In conversation …

How are young people dealing with change and uncertainty during lockdown? Bishop Rachel talks to five teenagers from our worshipping communities, along with Barrie Voyce (Leader of Illuminate Stroud and the key lead on future plans for youth ministry in the Diocese of Gloucester).

How are we doing?! No, really. How are we doing. In this episode, The Ven Hilary Dawson talks with The Ven Phil Andrew about managing, or failing to manage, the emotional rollercoasters of life and leadership during lockdown.

In this episode Bishop Rachel enters into conversation with four black Christians in the Diocese of Gloucester – Rumbi, Ade, Simi and Suki – two adults and two young people, about the impact of Covid-19 on the BAME community, the murder of George Floyd and our failures as a Church regarding racial justice

With the impact of Covid-19 prisons across the country are facing many different challenges, so what does ‘lockdown’ look like for one particular woman’s prison? Bishop Rachel (who is the Church of England Bishop for Women’s Prisons), talks to Suzy Diamond-White, Governor of HMP Eastwood Park, based in the Diocese of Gloucester, to discuss the impact Covid-19 has had on the staff, women and the running of the prison. They also talk about the need for society to think differently about sending women to prison and the importance of community rehabilitation. This recording was made a month ago, and since it was made, women in prison have still not had face-to-face contact with their children.

In this episode, Bishop Robert Springett is joined by Dean Stephen Lake, to discuss being present and visiting people in a time when we can neither be present ... nor visit people! 

Engagement: Living out Christ’s love and hope. As those who have experienced the love of God in Jesus Christ we are called to join in with the work of the kingdom of God as we pray for the Holy Spirit to be at work within us, between us and around us bringing transformative healing, justice, peace and new life. This is the backdrop for these conversations with Bishop Rachel which reveal not only the devastation of broken relationship but also the restorative power of love and care. In this fourth podcast episode, Bishop Rachel talks to members of the Nelson Trust about domestic abuse.

In these strange days of a viral pandemic when we are all living with the unknown and wondering what the future looks like and the part we might play in shaping it, perhaps this conversation may take on a new significance.

NB. Bishop Rachel is President of The Nelson Trust

In this third podcast episode, Archdeacon Phil talks with Bishop Rachel, about how our faith can be affected by troubled times. The two discuss life, hope and struggles, detailing the past few months and how it has affected them personally.

Bishop Rachel invited some of the members of St Kyneburga to join her for a virtual tea party over Zoom to celebrate the 75th anniversary of VE Day. Over tea, people shared memories of VE Day in 1945. This is the 2nd podcast episode of our ongoing series.

Discussing the crucial role of light, peace and hope in a place of darkness, Bishop Rachel asks questions about the extraordinary experiences people had around the time of the end of the Second World War.

One participant comments, "... in the war you were always with other people, whereas now you can't be. It's the one thing you want, and you can't be with anybody else. That, I think, is much harder than facing any kind of danger with people, with friends, comrades.”

Re The Company of St Kyneburga: The Company is named after Kyneburga, co-foundress and abbess in the eighth century of the first religious community at what is now Gloucester Cathedral. Membership of the Company of Saint Kyneburga recognises and honours service to the Diocese, usually over a very long period of time.

The Dean of Gloucester Cathedral, Stephen Lake, speaks with Archdeacon Hilary Dawson about these extraordinary times, and the impacts on the Church and their work. This is the first podcast of an ongoing fortnightly series, new for the Anglican Diocese of Gloucester in 2020. Churches and leaders throughout the Diocese of Gloucester will be involved in producing episodes; we'll find out about different projects, organisations, partnerships and inspirational stories, as well as hearing from senior leaders, both lay and ordained, throughout the Diocese.