Politics in the Pulpit

Episode 9 - Lindsey Sanderson (16th November)

The ninth episode of Politics in the Pulpit Autumn 2025 is hosted by Stephen Ansa-Addo, and featuring our special guest, Lindsey Sanderson!

Lindsey is a URC minister, serving as Moderator of the National Synod of Scotland since January 2024. She currently represents the Synod Moderators on the JPIT strategy group. Her commitment to social justice plays a strong part of her Christian faith. She served as a trustee of Christian Aid and global ecumenical experiences through Council for World Mission and as URC representative on the World Council of Churches Central Committee. She has interests in liturgy, writing liturgy including hymn words and sharing the liturgical resources of the world church. She lives in Glasgow with her husband, older daughter and their dog Hamish.

This week, Stephen, Lindsey and Thomas explore the lectionary readings for Sunday 16th November.

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

06:20 – Isaiah 65: 17-25

18:29 – 2 Thessalonians 3: 6-13

34:15 – Luke 21: 5-19 and Isaiah 12

Mentions

Social Care Sunday

Interfaith Week – www.interfaithweek.org

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer         

Episode 8 - Mark Rowland (9th November)

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/ 

 

Episode 7 - Phil Nevard (2nd November)

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 2^nd 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/

Episode 6 - Claire Nicholls (26th October)

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

Episode 5 - Melanie Smith (19th October)

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...

Episode 4 - Sarah Edwards (12th October)

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

Episode 3 - Pat Bennett (5th October)

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 

Episode 2 - Fiona Haworth (28th September)

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.

Episode 1 - Stephen Ansa-Addo (21st September)

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.

Episode 167 with Angus Ritchie for Sunday 20th July

Join our host Alex Clare-Young for the final episode of the season as they speak to Father Angus Ritchie and Simeon Mitchell to discuss how politics could appear in our preaching for Sunday 20th July.

Drawing on the lectionary readings:

• Genesis 18:1-10a - A Son Promised to Abraham and Sarah
• Colossians 1:15-28 - The Supremacy of Christ / Paul’s Interest in the Colossians
• Luke 10:38-42 - Jesus Visits Martha and Mary

Father Angus Ritchie is the director of the Centre for Theology and Community, which supports churches in their engagement in community organising. An Anglican priest, he has served in east London parishes since 1998, and his books include Inclusive Populism: Creating Citizens in the Global Age.

 

‘Politics in the Pulpit’ is JPIT’s weekly lectionary resource, helping to equip preachers, ministers and worship leaders to unpack justice and peace issues in the pulpit. You can join in the conversation on Twitter/X at @publicissues or using #PoliticsInThePulpit, or on our Facebook community at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1001084297426200/