With love, wit, and a laugh, Jane Austen brought human drama to the drawing room. We love her for it. It also gave her away as a Christian.

On December 16, 1775, the Anglican clergy family of Austens welcomed their youngest daughter, who would grow to become one of the world’s greatest novelists and, as we’ll discuss today, a profound Christian; a loving and lively friend, sister, and aunt; a scholar of human nature; and an expert on how the virtues and vices that make or break us reveal themselves in the everyday. She was also, for the record, hilarious.

Today’s conversation is part of our annual Cozy Christmas Chat series, and our guests are Haley Stewart and the Rev. Dr. David Goodhew.

Haley is a Catholic author and the editor of Word on Fire Votive. She was cohost of the popular Fountains of Carrots podcast, and is the author of Jane Austen's Genius Guide to Life, The Grace of Enough, and The Sister Seraphina Mysteries.

David is Vicar of St Barnabas Church, Middlesbrough, England and Visiting Fellow of St Johns College, Durham University. He is widely published, with five volumes on modern Christianity and church growth. But he has also written several excellent and entertaining essays on Jane Austen’s life and faith that you can read at livingchurch.org/covenant.

Today we encounter Jane Austen via Dante’s Inferno, learn from her on the virtues, unpack the popularity of Bridgerton, critique film adaptations, and learn about the personal practices of prayer that rooted Jane’s genius. And, from Mr. Darcy who can’t bear to be laughed at, to Emma with little to trouble or vex her, we discuss how humor, used with compassion, can be an expression of love.

We hope you enjoy this cozy Christmas conversation!

From this episode:

David’s articles on Jane Austen

Haley’s books on Jane, etc.

Haley’s Sister Seraphina Mysteries

Haley’s podcast

Haley’s Substack

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What do wise and practical partnerships with immigrant communities look like?

Today’s episode is from a conversation we co-hosted with The Episcopal Parish Network to explore how congregations can engage more faithfully and effectively with immigrant and refugee neighbors.

We dip into a bit of theology here. But we concentrate on strategic application, legal context, and pastoral insights for building authentic relationships and deepening mission.

We discuss:

• Legal landscapes around immigration—what’s true, what’s not true, how it affects ministry.
• Pastoral care that is culturally responsive instead of awkward or well-meaningly clueless.
• Cooperating with ethnic leaders to support and empower immigrants and their families.
• Practical tips to try.

This conversation is about bridges across borders: discerning the opportunities God has put in front of you, making a solid plan, and accepting the time and help it takes to build bridges that last.

Our guests today are: 

The Rev. Dr. Samira Izadi Page, founder and executive director of Gateway of Grace, Dallas, Texas.

James Montana, Esq., principal and immigration lawyer at James Montana Law, Falls Church, Virginia.

The Rev. Christian Anderson, vicar at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Stuart, Florida.

The Rev. Jaime Briceño, rector at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, Berwyn, Illinois.

From this episode:

Watch the video

List of recommended legal and ministry resources

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What can we learn from surprising encounters between Catholics and Pentecostals?

In 1906, in a no-count Los Angeles storefront, a one-eyed preacher named William Seymour, son of former slaves, began leading services on Azuza Street.

Azuza Street has gone down in history as the catalyst of the Pentecostal movement, one of the largest groups of Christians in the world today. But it’s also had deep impact on much older traditions, including the Roman Catholic Church. Charismatic Catholics owe much to brothers and sisters whose practices may make them scratch their heads. On the other hand, maybe you've noticed the—could we call it?— "revival" among free-church Christians in interest in liturgy, tradition, and the sacraments.

This is just the generous way God works, giving us encounters we would never have found for ourselves, with him and one another, and helping us share our gifts and appreciate the gifts of others, across time, space, and difference.

Today we’ll hear from a Roman Catholic missioner and a Pentecostal theologian who have been walking together this surprising road of Christian unity, and we’ll hear some of their stories.

Nathan Smith serves as the Director of Ecumenism for Glenmary Home Missioners and as a consultant for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs. In his ministry, he seeks to foster reconciliation between the Catholic Church, Evangelicals and Pentecostals. He also served with the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity at the 2024 Global Christian Forum gathering.

The Rev. Dr. David Han is the Dean of the Faculty at Pentecostal Theological Seminary and is involved in various ecumenical activities such as the Global Christian Forum, the Wesleyan Holiness Connection, the International Pentecostal and Anglican Commission, and the Catholic and Pentecostal Dialogue in the United States.

Now hold on to your rosaries. But stay ready to shout amen. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

Ministries and dialogues we mention:

Global Christian Forum

Glenmary Home Missioners

US Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs

Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity

International Pentecostal and Anglican Commission

Catholic and Pentecostal Dialogue

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How can decorating a Crèche draw us to a place of divine encounter?

We are approaching yet another Advent season, a season of making space to wait on God.

Maybe you’re good at making that space. Like a cat, you have no problem flopping down where you are, stretching your legs, and letting Jesus take the wheel.

Or maybe you’re addicted—like most of us—to work, to control and productivity, to entertainment, perhaps even to podcasts!—and Advent feels like a struggle.

Or maybe you’re working three jobs because you have to, and maintaining an interior grasp of God’s love, in the midst of the crazy, is what slowing down means for you.

But sometimes being still is not something you choose. It’s thrust upon you. When you’re not able to go anywhere or do anything much, Advent is life, whether you ask for it or not.

That’s where our guest today found herself. And in that long, involuntary long season of Advent, as she reflected on her life and grew a garden, the journey brought her to writing a little Advent book about nature, the seasons, and the tradition of manger scenes where she grew up in Provence, France, and how she found Jesus there.

Our guest today is Sylvie Vanhoozer. Sylvie is a certified botanic artist, retired French teacher, and author of two books of nature sketches and meditations: The Art of Living in Advent: 28 Days of Joyful Waiting as well as The Art of Living in Season: A Year of Reflections for Everyday Saints. 

Here are some French words we use today: 

Crèche: manger scene

Santons: “little saints”; clay figurines based on ordinary people 

Terroir: a people’s land and all the life in it

Now remind yourself where you’ve stored away your Nativity set. Because after this conversation you might want to get it out. Perhaps it will help you remember, receive, and share the gospel over the next few weeks.

More from Sylvie:

theartoflivinginseason.com

The Art of Living in Advent, discount code IVPPOD20 for 20% off plus free shipping!

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This bonus episode of the podcast responds to the launch of a Global Anglican Communion, which would be separate from the Anglican Communion as we have known it.

There are Anglicans rejoicing over this news. Anglicans grieving over this news. Anglicans who don’t know what to think. And a lot of Anglicans who may not know what’s going on, or may not know what this has to do with them.

Today, we explore some of these feelings and questions, and pose some questions of our own.

On Oct 16, a communiqué email went out from a conservative, international fellowship of Anglican churches, representing several major Anglican provinces worldwide, known as GAFCON. (There are a lot of acronyms in this episode, but we will spell them out as we go.) This communiqué dropped into people’s inboxes with the title “The Future Has Arrived.” Here are a few introductory paragraphs:

“The first Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) gathered in 2008 in Jerusalem to prayerfully respond to the abandonment of the Scriptures by some of the most senior leaders of the Anglican Communion, and to seek their repentance.

“In the absence of such repentance, we have been prayerfully advancing towards a future for faithful Anglicans, where the Bible is restored to the heart of the Communion.

“Today, that future has arrived.”

Then follow 8 resolutions for establishing a Global Anglican Communion separate from the Anglican Communion and the Instruments of Communion.

TLC editor Mark Michael and executive director Matthew Olver join podcast host Amber Noel to ask questions about the meaning and contents of this communiqué, its language and propositions, the history that led up to it, its timing in light of current leadership scandals in the ACNA, and what people who want to move forward with GAFCON might be risking, particularly leaders from the Global South, or what they may still need to know. We also direct specific questions to GAFCON leaders themselves.

And we invite you to join us. If you are a leader in the Anglican Communion, in GAFCON, in the ACNA, or in the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans, and you have something you want to ask, share, or correct in response to this podcast, please get in touch: [email protected]. We have questions and critiques, but we also want to understand better what’s going on, and why, and how we can receive needed renewal and reformation together.

Thanks for listening to this conversation. And if you have something to bring to the table, we hope to hear from you.

From this episode:

Resources from GAFCON:

Oct 16 “The Future Has Arrived” communiqué

The Jerusalem Declaration (founding document of GAFCON)

Bishop Paul Donison’s interview on the Stand Firm podcast

Bishop Laurent Mbanda's podcast interview

Resources from The Living Church:

Analysis: GAFCON Creates Global Anglican Communion

‘You Have Broken My Heart’—A Letter to My Siblings in GAFCON

Poggo Responds to GAFCON Communion Launch

The Inside Story on GAFCON’s Communiqué

GSFA Leader Questions GAFCON Communiqué

Podcast: Who Cares About Communion? with Christopher Wells

Other resources:

Nairobi-Cairo Proposals (IASCUFO)

Chemin Neuf’s “Prayer for Christian Unity”

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What does faith have to do with fiction? Can romance teach us something about God's presence in imaginary worlds?

Today’s episode is a conversation with novelist H.S. Cross, recorded live at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Savannah, GA, as part of their Sunday Night Sessions. 

We talk with Heather about 1920s Oxford; love stories and their theological significance; what it’s like to create and then watch your creations surprise you. We discuss the importance of play; why skipping the hard parts risks a story no longer feeling “real”; and the need to “Hold your nerve and not rush the ending.” And finally, since her novel is a messy and complicated romance, in some parts, as she puts it, “rated R" for sexuality, what does it mean, in this kind of story, to “tell the truth” or to get caught “writing while Christian”?

H.S. Cross has been a tutor and a writer and is the author of three novels: Wilberforce, Grievous, and her latest novel, Amanda.

Now rock your best Oxford bags and handkerchief hemline. We’re heading to the 1920’s where we’ll meet a couple of God-haunted lovers, the woman who created them, and discover what faith has to do with fiction. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

From this episode:

Watch this conversation on YouTube

Amanda and other books by H.S. Cross

Associate for Youth and Young Adults job posting at St. John’s Savannah (October 2025)

Related podcast episodes:

Christmas chat with Heather Cross

Music and ministry with Jon Jameson

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Other events you might enjoy:

Nashotah House intensive course on “The Prayer Book Tradition” (January 2026)

The Anglican Way Conference (February 2026)

How does Nicaea speak to social and political life today?

In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s Nicaea’s 1700th birthday party all year long. Theology, church politics, Christian unity, we’re here for all of it. 

This is one of two episodes this year focusing specifically on Nicaea itself. Our first one was in January: Learning from Nicaea with Lewis Ayers.

Today, we'll learn how we live with Nicaea. We're joined by Catholic theologian Peter Casarella and Pentecostal theologian Daniela Augustine for an ecumenical chat about the council and its importance for the church and world today.

We’ll consider time travel, uncover some things about Nicaea I never knew, explore political and social implications of the council, and make 1700th birthday speeches. And if you ever asked yourself what Nicaea has to do with the Bolshevik Revolution or American empire, today’s your lucky day.

Dr. Daniela Augustine is Professor of Theological Ethics at Lee University and Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy, Theology, and Religion at the University of Birmingham in the UK.

Dr. Peter Casarella is Professor of Theology at Duke Divinity School and one of the founders of the Catholic Initiative at Duke.

Now, whether you’ve been at this party a long time, or just coming in and wondering what it’s all about, we hope you enjoy the conversation.

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Why read poetry? If poetry is esoteric, confusing, and time-consuming, why bother? 

Our guest today, Dr. Abram Van Engen, has a strong case for why poetry isn't esoteric at all, but extremely useful, concrete, relational, enjoyable, and meaningful, not just for you, but for the Church.

His latest book is called Word Made Fresh, an Invitation to Poetry for the Church. Today we’ll discuss: the point of poetry and why anyone should bother reading it, how to read a poem, what it might mean that Scripture is full of poetry, what church leaders learn from the art of being apt, and what the heck a poem even is.

Whether you're a "poetry person" or not, this conversation may just get you jazzed up about the ability of a poem to invite our attention in a special way, delight us, deepen us; even give us a little cross-training in the kind of attention we hope to develop in life with God.

Abram is Stanley Elkin Professor in the Humanities, Chair of the English Department, and Professor of Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. He is also the director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics. His new book on poetry as spiritual practice, Word Made Fresh, won the 2024 Christianity Today award for art and poetry.

Now whether you dislike it, or you believe poetry, like the world, "is charged with the grandeur of God" (a little Gerard Manley Hopkins for you), we hope you enjoy the conversation.

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Today we're talking tea. Why? 

Well, we’re an Anglican podcast. Need we say more?

Knowing how to share and make a good cup of tea translates around the globe. Whether it’s hospitality or work-life balance, tea has played a significant role in leadership, conversation, and parish life. 

Today we meet an amazing Christian woman who knows all about tea, why it's special, and how God can use tea time as an opportunity for ministry and leadership lessons. Her name is Jackie James.

Jackie is a certified Tea Sommelier and founder at The London Tea Merchant. She’s also the former owner of the London Tea Room in St. Louis, Missouri.

We’ll hear today about her journey from a Jesus Freak preacher’s kid in the U.K. to a businesswoman in midwest America.

We'll learn a bit about the slow art, challenging business, and fascinating science of tea, and where she has found God at work in it all. How can we stop and share time? How do you run the show, and let things go? How can unlearning self-preserving habits with difficult staff members lead to strength, vulnerability, and grace?

Now get your scones and Victoria Sponge cake ready, because we’re about to have a "jam" session on finding the Lord’s work in a hot cuppa.

We hope you enjoy the conversation.

SPECIAL discount code LTMSHOP for 5% off at the London Tea Merchant

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Before there were Protestants, there were Moravians.

In 1415, a Roman Catholic priest named Jan Hus was burned at the stake in Prague for promoting a vernacular liturgy, clergy marriage, and the elimination of indulgences. If he had been born just a few decades later, he might have found a friend in Martin Luther. But instead we know him as the forerunner of a pre-Protestant reforming movement that became the Moravian Church.

Moravians have a unique and robust culture, a fascinating history, and were some of the first and strongest voices for Christian unity, before the ecumenical movement even began.

Who are the Moravians? What are they about? Why do they love Anglicans, and what can we learn from each other?

Today’s episode is part of our Full Communion Partner series.

You can find our other Full Communion Partner episodes here:

https://livingchurch.org/podcasts/reformation-politics-and-friendship-with-matthew-riegel/

https://livingchurch.org/podcasts/old-church-new-callings-with-magnus-persson/

Our first guest is the Rev. Derek French, pastor of Nazareth Moravian Church in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, and co-chair of the Moravian-Episcopal Coordinating Committee.

And our second guest is the Rt. Rev. M. Blair Couch, bishop in the Moravian Church. She is also on the Lutheran-Anglican-Moravian Coordinating Committe in Canada and the Moravian-Episcopal Coordinating Committee in the U.S.

Now pour yourself a German beer. We’re going to hang out with some Christians who from persecuted European beginings quickly found their place among the peacemakers. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

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