Nomad Podcast

Hope-filled conversations

Scot McKnight – What Exactly is the Good News? (N62)

Scot McKnight is professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary, Illinois, a prolific author and founder of the hugely popular Jesus Creed blog. Scot recently wrote a book called King Jesus Gospel, so he seemed like the man to help us understand the meaning of the good news. Image provided by Penguin Random House. Used […]

Bruce Stanley – Finding God in the Forest (N61)

As well as life coaching, creative project management, tea making, and helping run the popular ReJesus website, Bruce Stanley has also helped pioneer the Forest Church movement. So we thought he was the man to ask how to connect with God through nature. Image provided by Mystic Christ website. Used with permission. BOOKS Forest Church: […]

Stuart Murray – Anabaptist Spirituality for a Post-Christendom World (N60)

Stuart Murray is chair of the Anabaptist Network in the UK. So we thought he’d be the person to ask what’s so special about the Anabaptists tradition, and what it has to say to us about how to live in our post-Christendom world. Image provided by Stuart Murray. Used with permission. BOOKS The Naked Anabaptist […]

Brian McLaren – Finding God in the Religion of Others (N59)

Brian McLaren is an internationally recognised and sort after author, speaker and activist. In this episode we’re chatting with Brian about his latest challenging and provocative book that explores the vital topic of Christianity’s relationship with other religions. Image by Hannah Davis. Used with permission. BOOKS The Great Spiritual Migration: How the World’s Largest Religion […]

Carl Medearis – Jesus vs. Christianity? (N58)

Carl Medearis worked as a missionary for many years in Beirut, Lebanon and as a result is recognised as an international expert in Muslim-Christian relations. Carl has some fascinating insights into cross-cultural mission from his years of working with Muslims, and he believes these principles are just as relevant in our Western context. I’ll give […]

Alastair Gordon – Finding God in the Arts (N57)

Alastair Gordon is a professional and accomplished artist who exhibits around the world. He’s also a follower of Jesus. Apparently following Jesus and being a professional artist is a rather tricky thing these days, so we spoke to Ally about this tension and what mission in the world of art might look like. Image provided […]

John Polkinghorne – Science vs. Religion? (N56)

John Polkinghorne has spent more years than we’ve been alive inhabiting the world of science and faith. He’s a theoretical physicist, theologian and Anglican priest. He’s been Knighted by the Queen and has received the coveted Templeton Prize for his exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension. So who better to ask a few questions […]

Matt Russell – Church for the Spiritually Homeless (N55)

Matt Russell planted Mercy Street about 15 years ago in the US. Starting from scratch it quickly grew to around a 1000, many of whom were recovering addicts. The church developed a culture of gritty authenticity and honesty. Needless to say, he’s got a very interesting story to tell and much wisodm to share! Image […]

Andrew Marin – Love is an Orientation (N54)

Andrew Marin grew up in a conservative church, and much to his surprise developed a calling and passion to build bridges between the Church and the LGBTQ community. So he moved into a gay part of town, and spent all his time getting to know people in gay bars. So as you can imagine, there’s […]

John Hayes – Moving into the [Poorest] Neighbourhood (N53)

John Hayes is founder and director of the mission order InnerChange. InnerChange supports missional communities who are living incarnationally in the poorest areas of cities around the world. So brace yourself for a challenging and inspiring interview! Image provided by Baker Publishing. Used with permission. BOOKS Sub-Merge: Service, Justice and Contemplation Among the World’s Poor […]

Chris Rose – The Street Child World Cup (N52)

Inspired by a glorious summer of sport, Nomad thought we’d bring you a story that seamlessly links mission and sport. So we met up with the Amos Trust‘s Chris Rose. Chris has got an amazing story to tell of gathering together street child from around the world for a football World Cup! Hard to believe […]

Mike Sares – Loving the Scum of the Earth (N51)

Mike Sares is a fairly normal, middle-aged, middle class type of guy. But he somehow managed to connect with a group of young artists and skater punks and planted and pastors the Denver based church Scum of the Earth. It’s an inspiring story of cross-cultural mission, community and new forms of church. Image provided by […]

Ian Adams – How to Start a Missional Community (N50)

Ian Adams co-founded mayBe, a fresh expression of church in Oxford. He also works for the Church Mission Society as a Missional Community Developer. So we thought he’d be the right chap to talk about how to start new forms of church. Image provided by Canterbury Press. Used with permission. BOOKS Cave, Refectory, Road: Monastic […]

Liz Babbs – Celtic Rhythms of Life (N49)

Liz Babbs is an author, speaker and evangelist and one who has been deeply influenced by celtic spirituality. So we thought we’d have a chat with Liz about Celtic spirituality and its potential as a tool for mission. Image provided by CWR. Used with permission. BOOKS Celtic Treasure: Unearthing the Riches of Celtic Spirituality QUOTES […]

Chris Wright – The Mission of God (N48)

Chris Wright is an Old Testament scholar who reckons the biblical narrative only makes sense if mission is seen as its overarching theme. So we test this theory with him and ask him to explain some of the trickier Old Testament stories! Image provided by Chris Wright. Used with permission. BOOKS The Mission of God: […]

Andrea Campanale – Finding God in the New Spiritualities (N47)

Andrea Campanale is a Church Mission Society ‘Mission Partner’. Andrea does some really interesting work among people involved in the new spiritualties. This has caused her to reflect deeply on mission and what it means to be church, and has come to some challenging conclusions! Image provided by Andrea Campanale. Used with permission. WEBSITE Sacred […]

Tony and Felicity Dale – Small is the New Big (N46)

A couple of decades ago Tony and Felicity Dale felt called to move from the UK to the US to plant a church. As you can imagine, it’s been quite a journey (in all senses of the word) and they’ve learnt stacks about what it means to be church. One of the big lessons they’ve […]

Nicky Gumbel – Alpha and the Future of Evangelism (N45)

It’s hard to measure the impact Nicky Gumbel has had on the worldwide church. He pioneered the Alpha Course as an evangelistic introduction to the Christian life. It is estimated that over 15 million people have now attended a course. So we thought it was high time we had a chat with Mr Alpha, and […]

Phil Togwell – Prayer Spaces in Schools (N44)

Phil Togwell is part of the 24/7 Prayer movement, an internatinal, interdenominational movement of prayer, mission and justice. Over the last few years Phil’s been involved in setting up spaces in schools for children to honestly and naturally begin to connect with God. It’s an inspiring story! Image provided by Phil Togwell. Used with permission. […]

Pete Ward – Liquid Church (N43)

Pete Ward is senior lecturer in youth ministry and theological education at King’s College, London. About 10 years ago now Pete wrote Liquid Church, and it turned out to be rather influential. Pete’s theories have stuck around and shaped the views of many people interested in new forms of church. So Nomad thought they’d better […]