The RE Podcast

Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

*Please tweet along with us LIVE this Sunday as we watch the first episode of the new BBC Pilgrimage series BB2 Easter Sunday 9pm*

Welcome to this very special Easter Episode of The RE Podcast where I am on location in London at the press screening of the new BBC Pilgrimage series set to air on Easter Sunday 2025 (20th April).

I chat to 6 of the 7 pilgrims who made the 300km pilgrimage across the Alps, all agreeing that the biggest journey was in their self awareness and friendships with each other. We talk about the importance of curiosity and asking questions and looking at the similarities between us. I even try and recruit a couple to teaching RE.

My thanks to agnostic Jay McGuiness, singer from boy band, The Wanted; actor and comedy legend Helen Lederer who is from a mixed heritage background, with a culturally Jewish father and a Protestant mother; practising Catholic, Harry Clark - The Traitors (series two) winner; standup comedian Daliso Chaponda, who grew up in a Christian family but is exploring the Baha’i faith; retired Paralympian and practising Christian Stef Reid and journalist Nelufar Hedayat, who refers to herself as a modern Muslim. Presenter Jeff Brazier, who went to Catholic schools but now is spiritual and meditates as part of his everyday life, was not able to attend the press screening so does not feature in this episode.  

My thanks also so Katie Freeman and Angela Hill for asking some great questions to give me a lot of this material.

My thanks also to CCTV and the BBC for producing this programme.

Websites

https://superhumans.com/en/

https://www.ctvc.co.uk/

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk

Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

If you have never been to Strictly RE before, then it is the biggest RE Conference in the country, organised by NATRE and RE Today, where RE teachers from all over the country, from all settings join together and geek out on all things RE.  There are keynote speeches, panel discussions, seminars, resources room and most importantly OTHER RE GEEKS TO TALK TO. 

This year was the first face to face conference since before lockdown and we wanted to celebrate this by taking you to Strictly. If you were lucky enough to attend, I hope this episode is a reminder of how amazing it was.  If you have never been before, I hope this episode inspires you to come next year. Link below to register your interest.

https://www.natre.org.uk/courses-events/strictly-re/

I talk to NATRE chair, Katie Freeman for some behind the scenes chat about what it was like to put on this event, and Katie Freeman and NATRE Director Angela Hill join me after for a post Strictly debrief.

I speak to some of the delegates at the conference about their experience, you'll hear a few clips from some of the talks and all the sounds from Strictly RE 2025.

Thank you do everyone who made this episode possible;

Angela Hill

Katie Freeman 

Paul Hopkins

Nikki McGee 

Sarah from Jigsaw

Ria Searle

Lat Blaylock

Andy

Ian Coles

Zoe Higgins

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk

Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

Advert for the full episode

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk

Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

A pentecostal and a person from the charismatic movement were in a room... it sounds like the beginning of a joke doesn't it? But I wonder what might surprise them about the other?

In this week's episode, Wolfgang Vondey generously enlightens us on that. We define what we mean by Pentecostalism and the Charismatic Movement and look at the etymology of these terms. We identify what makes them distinct from each other, but as you know, RE is messy so they don't fit into neat categories and boxes. 
We look at misconceptions, history, the first pentecost, controversies and of course, how we can teach it authentically.

Wolfgang is so knowledgeable and it was a delight to have this chat and find out more about these distinct movements.

Ultimately, this is about telling stories and engaging in the stories of others.  Enjoy!

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk

Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

I've had this episode ready to release for a while and I have been so looking forward to it.  I knew so little about the Tao until this chat but was entirely curious about it. So I invited Bob Martin to awaken me, all the way from South America!

We discuss the best terminology and spelling, what exactly The Tao is and how it differs from other eastern philosophies like Buddhism or Confucianism, as well how it is similar to Christianity.
We explore the major authors and principle texts. Then we discuss TaiChi, I Ching (pronounced ee-jing), Ying Yang. 

Finally we look at misconceptions and how we can use The Tao in the classroom and possibly in our lives.

Bob very generously signposted us to lots of places - all links below;

Links
https://longevity-center.com/grandmaster-hua-ching-ni-omni/

https://terebess.hu/english/tao/mitchell.html

https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/products/gospel-according-to-jesus-book-stephen-a-mitchell-9780060923211?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA-Oi7BhA1EiwA2rIu2wi7rStMYLaF0g4cDcQDgKkJd1soYpHKoDLzlfv9cZFCAR_ydq-ktxoCbs0QAvD_BwE&sku=GOR003016506

https://www.sapere.org.uk/

https://sites.google.com/view/the-philosophy-garden/home

https://iamthewaybook.com/the-author

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-079YIasck

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk

Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

On the 13th February the General Synod met and discuss 'Living in Faith and Love' which is mentioned in today's episode (link below).  A decision still had not been made on and three more months has been requested.  

What stance should the Anglican Church take on homosexuality?

Dr. Susannah Cornwall from the University of Exeter Theology and Religion Faculty takes us through the history of the relationship between The Anglican Church and Homosexuality.  She highlights the nuances of this debate that are often missed when we reflect on this relationship.  While the Anglican Church were among the first to support the decriminalisation of homosexuality, it's more because they saw it as an illness rather a crime. Furthermore, as a global church, the impact that any change in Theology has to be considered against the variety of political and social contexts.  Furthermore, colonialism has often pushed a western agenda insensitively onto other groups without a true understanding of them.

We discuss the importance of the adjusted position on contraception by the Anglican Church and how this is pertinent to discussions about homosexuality, as well as what the debate has been and where the Anglican Church might go next.

Living in Faith and Love

https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2025-01/gs-2386-living-in-love-and-faith.pdf

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2020/13-november/news/uk/living-in-love-and-faith-a-quick-guide-through-the-book

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk

Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

To continue with the theme of inclusive education, I speak to Dr. Wouter Peeters about the moral importance of EDI.  This is a great episode for RE teachers, for EDI leads in schools and SLT.

https://www.wouterpeeters.info/

We discuss; 

• the purpose of EDI initiatives in terms of Human Rights 
• the benefits to society and individuals in terms of self actualisation
• the challenges to EDI and how we overcome them
• how religion and both support and detract from EDI
• how we can teach our students the skills to uphold EDI

It's an amazing episode and both informative and practical so please share with as many colleagues and friends as possible as EDI benefits all!

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk

Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

This week I continue my conversation with Dr U-Wen Low from the University of Birmingham about how to read the stories in the new Testament without a colonial lens. We focus in this episode on the book of revelations.

The episode is going to take a hermeneutical look at the book of Revelations and what it could really be saying and how it might have been misunderstood. But don't worry, this episode also isn't heavy and complicated.  U-Wen has a brilliant way of making things simple and accessible.

It's a brilliant episode that I think will make you look at familiar stories in a new way which is something we love as RE teachers!

Please share with all Christians and Church leaders too!

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk

Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

To continue on our theme of making our schools and curriculum representative and inclusive, I speak to Dr U-wen Low from the University of Birmingham about how to read the stories in the new Testament without a colonial lens. We focus in this episode on Jesus and Phliemonand will do a further episode on the book of revelation.

The episode is going to take a hermeneutical look at specific texts and how they can be interpretted to either be pro or against colonisation and sometimes both.  But don't worry, this isn't heavy and complicated.  U-wen has a brilliant way of making things simple and accessible.

We focus our converstation on Mary's magnificat, the Great Commission, views on the Romans, the story of Zaccheaus and the letter of Philemon (with it's nuanced take on slavery).

It's a brilliant episode that I think will make you look at familiar stories in a new way which is something we love as RE teachers!

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk

Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

1st February was National Hijab Day!  This episode is a detailed exploration of Islamophobia with Bismha Afzal, Schools Coordinator with Educate Against Islamophobia (EAI). We talk about what Islamophobia, what it looks like in modern Britain and how we as educators can tackle it. It is a whole school thing, not an RE thing so please share with your colleagues. Bismah referenced so many helpful resources. Here are the relevant links;

Islamophobia: Muhammd Vs Adam
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38751307

IHRC
https://www.ihrc.org.uk/countering-islamophobia-through-the-development-of-counter-narratives/

Interesting leaflet by Tariq Modood about Islam
http://www.tariqmodood.com/uploads/1/2/3/9/12392325/muslims_in_bristol_and_britain.pdf

Muhammads last sermon
https://www.iium.edu.my/deed/articles/thelastsermon.html

Runnymede report (2017 one)
https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61488f992b58e687f1108c7c/61bcd30e26cca7688f7a5808_Islamophobia%20Report%202018%20FINAL.pdf

EAI
https://eai.org.uk/

APPG: Islamophobia defined
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/599c3d2febbd1a90cffdd8a9/t/5bfd1ea3352f531a6170ceee/1543315109493/Islamophobia+Defined.pdf

IAM
https://www.islamophobia-awareness.org/

Role of educators in tackling islamophobia
https://www.osce.org/odihr/93497

RE Hubs - School speakers
https://www.re-hubs.uk/get-involved/school-speakers/

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk