The Church Times Podcast

On this episode, Paul Vallely, a columnist for the Church Times, talks about the papacy of Pope Francis and what his legacy might be. Pope Francis adopted “a pastoral approach”, he says, “not a dogmatic approach. “He thought that people, were the centre of the gospel, and he thought that mercy was more important than dogma. He didn't really change a lot of Catholic teaching, in the sense that he saw dogma as the kind of ideal to which we all aspire. He knew we weren't perfect or ideal: we were all on a journey and starting very often in a difficult place. He wanted to be there at the start of the journey to accompany people. He wasn't a liberal: he was a pastor.” Paul Vallely has also written in the Church Times this week about Pope Francis, after news of his death on Easter Monday, aged 88. Read the article here: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2025/25-april/comment/columnists/paul-vallely-pope-francis-was-pastor-to-the-world Paul Vallely's book, Untying the Knots: The struggle for the soul of Catholicism, is published by Bloomsbury. Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

Eighty years ago, on 9 April 1945, the Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed in Flossenburg. Ethics was the final book that he wrote before his arrest by the Nazis. Pages of it were on his desk the day he was taken away and it remained unfinished. Based on careful reconstruction of the manuscripts, freshly and expertly translated and annotated, this crown jewel of Bonhoeffer's body of work is the culmination of his theological and personal odyssey. A repackaged edition of Ethics, published by SCM Press, includes a foreword by the Revd Dr Sam Wells. On the podcast this week, to mark the anniversary, Dr Wells reads the foreword. "Perhaps the greatest fascination of the book lies in the insight it gives to the soul of the author in the midst of the German crisis and the war”, he says. Dr Wells is the Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, in London. https://scmpress.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9780334065876/ethics-repackaged-edition Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

On this episode, Chine McDonald speaks about the themes of her new book, Unmaking Mary: Shattering the myth of perfect motherhood (Hodder & Stoughton). The book is available to buy at the Church Times Bookshop here: https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781399814638/unmaking-mary?vc=CT828 The talk was given earlier this month at the Church Times Festival of Faith and Literature. It was chaired by Dr Eve Poole. In this week's Church Times, Chine explores depictions of Mary the mother, meek and mild. Read her article here: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2025/28-march/features/features/how-portrayals-of-mary-in-art-influence-perceptions-of-motherhood Chine McDonald is director of Theos. Her previous books include God is Not a White Man: And other revelations (Podcast, 28 May 2021, Books, 11 June 2021). https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Picture credit: Harvey Mills Save the date: Festival of Preaching one day event, 13 September 2025, Southwark Cathedral. Further details tbc at https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/events Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

On the podcast this week, Mark Oakley reflects on “Paternoster” by Jen Hadfield. This episode was first broadcast in 2023 as part of the Church Times Poetry Podcast for Lent series. “Paternoster” is published in Jen Hadfield's collection Nigh-No-Place (Bloodaxe Books, 2008), which won the T.S. Eliot Prize. We are grateful to Bloodaxe Books for giving permission to play a recording of Jen Hadfield reading the poem. https://www.bloodaxebooks.com The material in this podcast is taken from Mark Oakley's book The Splash of Words (Canterbury Press), winner of the 2019 Michael Ramsey Prize for Theological Writing. Artwork by Emily Noyce Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

In this episode, Edward Stourton, the veteran journalist and presenter of BBC Radio 4's Sunday programme, examines how truth can survive in a digital age, and explains why truth-telling still matters. He was delivering the Sir Tony Baldry Lecture in Winchester Cathedral on 28 February, as part of the Church Times Festival of Faith and Literature (Features, 7 March). https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk “Technology can create challenges as well as opportunities,” he says. “Today's digital landscape offers us an abundance — a superabundance — of sources for information, something unimaginable in the 1940s, and, indeed, in the three-television-channel world I joined in the 1970s. If we're offered several versions of the truth, it is only natural to prefer the version which best fits our views and prejudices, and that's a real challenge facing us in what's sometimes called the mainstream media. So, how do we meet that challenge?” Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

On this episode, the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, is interviewed about his new booklet, Can We Imagine a Future Together? Intercultural lessons for living in love and faith, in which he attempts to chart a way forward for the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process. Bishop Snow is the lead bishop on LLF. “The Church of England is in a season of discernment as it seeks a way to honour and accommodate differing theological and pastoral responses to Living in Love and Faith and to find a way to remain united despite sometimes profound disagreement,” the booklet's description says. “Martyn Snow offers further practical resources for this season of listening, prayer, patience and kindness. “Drawing on his experiences of working in the UK's most culturally diverse diocese to explore how best to live together well across difference, such that all church members — especially those who have been historically marginalised — flourish, he finds helpful models in the in the field of interculturalism and in the concept of gift exchange. These models are expressed in generous giving, radical receptivity and transformative thanksgiving — all of which can contribute positively to today's pressing questions.” Can We Imagine a Future Together? is published by Church House Publishing and is available to buy at https://www.chpublishing.co.uk/books/9781781405130/can-we-imagine-a-future-together. Bishop Snow is interviewed by Francis Martin, Staff Writer for the Church Times. Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

Staff writer Francis Martin spent all of last week in the press gallery of Church House, Westminster, reporting on the latest meeting of the General Synod. He reports back to the editor, Sarah Meyrick, about some of the most significant debates and votes, including on the future of safeguarding and proposed changes to the Crown Nominations Commission. Francis was also out and about talking to Synod members. Watch a video of some of the interviews here: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2025/14-february/audio-video/video/watch-church-times-reports-from-the-general-synod-in-london Read coverage of the Synod on our website: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/topics/general-synod Synod digest will be published next week (28 February issue) Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

In 2023, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York asked Professor Alexis Jay to develop proposals for a fully independent structure to provide scrutiny of safeguarding in the Church of England. Her report, published the following year, concluded that not only scrutiny, but operational safeguarding, should be independent, necessitating the creation of two separate charities. But while there is widespread demand for action to prevent further failings, opinion on taking up Professor Jay's recommendations remains divided. Next week, members of the General Synod will gather again to discuss the way forward. The task before them is a weighty one, with the debate taking place against a backdrop of widespread horror at the Church's record to date. On Wednesday (5 February), the Church Times hosted a webinar to discuss the right way forward, in response to Professor Jay's recommendations. This podcast features contributions from the panel below. A video of the full webinar, including the panel's discussion and responses to questions, will be available soon. Panel Jane Chevous, co-founder, Survivors Voices Colin Perkins, diocesan safeguarding adviser, diocese of Chichester David Greenwood, Switalskis Solicitors Jim Gamble, INEQE Safeguarding Group Chaired by Madeleine Davies of the Church Times New to us? We are currently offering a £5 digital subscription, giving you full access to our website and archive, for 2 months. This best-ever value subscription offer is available until 14 February, so subscribe now to avoid missing out. https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/subscribe

The Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, was in Jerusalem last week when the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal was agreed. Shortly after returning from the Holy Land, she spoke to Francis Martin about the reaction to the deal on the ground; the prospects for long-term peace in the region; and more widely about the visit, which included meeting Layan Nasir, a young Anglican woman from Birzeit who was released in December, after eight months in “administrative detention”. “As a Christian and as a person of prayer, I have to continue to hope that people of peace, people who want to see reconciliation, people who believe in justice, will find a will and a way to work together eventually to lead to a peaceful solution,” she said. The interview was recorded on Sunday (19 January). Picture: Dr Francis-Dehqani with the Archbishop in Jerusalem, Dr Hosam Naoum. Credit: Diocese of Chelmsford Limited-time digital subscription offer (until 24 January): £10 for 2 Months Digital edition PLUS 2 month free app subscription to Reflections for Daily Prayer: www.churchtimes.co.uk/subscribe

This week's podcast brings a sermon preached by Barbara Brown Taylor at the 2024 Festival of Preaching in Cambridge last September (Features, 20 September 2024). She considers how the Church can bear witness to good news “in a world so full of the other kind”, such as global warfare and climate change, political divisions and churches closing, the loneliness epidemic, and systemic racism. Barbara Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest and best-stelling author, whose books include Holy Envy (Books, 14 June 2019) and Always a Guest (Books, 18 December 2020). The Church Times Festival of Faith and Literature runs from Friday 28 February to Sunday 2 March. For more details and to book tickets, visit https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Photo credit: Tom Perkins Limited-time digital subscription offer (until 24 January): £10 for 2 Months Digital edition PLUS 2 month free app subscription to Reflections for Daily Prayer: www.churchtimes.co.uk/subscribe

On the podcast this week, Sarah Meyrick introduces an exciting new era for the Church Times, including fresh content and contributors, and the return to a news front-page, reflecting our proud heritage as an independent newspaper. She tells Associate Editor Ed Thornton more about the thinking behind the changes. Limited-time digital subscription offer: £10 for 2 Months Digital edition PLUS 2 month free app subscription to Reflections for Daily Prayer: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/subscribe

On the podcast this week, a panel of experts discuss the question: Does the future have a Church? In an increasingly unstable and dark world, will people return to or at least reconsider belief, or are we continuing to hear the ‘melancholy, long, withdrawing roar' of faith? The discussion was recorded in London on 26 November at the 2024 Theos Annual Lecture. The panelists were: Daisy Scalchi, Head of Religion and Ethics, BBC Television Justin Brierley, broadcaster, author, and speaker Madeleine Davies, senior writer for the Church Times Bishop Mike Royal, General Secretary of Churches Together in England Mary Harrington, writer and author of Feminism Against Progress The discussion was chaired by Nick Spencer, Senior Fellow at Theos. The director of Theos, Chine McDonald, introduced and closed the event. https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

On this episode of the podcast, the Revd Michael Coren is intereviewed about his memoir, Heaping Coals: From media firebrand to Anglican Priest. The book charts how he went from an English working-class family to become a high-profile Roman Catholic media personality in Canada, and how he ended up being ordained priest in the Anglican Church of Canada. An extract from the book was published in the 29 November edition of the Church Times: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/29-november/features/features/michael-coren-media-firebrand-to-anglican-priest Heaping Coals is published by Dundurn at £10.99 (Church Times Bookshop £9.89) Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

On this edition of the podcast, Ian Collins is interviewed about his book Blythe Spirit: The remarkable life of Ronald Blythe. Ronald Blythe, who died, aged 100, in January last year was best known for his 1969 account of village life, Akenfield, and to Church Times readers as the author of the weekly “Word from Wormingford” column, which ran for 24 years from 1993. Collins was a close friend of Blythe's for more than three decades. Interview by the Revd Malcolm Doney, a writer, broadcaster, and Anglican priest, who lives in Suffolk. Blythe Spirit is published by John Murray £25 (Church Times Bookshop £20). https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781399819060/blythe-spirit/?vc=CT229 Read a review by Paul Handley here: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/29-november/books-arts/book-reviews/book-review-blythe-spirit-the-remarkable-life-of-ronald-blythe-by-ian-collins Ian Collins will be speaking at the Church Times Festival of Faith and Literature, which takes place from 28 February to 2 March in Winchester. Find out more about the programme and buy tickets at https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk

This week, the editor, Sarah Meyrick, is joined by senior writer Madeleine Davies and news reporter Francis Martin to discuss a momentous and turbulent week for the Church of England: the publication of the Makin review into the abuse carried out by John Smyth, which resulted, five days later, in the Archbishop of Canterbury announcing his resignation. They talk about the findings of the Makin review, the significance of the Archbishop's announcement and what it will mean for safeguarding in the Church, how people are responding in parishes and wider society, and what happens next. The discussion also touches on what the legacy of Archbishop Welby's archiepiscopate might be. Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader Photo credit: Alamy

On the podcast this week, the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, talks about his new book, Praying By Heart: The Lord's Prayer for everyone. The book takes readers through the Lord's Prayer phrase by phrase, exploring its meaning and significance for us today. The prayer, he writes, is a “declaration of intent”, which should come with a health warning — ‘don't say this prayer if you are not prepared to be changed.” An extract from the book is published in this week's Church Times. Praying By Heart is published by Hodder & Stoughton at £14.99 (Church Times Bookshop £11.99); 978-1-3998-0530-8. https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781399805308/praying-by-heart-the-lords-prayer-for-everyone?vc=CT508 Archbishop Cottrell will be talking about the book at the next Church Times Festival of Faith and Literature, which takes place in Winchester from 28 February to 2 March. Find out more and book tickets at https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Picture credit: Ravage Productions Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

Orbital by Samantha Harvey, shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, is the choice for this month's Church Times Book Club. On the podcast this week, the Revd Gerry Lynch, who has written about the book in this week's Church Times, discusses it with Ed Thornton. Read the essay here: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/1-november/books-arts/book-club/book-club-orbital-by-samantha-harvey Orbital is published by Vintage at £9.99 (Church Times Bookshop £8.99); 978-5299-2293-6. https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781529922936/orbital?vc=CT401 Orbital is a series of meditations by six fictional astronauts on the International Space Station. Travelling at an altitude of 250 miles above sea level, and orbiting the Earth 16 times a day, the book covers the life of the crew over a 24-hour period. Observations by the astronauts as they look down wistfully on the Earth are ones mixed with wonder and fear. Crossing war zones and impenetrable borders, and tracking a menacing typhoon, the book makes for uncomfortable viewing. Ultimately, Orbital is a book of hope, reaffirming in the reader a sense of insignificance in the presence of a larger, more magnificent realm. The Revd Gerry Lynch is Rector of the Wellsprings Benefice, in the diocese of Salisbury. Ed Thornton is Assistant Editor of the Church Times. The Church Times Book Club is run in association with the Festival of Faith and Literature, which is taking place in Winchester from 28 February to 2 March. Find information about the programme and how to buy tickets here. Sign up to receive the free Book Club email once a month. Featuring discussion questions, podcasts and discounts on each book: churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup Discuss this month's book at facebook.com/groups/churchtimesbookclub

This week, Rupert Shortt is interviewed about his latest book, The Eclipse of Christianity: And why it matters (Comment, 13 September, Books, 20 September). The wide-ranging book reports on the unsettling consequences of secularisation, but also offers a robust defence of the intellectual coherence of Christian belief and argues that Europe's historic faith remains critical to the survival of a humane culture. In a review of the book in the Church Times, John Saxbee writes: “It remains to be seen just how close to total any eclipse of Christianity might be, but eclipses are by their very nature transitory, and Shortt, notwithstanding his painfully honest analysis, provides a halo of hope sufficient to confound the doubters and re-energise the faithful.” Rupert Shortt is a research associate at the Von Hügel Institute for Critical Catholic Inquiry at the University of Cambridge, and was an editor at the Times Literary Supplement from 2000 until 2020. His previous books include The Hardest Problem (Books, 16 September 2022), Outgrowing Dawkins: God for grown-ups (Podcast, 29 November 2019), Does Religion Do More Harm Than Good? (Podcast, 29 March 2019), and Rowan's Rule: The biography of the Archbishop (2014). The Eclipse of Christianity is published by Hodder at £25 (Church Times Bookshop £20). https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781399802741/the-eclipse-of-christianity?vc=CT011 He will be speaking about the book at the Church Times Festival of Faith and Literature, to be held in Winchester from 28 February to 2 March 2025. https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

The Bell by Iris Murdoch is the choice for this month's Church Times Book Club. On the podcast this week, the Revd Jeremy Davies, retired Canon Precentor of Salisbury Cathedral, who has a long and abiding interest in the works of Iris Murdoch, discusses the book with Francis Martin, who has written about the book in this week's Church Times. Published in 1958, The Bell is hailed as a great work of philosophical and psychological fiction. The story centres on a group of characters, all with complex problems, who seek refuge in a lay religious community in rural Gloucestershire. Their community sits alongside a medieval abbey inhabited by Benedictine nuns. As the two neighbouring communities await the arrival of a new replacement bell for the medieval bell tower, the story takes an unexpected turn when the missing bell is found and retrieved from the lake near by. The Bell is published by Vintage Classics at £10.99 (Church Times Bookshop £9.89); 978-0-09-947048-9. https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9780099470489/bell?vc=CT804 The Church Times Book Club is run in association with the Festival of Faith and Literature. https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Sign up to receive the free Book Club email once a month. Featuring discussion questions, podcasts and discounts on each book: churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup Discuss this month's book at facebook.com/groups/churchtimesbookclub Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

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

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

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

Sarah Tarlow is on the podcast this week to talk about her memoir The Archaeology of Loss, this month's Church Times book club title. Susan Gray has written a reflection on the book in the 6 September edition of the Church Times: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/books-arts/book-club In her candid memoir, Sarah Tarlow excavates her memory to piece together the events and experiences leading up to her husband's suicide, and traces the complicated grief which followed. Using her archaeological insights, the author makes parallels between what she has encountered through her professional work, tracing the rituals of death and commemoration, with the reality of her own personal situation. Nothing prepared her for the grim reality of caring for someone whose personality had been so affected by illness, and for her own struggles facing up to the actuality of loss. Sarah Tarlow is Professor of Historical Archaeology at the University of Leicester. She is in conversation with Sarah Meyrick, whose latest novel is Joy and Felicity (Sacristy Press, 2021). The Archaeology of Loss is published by Picador at £10.99 (Church Times Bookshop £9.89). https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781529099553/the-archaeology-of-loss?vc=CT106 The Church Times Book Club is run in association with the Festival of Faith and Literature. https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Sign up to receive the free Book Club email once a month. Featuring discussion questions, podcasts and discounts on each book: churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup Discuss this month's book at facebook.com/groups/churchtimesbookclub Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

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

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell is the choice for this month's Church Times Book Club. On the podcast this week, Caroline Chartres, who has written this month's Book Club reflection on the book, is in conversation with Sarah Meyrick. Maggie O'Farrell transports the reader to Renaissance Italy in her latest historical novel The Marriage Portrait. It is based on the true story of teenage bride Lucrezia di Cosimo de' Medici, the inspiration for Robert Browning's poem “My Last Duchess”, who died only a few years after marrying the esteemed Duke of Ferrara. In the book, O'Farrell reimagines the Duchess's fraught final years, following her journey from the safety of her childhood home in Florence to the remote hunting lodge where her husband keeps her captive. Sections of the story are told from the first-person perspective, and Lucrezia's fear that her husband is out to kill her is palpable. The Marriage Portrait is published by Tinder Press at £9.99 (Church Times Bookshop £8.99); 978-1-4722-23880-3. https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781472223883/marriage-portrait?vc=CT002 Caroline Chartres is a contributing editor to the Church Times. Sarah Meyrick is assistant editor of the Church Times and is to be its next editor. Her latest novel is Joy and Felicity (Sacristy Press, 2021). The Church Times Book Club is run in association with the Festival of Faith and Literature: https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Sign up to receive the free Book Club email once a month. Featuring discussion questions, podcasts and discounts on each book: churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup Discuss this month's book at facebook.com/groups/churchtimesbookclub Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

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

On the podcast this week, the Revd Dr Isabelle Hamley is interviewed about Struggling with God: Mental health and Christian spirituality, which she co-wrote with C. H. Cook and John Swinton. The book is the choice for this month's Church Times Book Club. She is in conversation with Sarah Meyrick. Anne Holmes has written this month's book club essay about the book. Read it at https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/books-arts/book-club Struggling with God focuses on the mental-health challenges facing Christians, and looks at how these issues relate to spirituality, prayer, and church life. This is an accessible book by three academics. The authors address the stigma attached to mental health in church communities, and look at the problems arising from some church settings in which mental health is connected with a lack of faith. Each of the six chapters ends with a biblical reflection with questions for individual or group study. Struggling with God is published by SPCK at £14.99 (Church Times Bookshop £13.49); 978-0-281-08641-2. https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9780281086412/struggling-with-god?vc=CT509 Dr Hamley, who is the Principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge, is speaking at the Church Times Festival of Preaching in September. https://festivalofpreaching.hymnsam.co.uk Sarah Meyrick is a novelist. Her latest novel is Joy and Felicity (Sacristy Press, 2021). The Church Times Book Club is run in association with the Festival of Faith and Literature. https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Sign up to receive the free Book Club email once a month. Featuring discussion questions, podcasts and discounts on each book: churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup Discuss this month's book at facebook.com/groups/churchtimesbookclub Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

On the podcast this week, the Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, is interviewed by Francis Martin about her visit this month to Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. Since the “awful atrocities” committed by Hamas on 7 October and the subsequent “horrors of the war in Gaza”, she said, “there has been an absence of a focus on the West Bank. “One of the main points of my trip was to go to the West Bank, to listen to the voices of Palestinian Christians, to see how things are for them in the light of all that's been going on since 7 October, but being acutely aware that things have been going on for years and years.” During the visit, she met the family of Layan Nasir, the 23-year-old Anglican who has been detained by Israel since April. “We are praying and speaking out loudly in the hope that, when her case is heard, when the review happens at the beginning of August, that she will be released back to her family, who simply want her home.” Her itinerary also included a visit to the Military Court attached to Ofer Prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah; a visit to the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem, where Christians are trying to protect their land from development; and prayer in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Bishop also had conversations at Hebrew Union College, in Jerusalem, with Rabbi Dr Michael Marmur, of Rabbis for Human Rights, and the Archbishop in Jerusalem, Dr Hosam Naoum. Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

This week's episode is brought to you from Edinburgh, and features a conversation with the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Most Revd Mark Strange. It was recorded on Saturday, 15 June, at the conclusion of the Church's General Synod meeting. The Primus spoke about the General Election campaign and Christians' involvement in politics; the situation involving the Bishop of Aberdeen & Orkney, the Rt Revd Anne Dyer (News, 24 May); the Synod's motion on the war in Gaza; mission in the 21st century; and his hopes for Scotland's national football team at Euro 2024 (it was recorded the day after Scotland lost to Germany, but before the 1-1 draw with Switzerland, which kept Scotland's hopes of advancing past the group stages alive). During the conversation, Bishop Strange was also asked about non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), and he said that he had no knowledge of their use in the Church. Subsequent to this, the SEC sent the Church Times a statement, which said: “Non-disclosure agreements have, on occasion, been entered into in the past in the Church. HR processes are handled at the appropriate level within the Church, and therefore the Primus would not normally be involved.” Read the report on the use of NDAs here and detailed coverage of the Synod meeting in this week's Church Times (21 June), in print and online. Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

Stewart McCulloch joined Christians Against Poverty (CAP) at the start of the year as its new chief executive. He previously led the charity Stewardship. CAP's latest report says that 46 per cent of its clients have considered taking their own life as a way out of their debt, and nine out of ten have reported having sleepless nights from financial anxiety (News, 24 May). On the podcast this week, Francis Martin interviews Mr McCulloch about the findings of the report, as well as how the cost-of-living crisis is affecting CAP's clients. He also explains how CAP works with churches, why the charity is unapologetically Christian in its approach, offering clients prayer and invitations to church, and he calls for politicians to do more to tackle debt. “Our clients are our neighbours, they are friends of friends, they are the people amongst us, and so it's a really transformative ministry in so many different ways,” he says. “It's never just about the finances, because it's about the social isolation, it's about the anxiety, it's about the spiritual poverty as well as the material poverty.” Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

The best-selling novelist Karen Powell is the guest on this month's Book Club Podcast, where Sarah Meyrick interviews her about Fifteen Wild Decembers, which is this month's choice. Michael Wheeler has written an essay about the book in the 7 June edition of the Church Times. Fifteen Wild Decembers is a re-imagining of the life of Emily Brontë set against the wild moors of the author's beloved Yorkshire — the same wild landscape that inspired her best-known novel Wuthering Heights. The book's title is taken from Brontë's poem “Remembrance”, words spoken at the graveside of her past love — “Cold in the earth — and fifteen wild Decembers”. She, too, like her lost love, ends up living a short life. In this first-person narrative, we hear Emily's account of the domestic struggles that she has with her siblings from schooldays to adulthood, and the long journey to publication of not only her work, but that of her sisters, too. Fifteen Wild Decembers is published by Europa Editions at £9.99 (Church Times Bookshop £8.99); 978-1-78770-545-6. Karen Powell grew up in Rochester, Kent, and now lives in North Yorkshire. Sarah Meyrick is a novelist. Her latest novel is Joy and Felicity (Sacristy Press, 2021). The Church Times Book Club is run in association with the Festival of Faith and Literature: https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Sign up to receive the free Book Club email once a month. Featuring discussion questions, podcasts and discounts on each book: churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup Discuss this month's book at facebook.com/groups/churchtimesbookclub Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

On the podcast this week, Elizabeth Oldfield talks about her new book, Fully Alive: Tending to the soul in turbulent times. An extract from the book is published in the 24 May edition of the Church Times. Elizabeth is a journalist, public intellectual, and the host of the podcast The Sacred, which explores the deep values of a range of guests. Until recently, she was director of the think tank Theos. In Fully Alive, she explores what it means to live life to the full, drawing on theology, philosophy, sociology, economics, science, literature, and psychotherapy, and on her own life as a millennial feminist with a husband and two children, living with another family in an intentional community. Reviewing the book for the Church Times (Books, 17 May), Rachel Mann writes: “I can offer no higher praise than to say that this is a book for those who found oxygen and hope in Francis Spufford's Unapologetic; that is, for those who can't quite give up on the Song of Love despite all the evidence to the contrary.” Fully Alive is published by Hodder & Stoughton at £18.99 (Church Times Bookshop £15.19); 978-1-3998-1076-0. https://www.elizabetholdfield.com Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

On this week's podcast, the Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, is interviewed by Francis Martin about her recent trip to Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. The aim of the trip was to show solidarity with the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and Christians in the region, and to understand more about the conflict and its impact on the diocese and local communities. “I think that we need to be much more vocal and confident in calling for a permanent ceasefire . . . [the war] needs to stop and it needs to stop now,” she says. “All the hostages need to be released. There needs to be unrestricted aid allowed into Gaza. . . in order to provide the possibility to begin talking. "This is not just for the Palestinians, it's also for the Israelis. I don't see any advantage in this war for Israel. Violence will only beget violence, and until at some stage the violence stops, and people begin to talk, there is no possibility of a solution.” Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

On the podcast this week, the Archbishop of York speaks about “Tuning Forks and Orchestras: Music and the mission of God.” The talk was given at the first Church Times Festival of Faith and Music in York Minster late last month (News, 3 May). It was held in partnership with the Royal School of Church Music. “The universe and all creation are held together in harmony by the single note of the will of God, played throughout the ages by the Holy Spirit, and from which everything else is tuned,” he said. “The music is complex and beautiful, but it is held together, and we are part of it, only finding our meaning and fulfillment in life when we tune in with God. We are, in thise sense, the orchestra of God, each with our own contribution to make, whether we play the trombone or the kazoo.” Photo: Duncan Lomax https://faithandmusic.hymnsam.co.uk https://www.rscm.org.uk Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

On the podcast this week, Elizabeth Fremantle is interviewed about her historical novel Disobedient, which is the choice for this month's Church Times Book Club. She is in conversation with Sarah Meyrick. Natalie K. Watson has written this month's book club essay about Disobedient. Disobedient is an enthralling historical novel that retells the turbulent life of the great Renaissance painter Artemisia Gentileschi. As a young artist in Rome in the early 17th century, Artemisia outstrips her brothers and contemporary male artists in talent. Her initial struggle as a painter in a male-dominated society is nothing compared with the dramatic turn of events that occur when a handsome male tutor is employed by her father to teach her linear perspective. Her rage against the trauma that she experiences at the hands of her tutor and the way in which law and society then fail her is expressed through her art. The story centres on her motivation for creating the brutal painting Judith Slaying Holofernes — a critical point, at which her art takes a dark turn. Disobedient is published Penguin Books at £9.99 (Church Times Bookshop £8.99). https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781405952811/disobedient?vc=CT203 Sarah Meyrick is a novelist. Her latest novel is Joy and Felicity (Sacristy Press, 2021). The Church Times Book Club is run in association with the Festival of Faith and Literature. https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Sign up to receive the free Book Club email once a month. Featuring discussion questions, podcasts and discounts on each book: churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup Discuss this month's book at facebook.com/groups/churchtimesbookclub Photo: © J. P. Masclet Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

On the podcast this week, Fr Alex Frost — parish priest, best-selling author, and host of The God Cast — talks to Madeleine Davies about the Church of England's problems connecting with people from working-class settings. Fr Alex has written a comment article in this week's Church Times which argues that the C of E needs to remove barriers that make it harder for working-class people to respond to a call to ordination or lay leadership. “I heard examples of intelligent and highly capable individuals from urban working-class settings who had struggled to break through the pomp and procedures of the Church of England,” he writes. “And of individuals dismayed by the Church and its approach to training and developing leaders who happened to drink Vimto more than they did Vin Mariani. . . “I could relate to this. In my own journey to ordination, I had many advocates; but, for every advocate I had, there were dreadfully high hurdles put in front of me to demonstrate whether I might be worthy of fulfilling my authentic and genuine call to ordination.” The Revd Alex Frost is the Vicar of St Matthew the Apostle, Burnley, a member of the General Synod, and host of the podcast The God Cast: https://www.youtube.com/@thegodcast5878 His book, Our Daily Bread: From Argos to the altar — a priest's story is published by Harper North (Books, 11 November 2022). Madeleine Davies is Senior Writer for the Church Times. Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald is the choice for this month's Church Times Book Club. On the podcast this week, Emily Rhodes, who has written this month's Book Club essay about the book, is in conversation with Sarah Meyrick. The Beginning of Spring is a historical novel set in Moscow a few years before the Russian Revolution as political tensions mount. The story starts with the sudden unexplained departure of Frank Reid's wife, Nellie. She boards a train heading west, leaving her husband and children behind. Frank moved to Moscow with his family to run his father's print business. Unlike his rambunctious Russian neighbours, Frank is a repressed but honourable English gentleman — a man of reason. Frank is left to look after three small children, and, for him, the ensuing days are full of misadventure, poignancy, and wonder. This intriguing story, which doesn't follow conventional plot lines, is set against the background of the great thaw in Moscow which heralds the arrival of spring. The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald is published by HarperCollins at £9.99 (Church Times Bookshop £8.99); 978-0-00-654370-1. https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9780006543701/beginning-of-spring?vc=CT405 Emily Rhodes is a writer and journalist, whose features and reviews have appeared in publications including the Financial Times, The Spectator, The Guardian, and the TLS. Sarah Meyrick is a novelist. Her latest novel is Joy and Felicity (Sacristy Press, 2021). The Church Times Book Club is run in association with the Festival of Faith and Literature: https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Sign up to receive the free Book Club email once a month. Featuring discussion questions, podcasts and discounts on each book: churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup Discuss this month's book at facebook.com/groups/churchtimesbookclub Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader Subscribe to Church Times before 15 April, and you will also a receive a FREE three-month subscription to the bestselling app, Reflections for Daily Prayer

On the podcast this week, the Rector of St Andrew's, Ramallah, the Revd Fadi Diab, is interviewed by Francis Martin. Fr Diab was in the UK last week, hosted by Friends of the Holy Land, an ecumenical organisation whose volunteer committee he chairs (News, 22 March). During the visit, he met the Archbishop of Canterbury, who, Fr Diab says, “stands firm in solidarity with the Christian community in the Holy Land”. Fr Diab also preached in Southwark Cathedral and was in conversation with the Dean, the Very Revd Dr Mark Oakley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zZNPBFNlCI&ab_channel=SouthwarkCathedral Fr Diab speaks on the podcast about how life in the West Bank “has turned upside down” since 7 October, after Hamas attacks on southern Israel. The situation in the West Bank, however, could “not in any way be compared to the amount of pain in Gaza”, he says. https://www.friendsoftheholyland.org.uk Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

On the podcast this week, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and essayist Marilynne Robinson talks about her new book, Reading Genesis, which has been described by Rowan Williams as “a work of exceptional wisdom and imagination”. Marilynne Robinson is in conversation with Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand, a Visiting Scholar at Sarum College in Salisbury and Vice-Chair of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations. Reading Genesis is published by Virago and is available from the Church Times Bookshop for the special price of £20: https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9780349018744/reading-genesis/%20?vc=CT322 Photo credit: Alamy For the whole of March, we are asking our readers to spread the news of the Church Times among their friends, acquaintances, and fellow churchgoers (and non-churchgoers). To celebrate (and help with) this, our paywall has been lifted for the whole of March, meaning you can enjoy all of our content — news, comment, features, faith, cartoons, and our historic archive — FOR FREE. There's nothing complicated about it. We simply want to let as many people as possible know about our latest subscription offer: You can try your first 10 weeks of Church Times for only £10. All new Church Times subscriptions received in March will receive a FREE additional 3 month subscription to the bestselling app, Reflections for Daily Prayer. www.churchtimes.co.uk/subscribe For print readers, there should also be a sample copy of our new promotional leaflet in this week's issue. Will you order more copies to distribute in your church? Simply email subs@churchtimes.co.uk, giving a name, postal address, and the number of leaflets you'd like (multiples of ten); or phone 01603 785911 with these details.

On the podcast this week, Mark Oakley reflects on “Love (III)” by George Herbert. This episode was first posted last year as part of the Church Times Poetry Podcast for Lent series. “Over my years of reading Herbert, I have come to see him as the poet who most expresses our relationship with God as a friendship,” Mark says. “Friendship requires courage enough to stop skating so quickly over our own thin ice in case we disappear through the cracks. Instead, we face the fact that we need support and connection and that, also, we have much to give as well.” The material in this podcast is taken from Mark Oakley's book The Splash of Words (Canterbury Press), winner of the 2019 Michael Ramsey Prize for Theological Writing. The Very Revd Dr Mark Oakley is the Dean of Southwark. Artwork by Emily Noyce. For the whole of March, we are asking our readers to spread the news of the Church Times among their friends, acquaintances, and fellow churchgoers (and non-churchgoers). To celebrate (and help with) this, our paywall has been lifted for the whole of March, meaning you can enjoy all of our content — news, comment, features, faith, cartoons, and our historic archive — FOR FREE. There's nothing complicated about it. We simply want to let as many people as possible know about our latest subscription offer: You can try your first 10 weeks of Church Times for only £10. All new Church Times subscriptions received in March will receive a FREE additional 3 month subscription to the bestselling app, Reflections for Daily Prayer. www.churchtimes.co.uk/subscribe For print readers, there should also be a sample copy of our new promotional leaflet in this week's issue. Will you order more copies to distribute in your church? Simply email subs@churchtimes.co.uk, giving a name, postal address, and the number of leaflets you'd like (multiples of ten); or phone 01603 785911 with these details.

Before My Actual Heart Breaks by Tish Delaney is the choice for this month's Church Times Book Club. On the podcast this week, Tish Delaney talks to Sarah Meyrick, who has written this month's Book Club essay about the book. Before My Actual Heart Breaks is published by Cornerstone at £9.99 (Church Times Bookshop £8.99); 978-1-78609-098-0. https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781786090980/before-my-actual-heart-breaks/?vc=CT601 About the book Against the backdrop of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Mary Rattigan's dreams of emigrating to America are shattered when she finds herself pregnant at the age of 16. Mary's strict Roman Catholic parents force her to marry a local farmer to minimise the shame that she has inflicted on the family. With flashbacks to her childhood, the story follows Mary's marriage, one blighted by miscommunication, which is not helped by her lack of self-worth and past childhood trauma. Throughout the novel, the author's prose captures the beauty of the sweeping countryside and farmland of Northern Ireland, and the use of the local vernacular adds authenticity to the book's rural setting and to the raw emotions expressed. Tish Delaney was born in Northern Ireland and grew up during the Troubles. Leaving County Tyrone to study at Manchester University, she remained in England afterwards to work as a reporter and sub-editor on various magazines and national newspapers in London. Leaving The Financial Times in 2014, she moved to the Channel Islands to start a career in writing. Her debut novel, Before My Actual Heart Breaks, won the Authors' Club's Best First Novel Award. In June 2022, her second book, The Saint of Lost Things, was published. The author still lives on Alderney, which she often describes as mini-Donegal. Sarah Meyrick is a novelist. Her latest novel is Joy and Felicity (Sacristy Press, 2021). The Church Times Book Club is run in association with the Festival of Faith and Literature. Sign up to receive the free Book Club email once a month. Featuring discussion questions, podcasts and discounts on each book: churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup Discuss this month's book at facebook.com/groups/churchtimesbookclub For the whole of March, we are asking our readers to spread the news of the Church Times among their friends, acquaintances, and fellow churchgoers (and non-churchgoers). To celebrate (and help with) this, our paywall has been lifted for the whole of March, meaning you can enjoy all of our content — news, comment, features, faith, cartoons, and our historic archive — FOR FREE. There's nothing complicated about it. We simply want to let as many people as possible know about our latest subscription offer: You can try your first 10 weeks of Church Times for only £10. All new Church Times subscriptions received in March will receive a FREE additional 3 month subscription to the bestselling app, Reflections for Daily Prayer. https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/subscribe For print readers, there should also be a sample copy of our new promotional leaflet in this week's issue. Will you order more copies to distribute in your church? Simply email subs@churchtimes.co.uk, giving a name, postal address, and the number of leaflets you'd like (multiples of ten); or phone 01603 785911 with these details.

On this episode of the podcast, Debbie and Stephanie Hayton talk to Sarah Meyrick. Originally a heterosexual couple, they met as students, trained as teachers, got married, and had three children. When he was in his forties, David (as he was then called) told Stephanie that he had been struggling all his life with the longing to be a woman. After a great deal of preparation, he transitioned in 2012, and underwent full gender-reassignment surgery in 2016. Debbie has, however, been criticised by some in the LGBT+ community for her insistence that, despite her transition, she is not a woman. She rejects as “a fantasy” and “false narrative” the notion that anyone is born in the wrong body. She tells her story and explains her views in her book, Transexual Apostate: My journey back to reality, which is published by Forum at £16.99 (Church Times Bookshop £15.29); 978-1-80075-309-9. https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781800753099/transsexual-apostate?vc=CT165 Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

Francis Martin, a reporter for the Church Times, was travelling last week with the Archbishop of Canterbury in Ukraine. On the final day of the trip, Francis interviewed Archbishop Welby, asking about what he had hoped to achieve, the differences he had noticed from his previous visit in 2022, and about tensions between the Orthodox Churches in Ukraine. They also spoke about the challenges currently facing the Church of England, and how the Archbishop divides his time. Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

Francis Martin, a reporter for the Church Times, has been travelling this week with the Archbishop of Canterbury in Ukraine. During the trip, Francis interviewed Archbishop Yevstratiy (Zoria), a prominent figure Ukraine's independent Orthodox Church (OCU), which is led by Metropolitan Epiphany (Dumenko) and is independent of the Moscow Patriarchate. He spoke about how the OCU is supporting the struggle against the Russian invasion, how it is helping Ukrainians who have left the country, tensions with the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and why he believes that God is protecting Ukraine. Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

The Second Sleep by Robert Harris is the choice for this month's Church Times Book Club. On the podcast this week, Susan Gray, who has written this month's Book Club essay, is in conversation with Sarah Meyrick. Robert Harris's dystopian thriller is set in the 15th century, but, although medieval in tone and atmosphere, the date is misleading, as it is set 800 years in the future, because time has been restarted at the year 666. All traces of modern life, such as electricity and decimal currency, have disappeared. And the country is gripped by religious fundamentalism. The story begins with the young priest, Christopher Fairfax, arriving on horseback in a remote village in Exmoor to conduct the funeral of his predecessor, who met a mysterious death. Over the next six days, the young priest's faith is tested as he uncovers the chilling truth. The Second Sleep is published by Cornerstone at £9.99 (Church Times Bookshop £8.99). https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781787460966/second-sleep?vc=CT207 Susan Gray writes about the arts and entertainment for The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times, and the Daily Mail. The Church Times Book Club is run in association with the Festival of Faith and Literature: https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Sign up to receive the free Book Club email once a month. Featuring discussion questions, podcasts and discounts on each book: churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup Discuss this month's book at facebook.com/groups/churchtimesbookclub Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

For the podcast this week, Sarah Meyrick travelled to York to talk to the Canon Precenter of York Minster, the Revd Dr Victoria Johnson, and the director of the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM), Hugh Morris, about the importance of church music. The Church Times and the RSCM have together launched a new event, the Festival of Faith and Music, which takes place in York Minster from 26 to 28 April (News, 8 December). Full programme and ticketing information can be found at https://faithandmusic.hymnsam.co.uk. Through a programme of music and worship, talks and workshops, the festival is designed for clergy and church musicians, and seeks to celebrate church music in all its glory and to send delegates home encouraged, inspired, and equipped with new ideas for using music in worship. Canon Johnson will be speaking at the event about her book, On Voice: Speech, song, silence: human and divine, which will be published in March by Darton, Longman & Todd (Features, 5 January). On the podcast, she talks about some of the themes in the book, including why she is inspired by the singing of football crowds and how silence also figures in her thinking about sung worship. The keynote speaker at the Festival of Faith and Preaching will be the Archbishop of York, in a session called “Tuning forks and orchestras: Music and the mission of God”. Other speakers include Roxana Panufnik, composer of one of the works sung at the Coronation; and Andy Thomas, the author of Resounding Body: Building Christlike church communities through music. Two internationally renowned singers, James Gilchrist and Andrea Haines, both of whom started singing in parish church choirs, will talk about how it all began, and will perform some reflective music in the quire of York Minster. Find out more about the RSCM at www.rscm.org.uk. Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

The Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Revd Philip North, is seeking to draw attention to the impact that the privatisation of the care system is having on vulnerable children. In his diocese, he writes in the Church Times, the number of care homes has risen significantly in recent years, “not because there is a disproportionate increase in demand for children's care places in Lancashire. It is because these are towns where housing is cheap and where labour costs are low.” He continues: “Almost unseen, the children's care sector has been taken over by private suppliers. Now, of course, there is nothing wrong with profit in and of itself, and I have no doubt that many individual staff members are skilled and dedicated. But I, for one, feel deeply uncomfortable about the rapacious way many of these companies are operating. . . “Instead of putting the vulnerable child in the place of honour, in the UK that child has been monetised. It is hard to imagine a greater trauma than the collapse of one's home life and being taken into care. Yet that misery is being exploited. Desperate children have become a tradable commodity.” On the podcast this week, Bishop North talks about his concerns, and considers how churches can help children who are in care. Read his article here: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/12-january/comment/opinion/children-in-care-should-not-be-monetised Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

Charlotte by David Foenkinos is the choice for this month's Church Times Book Club. On the podcast this week, Emily Rhodes, who has written this month's essay about the book, is in conversation with Sarah Meyrick. Charlotte, translated into English by Sam Taylor, retells the tragic story of a Jewish artist, Charlotte Salomon, who died with her unborn baby in Auschwitz at the age of 26. Fleeing Berlin to escape Hitler's reign of terror, the young artist found refuge in the south of France before her final transportation to the concentration camp. It was during this time that she created most of her work, a series of autobiographical paintings imbued with a sense of urgency and foreboding. The book is written in verse form. Each sentence is separated by a single line of spacing. Its lyrical style, while not sentimental in tone, adds poignancy and pace to the short story. David Foenkinos is an award-winning French novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of 18 novels, all of which have been translated into more than 40 languages. Charlotte won both the Prix Renaudot and the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens in 2014. Charlotte by David Foenkinos is published by Canongate at £9.99 (Church Times Bookshop £8.99); 978-1-78211-796-4. https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781782117964/charlotte?vc=CT506 Read Emily's essay here: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/5-january/books-arts/book-club/book-club-charlotte-by-david-foenkinos Emily Rhodes is a writer and journalist, whose features and reviews have appeared in publications including the Financial Times, The Spectator, The Guardian, and the TLS. Find out about Emily's Walking Book Club at https://emilyswalkingbookclub.substack.com The Church Times Book Club is run in association with the Festival of Faith and Literature: https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Sign up to receive the free Book Club email once a month. Featuring discussion questions, podcasts and discounts on each book: churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup Discuss this month's book at facebook.com/groups/churchtimesbookclu

This week's podcast brings a talk by Claire Gilbert given at the recent event “Fired in the heart: An online Advent retreat with Julian of Norwich”, hosted by the Church Times and Canterbury Press. Her talk includes a reading from her latest book, 'I Julian', a fictional autobiography of Julian of Norwich, which is available to buy from the Church House Bookshop. Claire Gilbert is the founding director of the Westminster Abbey Institute. She is a visiting fellow at Jesus College, Cambridge, and has been a member of numerous public and advisory bodies. Find out about forthcoming Church Times events, including the Festival of Faith and Music, at https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/events Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

Akenfield by Ronald Blythe is the choice for this month's Church Times Book Club. On the podcast this week, Malcolm Doney, who has written this month's essay about the book, is in conversation with Sarah Meyrick. The rural classic Akenfield was published in 1969. During the mid-1960s, Blythe interviewed 50 people in the two East Suffolk villages close to where he lived, and asked them about everyday life in the countryside. He gave the pair of villages the fictional name Akenfield. Capturing authentic voices, ranging from blacksmith to doctor, Akenfield is an extraordinary oral history of a way of life which now, in many ways, has disappeared. Issues covered in this portrait of village life include farming, education, welfare, class, war, and religion. Ronald Blythe (1922-2023) was a writer, an essayist, and a Reader. In the Church Times obituary in January 2023 (Gazette, 20 January), he was described by Malcolm Doney as “a man of letters, a man of the Church, and a man of the countryside”. For the last 45 years of his life, he lived in Bottengoms Farm, on the Essex-Suffolk border — an Elizabethan yeoman's house that he inherited from the artist John Nash. It was the beauty of the Stour Valley which inspired his writing, and it became the subject of his long-running weekly column in the Church Times, “Word from Wormingford”. Akenfield by Ronald Blythe is published by Penguin Books at £9.99 (Church Times Bookshop £8.99); 978-0-14-118792-1. The Revd Malcolm Doney is a writer, broadcaster, and Anglican priest, who lives in Suffolk. His book, co-written with Martin Wroe, Hold On, Let Go: How to find your life, is published by Wild Goose Publications. The Church Times Book Club is run in association with the Festival of Faith and Literature: https://faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Sign up to receive the free Book Club email once a month. Featuring discussion questions, podcasts and discounts on each book: churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup Discuss this month's book at facebook.com/groups/churchtimesbookclub Picture credit: © CHURCH TIMES/NICK SPURLING Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader

This week, Sam Wells talks about his new book, How to Preach: Times, seasons, texts, and contexts. The interview with Christine Smith, publishing director of Canterbury Press, which published the book, was recorded at the How to Preach training day, organised by the Festival of Preaching, on 24 October at St Martin in the Fields, in London, where Dr Wells is the Vicar. In a review of the book for the Church Times, Andrew Nunn writes that Dr Wells “reflects on how he preaches, how he prepares, what he has learnt after over three decades of preaching in a variety of circumstances and situations. . . What this book encourages us to do . . . is to think again about what we are doing and why we do it." How to Preach is published by Canterbury Press and is available to buy from the Church House Bookshop: https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk; 978-1-78622-521-4. The next Festival of Preaching event will take place in Cambridge from 15 to 17 September. Details will be announced shortly. To be the first to receive details, sign up to our newsletter at https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/newsletter-signup or follow the handle the Festival of Preaching on Twitter https://twitter.com/FofPreaching https://festivalofpreaching.hymnsam.co.uk Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader