Religion Media Centre Podcast

The US Vice President Kamala Harris will be formally nominated as the Democrat's presidential candidate at the party’s convention in Chicago this week. With a Hindu mother, Baptist father and Jewish husband, she embodies religious pluralism in a diverse country. But will this make her more or less appealing to constituencies of faith, or the non-religious?

In this Religion Media Centre briefing, the speakers considered how the Democrats, a party with 30 per cent non-religious and 60 per cent Christian, are finding common ground around values, as people decide how to vote, irrespective of faith. The briefing heard the view that the conservative white evangelical support of Donald Trump, with its particular take on Christianity, has pushed the Democrats towards greater clarity that religion and the state are separate and this is what binds their party in a big tent, including people of all faiths and none. Hosted by Rosie Dawson, the speakers were:

• Heidi Schlumpf, National Catholic Reporter senior correspondent, who is covering the Convention
• Richa Karmarkar, reporter at Religion News Service, primarily covering Hinduism
• Alan Cooperman, director of religion research at Pew Research Centre
• Dr Melissa Deckman, Chief Executive Officer, Public Religion Research Institute
• Hemant Mehta, American author, blogger, and atheist activist
• Senator Kim Jackson, Georgia
• Rev Canon Broderick Greer, Canon Precentor St John's Cathedral, Denver

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The resignation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury has left the Church of England reeling. There is consensus that he had no option after the publication of the Makin report which exposed the horrific abuse of young men and boys by the barrister, John Smyth, and a decades-long cover-up by the Church of England.

Smyth led Christian summer camps run by the Iwerne Trust which Justin Welby attended as a young man. From the mid-1970s, Smyth groomed boys and then took them back to his garden shed where they were beaten until they bled. The abuse was known about in the church from the early 1980s but was covered up. Smyth left the country and died in 2018, having never been brought to justice.

In a statement, Justin Welby said he was taking personal and institutional responsibility for the failure to act on the John Smyth abuse between 2013 and 2024 and had a profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England. His resignation, which is without precedent, has been described as a seismic shock. Roger Bolton hosts this discussion with guests:

• Andrew Graystone, author of Bleeding for Jesus, an account of John Smyth's abuse
• Susie Leafe, Director of Anglican Futures
• Mark Stibbe, survivor, author and former vicar
• Frances Martin, reporter with the Church Times
• Professor Linda Woodhead, King's College, London
• Prof Helen King, member of the General Synod

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The sudden and shocking departure of the Bishop of Liverpool, John Perumbalah, following allegations of sexual abuse and sexual harassment against two women, one of whom was a bishop, has stunned the Church of England.

In this Religion Media Centre briefing, our panel discussed the impact of his retirement on the city of Liverpool, the wider Church of England and its standing in the nation, where it is the established church. There were stories of a crisis of trust in the church, with clergy in Liverpool feeling disillusioned. The role of the media was discussed, as it was journalists who told the story of the allegations after which the bishop resigned. He denied he had done anything wrong and criticised his "trial by media". The conversation highlighted the need for improved CofE safeguarding processes, with proposals coming up at the next General Synod meeting for an independent organisation to handle complaints and a new system for dealing with misconduct.

Ruth Peacock, Tim Wyatt, Mick Ord and Catherine Pepinster asked the questions. The guest speakers are: the Archdeacon of Liverpool, Miranda Threlfall-Holmes; Rev Stuart Haynes, Director of Communications for the Diocese of Liverpool; the Bishop of Blackburn, Philip North; Fr Alex Frost, podcaster and vicar of St Matthew the Apostle, Burnley, and a general synod member; Rev Canon Rachel Firth, Vicar of Huddersfield Parish Church, so a synod member; and Theo Hobson, journalist and author of Against Establishment: An Anglican Polemic (2003).

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2024 turned out to be quite a year for news about religion and in our last briefing of the year, we looked back at some of the headlines, the arguments, the characters, and the public events that brought religion to the fore.

Headlines include the historic resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury; the way religion met public policy with a vote to allow assisted dying in England and Wales; the global synod of Catholics in Rome with disappointment for women's campaigners; summer riots and attacks on British Muslims; how the Gaza war spilled over to inflame tensions here, with a rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia; the abrupt closure of the Interfaith Network after 40 years; warm words about religious organisations in the UK election and a new Faith Minister; How evangelicals helped put Trump back in the White House; the 40th anniversary of the attack on Golden Temple, Amritsar and the opening of the $217 million Hindu temple Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

Hosted by Ruth Peacock, our interviewers were our RMC journalists Catherine Pepinster and Rosie Dawson; and our guests were Kaya Burgess, Religious Affairs Correspondent for The Times; Austen Ivereigh, Catholic journalist, author and commentator; Richard Allen Greene, formerly an editor with CNN now training to be a rabbi; RMC reporter on British Islam, Maira Butt; and RMC reporter on the Sikh tradition, Liz Harris.

For further information about RMC briefings: [email protected]

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

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Fear and anxiety immediately followed the riots which spread across England last week, with Muslims in particular afraid to leave the house because of the hatred and violence on the streets. But in this Religion Media Centre briefing, faith leaders described how within 24 hours, faith and community leaders sought and found solidarity and support from their neighbours, other faith groups, police, councils and what has been seen as the vast majority of the British public, appalled at what they were witnessing.

Speakers made clear that these were race riots. No group has felt safe and communities of all kinds felt "triggered" by the fact that angry racist outbursts emerged so quickly and were so widespread. The contrast between violence and the overnight reversal to peace has left concerns and questions, which faith leaders addressed in this discussion. Questions about British identity, the need to call out and stop Islamophobia, the need for a government strategy for social cohesion, the essential work of continuing conversations in local communities, and the challenge for teachers dealing with the aftermath when schools return in September.

Many of the participants on this call took part in the Religion Media Centre's Creating Connections events, bringing together faith representatives and the media in towns and cities across England. The host is Leo Devine and the speakers include RE advisers and teachers Ed Pawson, Dr Kate Christopher and Manju Kaur; Muslim leaders Julie Siddiqi and Imam Musharraf Hussein; Community leaders Amrick Singh Ubhi and Rev Dr Israel Oluwole Olofinjana; and journalists Gary Newby, Content Editor at ITV News Central, and Alex Strangwayes-Booth, formerly BBC and now with CTVC.

For further information on RMC briefings: [email protected]

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/

X: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

Contact Information

[email protected]
(+44) 0203 970 0709