Nomad Podcast

Instead of our regular show we’re treating you to a Nomad Devotional. Community development worker, Simon Jay reflects on life in his neighbourhood and his discovery of urban walking as a form of prayer and community building. David Blower responds with music and ambient sounds. You can enjoy devotionals like this every month, along with […]

How do we face change? How do we move through suffering? How do we receive joy? And how do we mature in service? According to psychologist, spiritual director, liturgist and author Alexander Shaia, these four questions are the central questions of our lives. They are universal, sequential, and cyclical, and are recognised by every major religious […]

Episcopal priest, professor, theologian and author Barbara Brown Taylor, joins us on Nomad.  In the early 2000s Barbara left the ministry, an experience she described in Leaving Church, the first of a trilogy of books about redefining her faith. But it’s what Barbara got up to after church leadership that we want to talk about. […]

In this episode we bring together London based sociologist, pastor and community theologian Sally Mann and Philadelphia based social activist and author Shane Claiborne. Shane had crossed the pond to join Sally and others in launching Red Letter Christians UK. So we took the opportunity to quiz them about the state of evangelicalism in both […]

Cynthia Bourgeault is a mystic, priest, and author, who is committed to teaching and spreading the recovery of Christian contemplative practices. So she’s the perfect guide for nomad’s ongoing exploration of contemplative practices.   She’s been a long-time advocate of the meditative practice of Centering Prayer, and so that’s what we quizzed her on. After […]

Christopher Collingwood is an Anglican priest – Canon Chancellor of York Minster, no less. And…he’s a Zen teacher. So clearly he knows a thing or two about navigating an evolving faith, and the pushback that can come with it. After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley ponder how, if at all, Zen […]

Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Jemimah McAlpine sit down with fellow host David Benjamin Blower to talk through his new album – We Really Existed and We Really Did This. It’s a conversation in which David wrestles with faith and theology, and searches for signs of hope in the increasingly chaotic times we live in. As […]

Natalie Collins is a gender justice specialist, who speaks, writes and trains on issues of violence against women and wider gender injustice. In trying to make sense of her own experience of domestic abuse – and the fact that over the course of a lifetime over a quarter of women experience domestic abuse – Natalie […]

Rather than based around an interview, this episode is in the style of our Nomad Devotionals, which our patrons enjoy each month. Ruth Wilde of Christian Peacemaker Teams reflects on the practice of “getting in the way”, and John-Philip Newell reflects on a spirituality deeply rooted in the material creation. And we ask what does […]

Martin Newell is a catholic priest who has been arrested over twenty times. His crimes range from criminal damage, trespass, and burglary, for which he has been to prison several times. All of this has been the result of Martin’s non-violent protests against the arms trade and more recently the government’s inaction on the climate crisis. […]

On this episode we speak with theology professor and climate change activist Timothy Gorringe about the climate crisis. Towards the end of last year the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change released a pretty bleak report. In summary, the report said that the situation is much worse than we previously thought, and unless we reduce global […]

Rather than our usual interview format, in this episode we’re hosting a conversation. We’ll be listening in on Chine McDonald and Azariah France Wiliiams as they discuss their understanding and experience of blackness and how that has shaped their identity, their place in society and the way they relate to God and Church. It’s an […]

Janet Williams joins us to discuss apophatic theology and spirituality. I know, it doesn’t sound like the most riveting topic. But trust me, it’s essential listening for anyone who’s been through some kind of deconstruction, faith evolution or dark night of the soul, anyone who’s interested in mysticism, or who’s gown tired and disillusioned with […]

It was 10 years ago that Nomad first uploaded an episode. 10 years!! So to celebrate we’d like to give you a gift as a thank you for all your support and encouragement. But what to give the beloved listener to mark such a special occasion? How about a 3 hour 40 minute Q&A marathon […]

Edwina Gateley is a mystic, and a social activist. Her life has been a rhythm of extended periods of prayer and solitude (including 9 months of silence in a caravan in a forest!) and activism (including establishing a mission agency that has sent hundreds of people into missions work around the world, and working with […]

Brian Zahnd is back on the show. This time we’re chatting with him about the themes raised in his book Postcards From Babylon. In it he takes aim at the toxic relationship between Church and Empire, and the religion that has emerged from it, which he calls Americanism. This religion has its own liturgies, gods […]

It’s that time of the year again! So we thought we’d offer up a Christmas themed Devotional for you all. Brad Jersak talks a bit about how the Nativity is understood in the Eastern Church, we reflect on the feminine in the salvation story, and Danielle Wilson shares reflections on her time spent in a refugee camp […]

For many of us, the charismatic movement has been a mixed bag of bonkers and blessing. The danger is, of course, that we throw the blessed baby out with the bonkers bathwater! Especially for those of us who have been through some kind of deconstruction, we can easily end up rationalising away anything mystical. So […]

Enneagram trainer Liz West joins us on the show to talk about this ancient tool for transformation. You may have seen the rather “dodgy” looking enneagram symbol, but don’t be put off. This is an ancient treasure that goes right back to the fourth century desert mothers and fathers who began to discern the things […]

Catholic theologian and priest, James Alison joins us on the show to discuss scapegoating. It’s a word we’re all familiar with, but as James explains, it’s through the violence of the scapegoating mechanism that civilisations are built. And, it is through the scapegoating mechanism that the cross heals. It’s a fascinating way of understanding the atonement, […]