dirty?
Do the Worldwide Message Tribe put in or take out from Wythenshawe?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We look back on 80-90 years of church life in Wythenshawe estate, Manchester.
Roman Catholics and Church of England play each other in our football cup final.
Who is the star player?
What is the score?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
New series on the most important church planting experiment modern Manchester has ever seen.
What is it like to wake up in Wythenshawe?
Why is Niklaus Pevsner so fascinated?
What does church stand for?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Final episode on lay ministry.
What would you transfer from clergy to lay hands?
Money, HR, PR, Safeguarding?
How about the Reformation 3?
Next time we wake up in Wythenshawe...
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
2nd of 3 episodes about lay ministry.
What don't lay people do?
How about ; live forever, volunteer in the same numbers or like being taken for granted.
Is there a volunteering crisis in church?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
New series on lay ministry.
What do lay leaders do?
Sir John Betjemen 'Septuagesima' poem 1954.
Is lay ministry the clergy assistance department?
Meet John. What should we do with him?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Final episode on resurrection.
Is resurrection Christianity's strentgh or weakness?
Philip Larkin Aubade.
Don Cuppitt.
Crassly crude, subtly silent, deathly denial and / or distraction.
The real spiritual business of life has got nothing to do with resurrection.
Happy Easter.
No broadcaast 5 April. Next episode Friday 12 April on Lay Ministry.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Penultimate episode on resurrection.
How much notice do Christians take?
One Anglican archbishop lionises resurrection. The other ignores it.
Artist Stanley Spencer of Cookham. Burghclere chapel/ Sandham memorial chapel.
Is Spencer a spiritual genius or just an oddball?
How is Maria on her way to wait tables in Dallas after losing her mother?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We are taking a long hard look at Jesus' resurrection.
What does this belief do for our experience of God?
Does resurrection bring God closer or push him further?
Is the God of resurrection near or remote?
Did he really want his son to come here?
Next time what does resurrection do for us?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
2nd of 2 weeks on Jesus and resurrection.
How does resurrection affect our picture of Jesus?
We survey his ascension, return and headship of church to find out.
Can someone who has not known permanent death really empathise with us?
Next time how does resurrection affect our picture of God?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
When you add resurrection onto Jesus' life what difference does it make?
Will it help Maria on a bus to work in Dallas?
We look at Jesus' birth & resurrection, miracles & resurrection and most of all Jesus' death & resurrection.
Which American cartoon is most like resurrection?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
2nd in our Lent series on the Resurrection.
Are you more of a cross Christian or a resurrection Christian?
Meet the elders from Rev L's youth who place a wager on a 2 horse race.
Which horse wins the race of history ; Good Friday or Easter Sunday?
Does anyone care what resurrection actually means?
Can you spot Rev L's mistake at about 15.00 minutes in? He gets the horse names muddled!
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
For Lent a major new series ; is the Resurrection Christianity's greatest asset?
We meet 3 Cumbrian traditional Christians on Easter Sunday.
We look at 3 paintings by Caravaggio;
1. Supper at Emmaus.
2. The Incredulity of St Thomas.
3. Raising of Lazarus.
Next week some history.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
3rd of 3 episodes about the youngest monotheistic world religion.
Singularity. Exteriorality. Finality.
3 theological themes Rev L notices in Islam.
Has any prophet really had the last word?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We take the tour of Didsbury Mosque.
2nd of 3 episodes on Islam.
Would you like to see more mosques?
Is the Bishop of Bradford primarily a church leader or an interfaith diplomat?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We go outside Judeo -Christianity for the first time.
First of 3 weeks with Muslims.
What do we want the relationship of Christians and Muslims to look like?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
3rd of 3 episodes on our non-church crawl.
This week we are in a discussion group of the Philosophy forum of Manchester Literary & Philosophical Society.
Is their group better than a church discussion group?
What does the scoreboard look like after 3 weeks?
Is the momentum with church or non-church?
Next time the rise of Islam.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Are hotel weddings better than church weddings?
In the 2nd stop of our non church crawl we are at the Edwardian Radisson for a family wedding.
Why is church losing market share for weddings?
Next week - the cleverest learned society in town.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Welcome to Getting Out our new term of podcasts for early 2024.
We are getting outside of church to look at ourselves from a distance.
Today AC Grayling's lecture Proving Atheism for World Darwin Day.
Did he really prove anything?
Are atheist preachers any good?
Next week a hotel wedding.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Childhood Christmas versus Church Christmas.
Which is more powerful?
Last episode of 2023.
Happy Christmas to all our listeners.
Next episode 5 January 2024.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Our penultimate episode 2023 is our annual awards.
Albion United Reform Church, Ashton - Under - Lyne.
St Cross Church, Clayton.
Too Far with Laura Horn.
Who else will get an award this year?
Is n't Bishop Sarah gracious?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Final week on our church crawl.
What do black people want from church?
Why this matters...
Can you spot Rev L's mistake in the outtake number for this episode?
Join us next week for the 2023 Awards.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
2nd episode on our June 2023 church crawl.
How did Sir Keir Starmer get into trouble at Audacious Church?
Could you cope with it?
Why does it do audaciously well?
What worries Rev L?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Church crawl round Manchester.
3 different churches.
Which one do you like best?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Final episode about Iwerne Minster.
Should we celebrate fewer public schoolboys in church leadership?
Is the age of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion any better than the age of deference?
Rev L wants quality over equality...
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We zoom in on the funny ways if Iwerne Minster.
Their beliefs are all about the individual before God.
Their practice is much more communal.
Would you like to hear Rev L lie about someone?
Are they moving down market?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Has any Christian organisation told you how to dress?
Have you ever seen really good leadership?
Is Iwerne Minster a cult?
Next week Rev L tells a big lie.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We open up a journalistic investigation into a tiny upper class school based Christian group. Are they a sect?
What is their hold on the top jobs of the Church of England?
Where did Charlie go to school?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Our final episode on preaching.
Does top down monologue plague all church communication?
Can Christians do debate?
Next time meet the upper class Christian mafia...
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
How many preachers are more than half decent?
Rev L names 4 local clergy.
How many are less than half decent?
What difference does this make?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Trigger warning ; this episode talks about a comedian who many find offensive.
We also talk about a preacher who many Christians also have concerns about.
What makes a good preacher? They need to tell good stories...
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Have you ever heard Sir Thomas Allen sing?
What was his graduation speech like?
What does it tell us about preaching?
What is lacking in most sermons?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
What makes a good preacher?
Can Sally Wainright Tv script writer or novelist Jeanette Winterson help?
Is a lawyer or a school teacher more likely to delight us in the pulpit?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Was Rev L any good as a preacher?
How did he start?
Why did he stop?
I this podcast just a sermon?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Welcome back after the summer break.
A new series about Preaching.
Should we revive the sermon or put it out of its misery?
Today 2 experiences of preaching in London & Manchester.
How closely does decline in preaching map onto decline of church?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Welcome back to Detroit for our Summer pop festival final performance.
Nutbush City Limits by Ike & Tina Turner.
What did Tina think of her church?
Do you see church as a limitation?
No broadcasts in August.
Next episode Friday 1 September 2023.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Church ahead summer pop festival in Detroit.
Our artist today is Madonna singing Like a Prayer.
Who is in the room when you hear the call of God?
Next week Tina Turner singing Nutbush City Limits.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
The final episode on Politics.
What should British people think about their former empire?
Should they feel ashamed?
We look today at 'Colonialism - a moral reckoning' by Nigel Biggar, Regius Professor (Emeritus) of Moral & Pastoral Theology at Oxford University.
Next week sees the start of Church ahead summer pop festival. We've got Madonna singing 'Like a prayer'. Do join us in Detroit for this special event...
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Church & Politics.
Housing is an important policy issue in British life.
What does Bishop Graham Tomlin ask about the housing crisis?
What are the best examples of church using land?
What are the worst?
What should we expect from a landowner like the Church of England?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Our Church & Politics series arrives at Manchester Cathedral.
What do the cathedral clergy political pronouncements have in common down the centuries?
Are they right wing?
Are they left wing?
Are they always the same?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Politics is our focus within church life.
How politically diverse are church leaders?
Why are they all the same?
Is left wing political unity helpful to those at the top of church?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Church & Politics 3rd episode.
How has The Church Times changed over the past generation and what does this tell us about the life of church?
Has the church lost its focus or regained its vocation?
How should church be bolder?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Church & politics 2nd episode.
The bluntest battle-axe of Coronation Street.
Where is the voice of Ena Sharples today?
What does Philip North know about poverty?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Today we begin a new series about church & politics.
Were Rev L's uncles right about Margaret Thatcher?
Which way do you vote?
Here we learn Rev L's political backstory.
Which party did he join?
What would you want to take Maggie out of?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
3rd of 3 top men of Christian leadership.
The outsider.
The Pope is a great friend of Church ahead.
Is he a liberal Christian?
Is he as powerful as we think?
Will he turn the ship?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
2nd of 3 profiles of tip top clergy.
Justin Welby is top man Cantebury.
Royal family negotiator, reformer, chief executive, church closer
....after a decade in post we take a view.
Next week top man where? Who could possibly be above ABC?
Only 2 weeks to the politics series.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Stephen Cottrell is top man York.
1st of 3 episodes on senior church leaders.
Is the polytechnic archbishop any good?
Can he preach well?
Do I want to follow him?
Have we go the tone right in our discussion about church leaders?
Next week Justin Welby top man Canterbury.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
3rd of 3 episodes about Time.
What is the R rate for church?
What period of your life do you need church?
What grit does church put into your eye at each stage?
Does church take the elderly for granted?
Most vital of all where will Church ahead summer pop festival be this year?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
How often do you go to church?
2nd of 3 episodes about Time.
What frequency was your church worship designed for?
Does it matter if Christians go to church less often?
What did the Church of England report find about offering services less often?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Welcome back to Church ahead.
Time we talked about time.
1st of 3 episodes about time and church.
How long do you want your church to be?
Are all church minutes 60 seconds?
Does your church ever advertise the finish time?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
6th of 6 episodes on Jesus' death as the most important thing.
Meet Matthew the accountant and gospel writer.
Has the Christian gospel been good news for Jewish people? Or Muslims?
Where did German anti-semitism come from?
Is looking to the cross helpful for aggressor or victim?
Congratulations to Church ahead on its first birthday.
No broadcast 14 April 2023.
Next episode 21 April 2023 How often do you go to church?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Can a true Christian ever relax?
5 of what is now 6 episodes on the death of Jesus.
Today we look at the effect of our obsession with death and pain.
Meet Shaun the bus passenger on his way home from rehab.
Next week what does our obsession with violence do for Christians as we meet the 4th member of the Evangelists group.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
4th of 5 episodes for Lent 2023 about the death of Jesus.
Was Jesus' death God's idea?
Good idea? Bad idea?
Does any atonement cut it?
Do you want a relationship with the God who killed Jesus?
Next time the last in this series ; what does Jesus' death do for us?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Is Christianity a death cult?
Compare the end of Jesus life with Christopher Marlowe, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King.
Interview with historian gospel writer Luke.
What does our concentration on the death of Jesus do for our relationship with him?
Are we making Christ hard for people to find?
Have we made his greatness invisible?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Aesthetics. What does it look like?
2nd of 5 episodes in our Lent series about the death of Jesus.
In a visual world what does Church look like if Jesus' death is the most important thing about him?
What category of film is the crucifixion?
What age classification would it have?
What use is this to Elsa on her last bus journey?
Can you cope with the street facing crucifix of St Anne's Openshaw?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Is Jesus death the most important thing about him?
That's our question for Lent 2023.
Here we consider the history of this idea...
Next time what does Christianity LOOK like when Jesus death is centre stage?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
3rd of 3 episodes about evolution.
Survival of the Fittest is controversial. Does it apply to religion?
Is our faith fit enough to thrive? Survive?
Meet bus passengers Maria & Brian.
Bus passengers will help us consider how fit the big Christian beliefs are?
Next time the death of Jesus Christ.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
2nd of 3 episodes on evolution.
Shtisel is so successful in passing down his biological and spiritual genes he has a Netflix series named after him. How successful has this generation of Christian parents been at passing on their faith? Is the church gene failing to reproduce?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
This is a pivot episode ; 3rd of 3 on the zeitgeist but also 1st of 3 on evolution.
How big a threat is evolution to church?
Is Judeo Christianity an ancient religion?
How far has church adapted to bottom up?
If the world needs a religion able to adampt is Christianity the best candidate?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
2nd of 3 sessions on the zeitgeist church operates in.
Why do older and younger generations see gender so differently?
How do you young people consume music and what does this point to for the future of church?
If you want to see the conservative evangelical picture guide to the the Gospel then go to www.twowaystolive.com
Will church be able to sustain this binary thinking?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
1st of 3 episodes about the zeitgeist church operates in.
Today we look at disintermediation. How does church play the role of intermediation? Why do so many people want to 'dis' this?
Is it fair that people require the services of an institution whilst avoiding institutions?
Are we moving to an environment where people will not accept any institution mediating God?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
3rd of 3 ad clerums in the spirit of Hensley Henson bishop of Durham 1920-39.
Why does Rev L get such a low grade?
Do you agree that clergy suffer from an occupational lack of imagination?
Next week a new series on the zeitgeist church operates in.
The current trigger warning for discouraged clergy expires after today...
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
2nd of 3 ad clerums in the spirit of Hensley Henson.
What does the distraction of clergy sound like?
What is wrong with Twitter?
How did Rev L tweet in his primary school playground?
How have bishops of Durham tweeted badly across a 100 years?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Which American listener was upset by our 2022 awards?
Hensley Henson was the berating bishop of Durham.
Here is the 1st of 3 ad clerums in his spirit.
Trigger warning ; discouraged clergy please avoid episodes 35-37.
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
Last episode of 2022.
What was the best experience of church this year?
Have you ever been to Ashton Under-Lyne?
Please join us 6 January 2023 for the next series...
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
We review the year.
Today the worst thing in the Church this year.
Next week the best.
You might like to know we can see where in the world our listeners are!
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
4th of 4 episodes about Jesus.
Are you a heavenly Jesus Christian or a human Jesus Christian?
How will the global church diverge?
What do Europeans want from Jesus?
What sort of songs will we sing about Jesus over the coming century?
Please send any comments to revl20c@gmail.com
3rd of 4 episodes about Jesus.
Rev L comes clean and gives the conclusion of his 44 year Quest.
How personal is your relationship with Jesus?
Is Church the Jesus Club?
2nd of 4 episodes about Jesus.
If J walked past you would you recognise him?
Can clever Germans help you spot him?
What does Proverbs 4 v 7 have to do with books?
Albert Schweitzer gave us the word. Have you started your own quest?
Would you rather go back to the era when church told you what to believe?
A new series about Jesus kicks off with Bob Dylan.
What do these 2 Jewish men have in common?
What is the difference?
What if Jesus had won the Nobel Prize for Parables?
What might Jesus have said in his 40s, 50s,60s...?
This is 4th and final episode about sexuality.
Congratulations to those who campaigned for Church to make this change.
I am confident it is coming soon.
What is Rev L nervous about?
What is the best hope for what this change will bring?
3 pieces of advice for the winners ;
1. Smile more
2. Be nice to the losers
3. Don't turn on your own.
This is 3rd episode looking at sexuality in the Church of England.
After the Living in Love and Faith process who is going to win and who is going to lose?
What makes the reform movement like a juggernaut? What do the naysayers have to defend themselves against it?
How are the losers like a foolish virgin?
This is the 2nd episode about sexuality.
Living in Love & Faith is the Church of England consultation process about sexuality and more. Is it any good? Yes it its good enough for Rev L.
Jaw jaw is better than war war.
How do you get Christians out of their silos?
Bottom up is better than top down.
Have you tried the Archbishop mind reader app?
Next time RevL's own view on this issue and where the Church is going...
This new series on sexuality begins with Rev L reflecting on how ignorant he was.
We had no idea about the gay people around us.
Church was not very different from general society on this.
If you v'e heard enough of Rev L talking about himself you might prefer to skip this one...
and dive into the big issue next time.
Trigger warning ; if you are not used to hearing 20th century views about sexuality this may shock/ offend you.
RC National Eucharistic Congress at Liverpool.
The last and best of 3 episodes on the conference trail.
Who is Bishop Barron and what did he say about John Lennon?
Why was the end of this conference so beautiful and memorable?
How can you take God's presence out of church onto the street?
Next time on Church ahead... Sexuality.
This is 2nd of 3 conference trips. Why was today a non event for Rev L?
Which part of the Christian church puts on the best events?
And which part runs the worst events?
Why does Heart Edge propose 4 c's whilst Church ahead wants to see just one?
Please join us next week in Liverpool...
This is the 1st of 3 weeks on the conference trail.
Today we are surrounded by mountains in Keswick for the Convention.
Richard Coekin's bible reading on Psalm 67 in July 2022.
Did he handle scripture well?
Was it as inspiring as climbing Skiddaw mountain?
Is the Convention well run?
What can clergy offer an old man who wants a memory?
What do clergy have in common with a bar pianist?
How good does church have to be to thrive?
What is the standard we need from our church?
Billy Joel gives reassuring answers.
The most positive episode to get you feeling alright...
This is the 3rd of 3 episodes about clergy.
Next time we hit the conference trail...
STOP PRESS IF YOU ARE GRIEVING THE LOSS OF THE QUEEN YOU MIGHT LIKE TO GO BACK TO EPISODE 13
Clergy normal? is the 2nd of 3 episodes starting this series about...the clergy.
How do they signal they are normal?
Rugby ball or tattoo? Spouse, sprog or dog?
So yes they are normal. But so what?
For next week please listen to Piano Man by Billy Joel so we can glean his profound insights into the ordained vocation...
Welcome back to series 2.
Meet Henry Faithful, Henry Hurray & Brilliant Bob. These 3 fine clergymen trained Rev L in ordained ministry. Other than taking on Rev L what were their mistakes?
How does ministry training compare with medical training?
Are the current crop of curates loyal?
This is the 1st of 3 episodes on the clergy, kicking off series 2 which promises to be spicier and face some really big issues.
Look out for How does Church package Jesus?
Sexuality.
Which conferences give Church the best hope today?
Summer pop festival week 2. On stage today we have Every Day is Like Sunday by Morrissey.
Watch him sing it on You Tube at the Move Festival Old Trafford 2004. Can you see Rev L in the crowd? Last week the Bangles sang about Sunday as their funday. What is Morrissey's take on the Christian holy day? Why does he use Christian symbols to trash Christian symbols? Why are so many Manchester pop bands Irish Catholic? What is their brand of Catholicism?
This is the last episode of series 1.
Please subscribe to Church ahead on your podcast platform to make sure you don't miss
series 2 on 2 September 2022
Welcome to LA for our 2 week summer pop festival. On stage today it is The Bangles' song Manic Monday. Is it about Monday? Or is it really about Sunday?
How does this song capture the spirit of Isaiah?
Is Sunday still relevant?
What do you think of this podcast so far? Please send any feedback by email to revl20c@gmail.com
Church is broken, beyond its own repairs says one theologian. Church is not safe to work in says another. These are not maverick fringe voices but 2 top mainstream people.
What is the right tone for talking about abuse problems? We look at 2 bishops - one who gets it wrong and one about right.
This final episode about the subject of abuse in church never really finds a neat conclusion.
Please prepare for next week's Church ahead summer pop festival by finding and playing the song Manic Monday by The Bangles. See you in LA...
We step into the shoes of a church youth group leader trying to get a bunch of teenagers home.
Is the minibus the answer to our problems?
Do the safeguarding rules guarantee to keep children safe? No but they guarantee to make youth work harder.
If this is all too depressing then just 2 weeks to go to Church ahead summer pop festival.
10 effects of abuse on the church.
How has Premier League football got off so lightly?
What would CS Lewis' Screwtape say about abuse?
Have we seen the whole story yet?
Trigger warning ; if you have been affected by abuse you may find this episode distressing.
Have you been as naive as Rev L about the reality of abuse in church?
What is the scale of the problem?
Who are the culprits?
What made the clergy of 1995 drop their smile towards their bishops?
Church versus world ; which way does the influence flow?
Who is the greatest English Christian leader in our lifetime?
What did the princess do in the bishop's sermon?
Why do Christianity's cleverest cheerleaders not go to church themselves?
Meet the 18th century church people who changed the world for the better.
Do today's social change movements find their energy in church?
This is the 3rd of 3 episodes defining church decline.
2nd of 3 definitions of church decline.
We look at church through the Marxist lense of power.
Which part of the Archbishop's body saw off the amorality of Cole Porter?
An organisation that used to control almost everything now controls what?
Is a weaker church truer to itself?
What is church decline?
Here we get to a definition of decline and we put some numbers on it.
What does the RC priests' reunion at Midland Hotel tell us about the priestly pipeline?
How much has church declined in the past year, decade & century?
Have we missed something? Are some churches bucking the market?
Is church like a public bus with a clapped out engine?
This is the 3rd of 3 analogies of church decline.
Does your faith get you through the journey of life or have you broken down?
Why does Rev L want to be called a dysfunctional theologian?
Church is like a house with a few building problems.
There is no shortage of builders wanting to sort it out.
Harold Heritage of Conserving Churches offers one approach.
Louise Liberal from Modern House offers the opposite view.
And Demolition Dave from Raging Radicals can't be bothered with any of it...
How big are the cracks in your church?
Is the roof leaking?
Is the electrical wiring safe?
Episode 9 is the 2nd of 3 analogies of church decline.
Which reform movement offers church the best hope for the future?
Is your church like a restaurant that serves food people no longer want?
We are starting to warm up to the theme of church decline with 3 analogies of church decline. Restaurant is the 1st of 3 analogies.
People are hungry and they need to eat. But they don't have to come to our restaurant!
What have you got out of church?
Quite a lot if your experience is like Rev L.
"So many good things have come my way through church".
Don't be like Ali G.
But some people have a terrible experience...
Fed up of hearing Rev talk about himself? Good - this is the last autobiographical introductory episode.
How wrong I was about the biggest church issue of the day.
Why did I get it so badly wrong?
What does it feel like to be on the wrong side of history?
Will Rev L ever finish introducing himself? Yes actually - nearly there!
Turning away - leaving active ordained ministry.
3rd of 3 turning points in Rev L's life,
this time away from the heat of the church kitchen.
Ever felt called away from church?
Where can you find the best vantage point to look at church? In the middle, on the edge or outside?
2nd biggest turning point in my life ;
Falling out with a school teacher,
Becoming a theologian,
What do you need to say something worth hearing about Christian faith?
The biggest turning point in Rev L's life
What does sin have to do with it?
Why did you become a Christian?
Meet LS Lowry - England's artist of industrial and church decline.
What happened to Rev L's childhood church?
Meet Rev L through the first vinyl record he ever bought
What century do you live in?
What would Jesus say to your church?