Show Notes
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
More from The Church Times Podcast
The Very Revd Dr Mark Oakley is the Dean of Southwark, whose book The Splash of Words: Believing in poetry won the 2019 Michael Ramsey Prize. On the podcast this week, we bring you his Plenary Lecture from the Festival of Preaching in Cambridge last month: “Unarmed and Disarming: Preaching love in pitiless times.”
John Humphrys was the first reporter on the scene of the Aberfan disaster. Wednesday (21 October) marks the 60th anniversary of the disaster, in which 116 children and 28 adults died when slurry from a hillside coal-heap slid on to the Welsh village, burying classrooms at Pantglas Junior School.
The Revd Steve Chalke is a Baptist minister and the founder of the Oasis Charitable Trust. He recently co-founded the We Are United campaign, which aims “to create at least 1,000 Festive Tables of Welcome across the country in the month-long run-up to this Christmas”.
“I think it’s really important to recognise that we’re all made differently,” the Archbishop of Canterbury says. Since being diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of 15, it has shaped her educational and professional experiences, including her time as Chief Nursing Officer and as the Bishop of London.
Last week, the Festival of Preaching welcomed around 300 clergy and lay preachers. The event brought together inspiring talks and workshop from well-known preachers from around the world.