Politics in the Pulpit – Details, episodes & analysis

The first episode of this season of Politics in the Pulpit for Spring 2026 is hosted by Stephen Ansa-Addo, and features our special guest and new host, William Gibson!

William is a candidate for ministry in the Church of Scotland and a PhD student in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Glasgow. Prior to this William worked at Apple where he led unionising efforts in the first unionised Apple store in the UK before working for the Student Christian Movement as their theology and resources project worker for a year. William is also an Iona Community member.

This week, Stephen, William and Erica explore the lectionary readings for Sunday 11th January.

Timestamps:

6:58 – Isaiah 42: 1-9

12:42 – Psalm 29

16:20 – Matthew 3: 13-17

24:40 – Acts 10: 34-43

Alex, Christine, Erica, and Thomas discuss the readings for 4 January. Don't forget to listen to parts 1 and 3 of our Christmas special and watch this space for a new host and a return to our traditional format in the new year. 

The eighth episode of Politics in the Pulpit Autumn 2025 is hosted by Alex Clare-Young, and featuring our special guest, Mark Rowland!  

Mark is Secretary of the Faith and Order Committee for the Methodist Church in Britain. He has been a Methodist minister since 2009 and his formation stretched from inner city Sheffield to the United States. He was awarded his PhD for a thesis entitled “A queer and Methodist theology of holiness: strategies for queering Wesley’s teaching,” reimagining concepts of sin, transformation and perfection. Before his current role, Mark has served in local church and chaplaincy ministry and has a deep passion for worship and preaching which respond to the realities of the world God loves and calls us to love. An activist for the greater participation and inclusion of LGBT+ people in the Church, Mark is co-Chair of OneBodyOneFaith and a trustee of Dignity and Worth. In his free time, Mark is a keen singer and organist. 

This week, Alex, Mark and Erica explore the lectionary readings for Sunday 9th November.  

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro 

04:16 - Luke 20: 27-38 

17:30 - 2 Thessalonians 2: 1-5, 13-17 

21:59 - Haggai 1: 15b-2:9 

28:58 - Psalm 145: 1-5, 17-21 

 

Mentions:

King unveils new memorial to LGBT veterans after gay ban campaign  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr7m8kzgy77o 

Just Money Movement – https://justmoney.org.uk/  

Make Them Pay coalition - https://www.makethempay.org.uk/ 

2025 General Council for the World Communion of Reformed Churches - https://wcrc.eu/gc2025/ 

 

The seventh episode of Politics in the Pulpit Autumn 2025 is hosted by Stephen Ansa-Addo, and featuring our special guest, Phil Nevard!

Other than a few years dabbling in other jobs, Phil has been a URC minister for most of his working life - over 30 years.  For all of that time Phil has managed to escape temptation into regional URC jobs and has happily followed his calling to be a local church minister and not much else.  Phil counts preaching to be one of the joys of ministry and URC folk might vaguely remember his name from the three year vlog and podcast series "Talking Absolute Worship" that Phil hosted through the Covid years.  Phil's most significant contribution to the Liberation struggle has probably been his voluntary work with the Battery Hen Welfare Association.  With the Essex team, including his youngest daughter, he has helped liberate thousands of battery chickens, many of them finding refuge and a new life in his own back garden.  Being a lifelong Bolton Wanderers fan has taught him all he needs to know about dealing with disappointment and disaster.  It is said that this is character-building!  Phil is currently Minister in three churches across Cambridgeshire and Suffolk and is mostly talking about retirement these days!

This week, Stephen, Phil and Simeon explore the lectionary readings for Sunday 2nd November.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

08:50 - Habakkuk 1: 1-4; 2:1-4

23:56 - Luke 19: 1-10

37:44 - Psalm 119: 137-144

44:01 - 2 Thessalonians 1: 1-4, 11-12

Mentions:

Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann

The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Talking Absolute Worship podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/3bPvwOSi9UIuXVMhw5Ks9m

Together with Refugees https://togetherwithrefugees.org.uk/

The Zacchaeus tax campaign https://www.cwmission.org/news/spotlights/zacchaeus-tax-campaign-to-relaunch-in-africa/

The sixth episode of Politics in the Pulpit Autumn 2025 is hosted by Stephen Ansa-Addo, and featuring our special guest Claire Nicholls!

Claire is Regional Minister for London Baptists, looking after 80 plus churches in South East London. She also oversees the Justice Hub in the association and has a particular focus on enabling and empowering women in leadership. She is a director of the London Baptist Property Board and does many other things as well – it’s a very varied role! She represents the Baptist Union on the JPIT SPG. Claire has led churches in North Manchester and South Croydon, and before she went to train for ministry she was a maths teacher in Derbyshire. She is passionate about bringing people together, within and despite of difference and loves to see churches walking with and watching over one another so that we can thrive in order to enable the good news of Jesus to be brought and lived out in our local contexts. She is a baker of wild and wonderful things and she likes a good walk and plenty of laughter. Good music makes her heart sing – one of the advantages of living in London is the access to last minute cheap tickets to shows and concerts, and Claire definitely takes advantage of this!

This week, Stephen, Claire and Roo explore the lectionary readings for Sunday 26th October.

Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 06:00 - Joel 15:20 – Psalm 65 23:30 - Psalm 84 34:17– Luke

The fifth episode of Politics in the Pulpit Autumn 2025 is hosted by Stephen Ansa-Addo, and featuring our special guest Melanie Smith!

Reverend Melanie Smith is the Training and Development officer and Pastoral Consultant for the West Midlands Synod of the United Reformed Church. She is also a Synod Green Apostle and a trained mediator through Place for Hope. Previously, Melanie served for two years as the Director for the Centre for Gender and Social Justice at the Pacific Theological College in Fiji, a higher education college serving 20 churches of 6 denominations across 16 nations in the south Pacific. Her first career took her from banking, to public sector accountancy, to working for Christian Aid as a Volunteer Development Officer in the West Midlands. She has tried to walk the talk by protesting against Trump, the arms fair, and at various climate protests. She has worked locally on Syrian Refugee Resettlement Schemes and individual refugee cases. She helped set up two food banks and two debt centres and chaired a homelessness charity during the pandemic. If she could live anywhere other than near family, it would be India.

This week, Stephen, Melanie and Thomas explore the lectionary readings for Sunday 19th October.

Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 09:00 - Luke 18: 1-8 24:10 – Jeremiah 31: 27-34 30:51 – Psalm 119: 97-104 37:12 – 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

Mentions JPIT's guidance on the rise of the British National Party in 2006 - https://jpit.uk/wp-content/uploads/20... Freedom Sunday resources - https://www.ijmuk.org/freedom-sunday Tent of Nations - https://tentofnations.com/ Daoud Nassar from Tent of Nations visits JPIT at Methodist Church House - https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...

The fourth episode of Politics in the Pulpit Autumn 2025 is hosted by Stephen Ansa-Addo, and featuring our special guest Sarah Edwards!

Sarah Edwards is Executive Director of the JustMoney Movement, an ecumenical education and campaigning charity which has a vision of a world where money is used to shape a greener, fairer future for all. Sarah oversees the organisation’s work, which aims to resource a movement of Christians and churches to act more justly with their own money and to speak out for a more just use of money in the economy. Sarah has recently started training for ordination in the Church of England. She lives in North London with her husband and two children.

This week, Stephen, Sarah and Thomas explore the lectionary readings for Sunday 12th October.

Mentions

JustMoney Movement - justmoney.org.uk

• Tuesday 7 October - Greening our Finances: Practical steps for Eco Churches
• Wednesday 8 October - Investing in a Fairer, Greener World

UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association - uksif.org

Bill McKibben, environmental writer - billmckibben.com

The third episode of Politics in the Pulpit Autumn 2025 is hosted by Stephen Ansa-Addo, and featuring our special guest Pat Bennett!

Pat is a writer, scholar and liturgist who has worked at the intersections of the humanities and sciences fostering conversation, exploration and the exchange of ideas. She has a background in both science and theology. She is a member of the Iona Community, for whom she has also worked developing programmes and resources to help people explore faith and activism.

This week, Stephen, Pat and Alex explore the lectionary readings for Sunday 5th October.

Pat's work: The Spirituality of Conflict project - https://www.spiritualityofconflict.com/  Editor of the book 'What were you arguing along the way?' - https://canterburypress.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781786223999/what-were-you-arguing-about-along-the-way

Other mentions: Housing Justice (for Homelessness Sunday) - https://housingjustice.org.uk 

The second episode of Politics in the Pulpit Autumn 2025 is hosted by Stephen Ansa-Addo, and featuring our special guest Fiona Haworth!

Fiona is a member of the Iona Community and an associate priest in the Church of England, based in St Peter Mancroft Church in Norwich.  She has a long interest in issues of justice and peace, the intersection of science and faith, and climate and nature, and finds that life is generally much happier when shared with a dog.

This week, Stephen, Fiona and Roo explore the lectionary readings for Sunday 28 September - Disability Awareness Sunday.

The first episode of Politics in the Pulpit Autumn 2025 is a handover episode featuring special guest Stephen Ansa-Addo, who will be your host for the next ten episodes!   Stephen is a United Reformed Church Minister serving a cluster of three churches in Berkshire who is passionate about living out the Gospel, pursuing justice, and exploring God in popular culture and current affairs.   This week, Stephen, Alex and Steve explore the lectionary readings for Sunday September 21 - the first day of the Week of Prayer for Peace in Palestine and Israel.