The first episode of this season of Politics in the Pulpit for Spring 2026 is hosted by Stephen Ansa-Addo, and features our special guest and new host, William Gibson! William is a candidate for ministry in the Church of Scotland and a PhD student in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Glasgow. Prior to this William worked at Apple where he led unionising efforts in the first unionised Apple store in the UK before working for the Student Christian Movement as their theology and resources project worker for a year. William is also an Iona Community member. This week, Stephen, William and Erica explore the lectionary readings for Sunday 11th January. Timestamps: 6:58 – Isaiah 42: 1-9 12:42 – Psalm 29 16:20 – Matthew 3: 13-17 24:40 – Acts 10: 34-43

Alex, Christine, Erica, and Thomas discuss the readings for 4 January. Don't forget to listen to parts 1 and 3 of our Christmas special and watch this space for a new host and a return to our traditional format in the new year. 

Alex, Christine, Erica, and Thomas discuss the readings for 28 December. Don't forget to listen to parts 1 and 3 of our Christmas special and watch this space for a new host and a return to our traditional format in the new year. 

Alex, Christine, Erica, and Thomas discuss the readings for Christmas Day. Don't forget to listen to parts 2 and 3 of our Christmas special and watch this space for a new host and a return to our traditional format in the new year. 

The fourth episode of our Advent specials of Politics in the Pulpit is hosted by Thomas Niblett, and features Hannah Fremont-Brown and JPIT member Roo Stewart! This week, Thomas, Hannah, and Roo explore the lectionary readings for Sunday 21st December. Timestamps 00:00 – Intro Matthew 1: 18-25 26:30 – Romans 1: 1-7 35:47 – Psalm 80: 1-7, 17-19 41:59 - Isaiah 7: 10-16  

The third episode of our Advent specials of Politics in the Pulpit is hosted by Erica Lees-Smith, and features Neil Thorogood and JPIT member Steve Tinning! This week, Erica, Neil, and Steve explore the lectionary readings for Sunday 14th December. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 06:33 – Luke 1: 47-55 (Magnificat) 12:04 - Isaiah 35: 1-10 21:14 – James 5: 7-10 25:33 - Matthew 11: 2-11 30:52 – Psalm 146: 5-10 This episode includes particular discussion of the Tommy Robinson event due to take place this weekend, and what preachers could say from the week's readings to speak out for compassion and justice. For more resources please visit our recent blog - jpit.uk/is-this-love.

The second episode of the Advent season of Politics in the Pulpit is hosted by Thomas Niblett, and features guests and JPIT team members Erica Lees-Smith and Simeon Mitchell. We are trialling some live on-site episodes during advent. This week, Thomas, Erica, and Simeon explore the lectionary readings for Sunday 7th December. Timestamps 00:00 – Intro 05:15 - Matthew 3: 1-12 11:35 - Romans 15: 4-13 17:40 - Isaiah 11: 1-10 24:40 - Psalm 72: 1-7, 18-19  

The first episode of the new Advent season of Politics in the Pulpit is hosted by Politics in the Pulpit editor Erica Lees-Smith, and features guests and JPIT team members Alex Clare-Young and Thomas Niblett. We are trialing some live on site episodes during advent. This week, Erica, Alex and Thomas explore the lectionary readings for Sunday 30th November.

The tenth and final episode of this season of Politics in the Pulpit Autumn 2025 is hosted by Stephen Ansa-Addo, and features our special guest, Nicola Robinson! Nicola Anne Robinson is a URC Minister, currently serving in the Leeds URC Partnership. She has a strong commitment to social and environmental justice, for people and planet who are experiencing marginalisation and exclusion, both locally and globally. Embedding themes such as racial justice, creation care, refugee awareness and more in worship services and with congregations, exploring how people who have been excluded from church can be welcomed and affirmed. Nicola is the Convenor of Yorkshire Synod’s Green Apostles group. In 2026, she will serve as Chaplain to the URC Youth Moderator. She is part of the ecumenical planning group for Pride Church Leeds which holds a service and gathering for our LGBTQ+ Christian community once a month. She lives with her lady companion, Maisie, a 10-year-old cockapoo.  This week, Stephen, Nicola and Roo explore the lectionary readings for Sunday 23rd November. Timestamps 00:00 – Intro 09:30 - Jeremiah 23:1-6 18:50 – Psalm 46 28:50 - Luke 23:33-43 41:25 - Colossians 1:11-20  

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         

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/   

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 2nd 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/

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

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...

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

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 

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.

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.

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/

Join our host Alex Clare-Young as they welcome Dr Frances Clemson and Roo Stewart to discuss how politics could appear in our preaching for Sunday the 13th July. This week’s discussion draws upon the following lectionary readings: Deuteronomy 30:9-14 - God’s Faithfulness Colossians 1:1-14 - Paul Thanks God for the Colossians Luke 10:25-37 - The Parable of the Good Samaritan Dr Frances Clemson is Christian Aid's Faith Communications Specialist. In this role she works with churches and communities across the UK and with Christian Aid's partners around the world, exploring how and why our faith compels us to take action on poverty and injustice. Prior to joining Christian Aid in 2023, Frances was Assistant Professor in Theology and Ministry at Durham University. In this role she worked on the Common Awards partnership - the national framework that supports the academic components of ministry training in a range of UK churches. Her theological interests include embodiment, justice, and the arts, particularly drama. Her PhD was on theologies enacted in mid-twentieth century drama, particularly plays by Dorothy L. Sayers.   Relevant dates and links: Climate Coalition mass lobby – Join the Mass Lobby of Parliament on the 9th of July, organised by the Climate Coalition – JPIT and Christian Aid will be around! Mass Lobby 2025 - The Climate Coalition Beckley lecture - watch “Whiteness is the Sea, not the shark” with Anthony Reddie here: https://youtu.be/MTrl9eL2ymI?si=t1aHOuslGGW-Ho5S To find out more about the Consituency Action Network head to: https://jpit.uk/can Find the reimagined version of When i needed a neighbour from Christian Aid here: https://www.christianaid.org.uk/news/about-us/when-i-needed-neighbour-reimagined#listen   ‘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/