Premier Christian Newscast

Gafcon in Kigali: A struggle for the future of Anglicanism

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 

Crowning a Christian King

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

Spyware, CCTV, firewalls and AI: Persecution in the digital age

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

Does government do God?

“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

Church attendance after the pandemic

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 

Faith in the BBC

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

Still good news for the poor?

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.

Christian celebrity culture

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.

Pope Francis, ten years on

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?

Blasphemy in Pakistan

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.