What does it mean to follow Jesus today? Abi Thomas dives into the lives of four incredible guests who are living as apprentices to Jesus for this special episode with the amazing team at Proximity.

Expect inspiring stories, practical insights, and some surprising moments as we explore:

✨ Learning and doing on-the-job discipleship

✨ Whole-life discipleship: Bringing Jesus into every corner of life

✨ Spiritual disciplines

✨ Jesus showing up on your patch 

✨ When the supernatural is ... normal

✨ Why Jesus has more faith in you than you might think

Contributors:

Matt Britton — Is an award winning theatre maker, who brings the Gospel of Mark to life, word-for-word.

Krista Coulson — leader of Eden South Bank, near Middlesbrough.

Natalie Williams — CEO of Jubilee+, author and passionate advocate for justice and mercy.

Joe Warton — Researcher and author exploring what healthy, whole-life discipleship looks like.

Take it Further:

Curious about spiritual practices? Check out this work from LICC.

Want to deepen your prayer life? Explore the Prayer of Examen.

Intrigued by Proximity? Find our more here.

Whether you're just starting your discipleship journey or looking to deepen your faith, this episode will challenge and inspire you to put your faith into action.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Abi is joined by researcher-activist Naomi Lawson Jacobs, co-author of the book At the Gates: Disability, Justice and the Churches. Naomi's research tells the stories of disabled people; the stories behind the shocking statistics. Naomi tells Abi about activism led by disabled people, the challenges that disabled Christians face, who and what we should be valuing and the problem with the idea of "inclusion".

At The Gates: Disability, Justice and the Churches shares disabled Christians’ stories in their own words. These storytellers speak back to a church that has more often told their stories for them, calling for justice for all the disabled Christians who have been left waiting at the church gates.

Buy At The Gates: Disability, Justice and the Churches here.

Buy The Hopeful Activist book here.

Today, we’re bringing you a powerful story from Hannah Bourazza, who courageously shares her journey after the tragic loss of her son, Nathaniel, who was killed shortly after his 16th birthday.

Hannah reflects on Nathanial’s life and legacy, and her work with Power the Fight, a London-based charity dedicated to ending youth violence. 

Resources:

Power the Fight: Learn more about their mission and how you can support their work.

Hannah has written a chapter in When Faith Gets Shaken, by Patrick Regan.

Previous podcast episodes featuring Ben Lindsay, founder and CEO of Power the Fight, and author of "We Need To Talk About Race" exploring the charity’s innovative strategies:

BONUS EP – Power the Fight wins charity of the year!

We Need To Talk About Race.

The Hopeful Activists’ Book - A perfect Christmas gift for the activists in your life!

Subscribe to The Hopeful Activists’ Podcast for more stories of faith-fueled activism, and don’t forget to share this episode with someone who might be inspired by Hannah’s journey.

Welcome to another uplifting episode of the Hopeful Activists Podcast! This week Abi is delighted to be joined by Rev Dr Kate Coleman, author, leadership coach, and founder of Next Leadership. Kate shares insights from her transformative book, Metamorph, which explores how leaders can embrace growth.

Kate’s wisdom is not just for leaders but for anyone to make a difference in the world. Whether you’re a seasoned activist or just beginning your journey the church and the world need leaders who are willing to evolve, and go where God is leading.

Buy Kate’s book Metamorph here and discover resources for your leadership journey with Jesus.

You can buy The Hopeful Activists' book here. A great Christmas present!

An extended interview with Ellie Gage on this episode, CEO of Kintsugi Hope, a UK charity working to make a difference to peoples mental wellbeing.

Ellie shares brilliantly about culture and how to be a healthy Christian, lessons learnt from her time at CAP in Bradford, and in her new role at Kintsugi Hope.

Buy The Hopeful Activist book as an ebook here or in paperback here.

In this second episode of our brilliant collaboration with Proximity, Abi Thomas explores how to keep going for the long-haul when you are living and working for justice in urban estates and beyond. Wherever it is you’re trying to make a difference, you'll find practical wisdom for keeping your activism centred on Jesus and preventing burnout and we'll hear from four incredible guests who share their experiences of finding strength in challenging circumstances.

And Abi isn’t just talking about s lowing down—she’s giving you space to actually do it. You'll find space to rest and reflect with words from the Bible and beautiful music from Emma Grant.

Trigger Warning: This episode touches on some real-life struggles, including burnout and mental health, with mentions of suicide. If that’s not what you need today, we have lots of other episodes to inspire you instead.

Contributors

Dai Hankey – Church planter, founder of Manumit Coffee and Red Community and author of Hopeward.

Sam DH – A church leader from St Barnabus, Hattersley, in Greater Manchester.

Natalie Lane – From the Life Centre in Salford.

Ellie Gage – CEO of Kintsugi Hope.

With grateful thanks to Emma Grant and her team for permission to use her fantastic music. You can buy her album Friend in the Fire here.

You heard: Coming Home and Eyes on Me.

And to Matt Britton for reading Psalm 23 to us.

Piercing Heaven: Prayers of the Puritans can be bought here.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Ahead of an online event on the 9th August Abi speaks to Rev Dr Israel Oluwole Olofinjana about racial justice in the UK.

We also discuss the intersection with climate justice, mental health and how the UK church can respond and recover.

Abi has been out and about again, visiting the wonderful people at Leeds Craftivists to hear about their collaborative and crafty campaigns. Including campaigns around food waste, the cost of living crisis and local transport.

If you want to know more about the principles behind craftivism, we have two episodes here and here with Sarah Corbett, author and founder of the Craftivist Collective. Or you can buy her books here.

Abi met Emma Temple and Anna Bland, who co-founded the Leeds Craftivists. I was also able to talk to Husain Alogaily, who co-founded Compost It, a fantastic organisation collecting food waste from households and delivering it to local growers who then turn it into compost.

The Leeds Craftivist group is open to anyone who loves to craft for change.

To donate to The Praxis Centre please visit our website (scroll right to the bottom) or go to PayPal here.

A super short episode to draw our attention to the new resource from Jubilee+ called Voting Like Jesus. Natalie Williams calls on Christians to engage with politics, to pray and to look honestly at our own hearts, as we face a general election.

The first in our exciting new series in collaboration with Proximity, a new resource hub for urban Christians. In this episode we discover the joys and challenges of following Jesus on an urban estate. 

We'll hear from Allan Finnegan from Emmanuel Baptist Church in Netherton in Liverpool, Tom Grant, also from Emmanuel Baptist Church and Head of Proximity, as well as Tal Watkins and Marie Robinson from the Netherton Community Grocery.

And finally from Bishop Philip North, who tells us that there are two stories: amazing life and hope on urban estates, and also a church that has deep inequality within its structures.

Allan's GoFundMe for his treatment is here.

Clip from Britain's Got Talent used with permission.