Series 7 of Bishop Steven Croft’s popular podcast looks at the first letter of Peter, with Bishop Steven and friends reflecting on its lessons for us as we look to becoming a deeper church again.
We are undoubtedly living through one of the greatest crises of our lives. Series 4, Reflections for a Church in Lockdown, and series 5, Comfortable Words, aim to resource the Church during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Series 6, Come and Eat, encourages us to put ourselves in the way of God’s grace as we regather.
Series 1 – 3 of My (extraordinary) Family see Bishop Steven talking with someone he’s come to know in his travels about their faith, their work and their story. What does it mean to them to become more Christ-like: contemplative, compassionate and courageous for the sake of God’s world?
The Revd Canon David Tyler tells the story of his calling to Bishop Steven Croft.
From an introduction to faith through close friends to becoming the next Archdeacon of Dorchester, David shares the passions and challenges of ministry and how looking to the fantastic people around him and the gifts they bring sees him through.
The Church holds in tension two great images: on the one hand, we are a chosen race, God’s own people. On the other, we are aliens and exiles, living against the grain as we wait for God’s kingdom to come in its fulness. As we look forward in anticipation this Advent, the words of 1 Peter set us on the path of living as best we can in these in-between times.
Photo: Shutterstock
Bishop Steven is joined this week by the Rt Revd Mary D. Glasspool, Assistant Bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of New York.
As they delve deeper into 1 Peter, Bishop Mary discusses the complexities of being ‘chosen’ without feeling entitled, as she and Bishop Steven contemplate the seeds of hope for a post-pandemic future and the idea of the church as a centre for healing and protection. She also has some thoughts about the Lambeth Conference, taking place in 2022…
A video of their conversation is also available to watch on the Diocese of Oxford YouTube channel
We have learned during the pandemic how important our church buildings are. But we’ve also learned more deeply than we did before, that the church is not the building. The church is the community which gathers for worship, whether virtually or physically, and is sustained by the presence of the Risen Christ in Word and sacrament. It is we who are the living stones.
Church leadership teams can sign up to find out more about Come and See 2022 using this form
The picture for this episode is taken from the poster on Bishop Steven’s wall, referred to in his introduction.
In a candid conversation with the Bishop of Western Louisiana, the Rt Revd Jacob Wayne Owensby, Bishop Steven delves deeper into the first letter of 1 Peter.
Facing the uncomfortable realisation of feeling too content in the world as it is, and the importance of being the light in a world that’s aching for more, Bishops Steven and Jacob explore how to be people of resilience and grit in times of great hardship.
A video of their conversation is also available to watch on the Diocese of Oxford YouTube channel
We will only navigate the challenges of the coming years if we learn to be a deeper church again. This new series of podcasts explores what God is saying to us as a Church through the first letter of Peter.
Join the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, and some of his fellow bishops from around the world as they rediscover that the medicine Peter offers is good for today’s church.
Photo: Shutterstock
Come to this table, not because you must but because you may,
not because you are strong, but because you are weak.
Through small, simple actions, the scattered and dispersed Church is drawn together as one. Bishop Steven concludes our exploration of Holy Communion – the meal through which God will build up his tired and depleted church after the demands of the last 15 months.
We need to come and eat, and be restored.
Bishop Steven has asked some of our very creative liturgists to draw together some resources and prayers for parishes to mark this season of regathering and rededication. These resources invite churches to renew their thanksgiving to God for the ‘wonderful sacrament’ of Holy Communion.
Image from Shutterstock.
Jesus loves parties. Everyone who reads the gospel knows that. The Eucharist is prayer and parties with a purpose: to fill us with hope and a fresh vision for what this world can become.
As we regather as a church around the table of the risen Lord, what are we to draw from this theme of the Eucharist as a meal which looks forward – a sign of hope and of the kingdom?
Bishop Steven has asked some of our very creative liturgists to draw together some resources and prayers for parishes to mark this season of regathering and rededication. These resources invite churches to renew their thanksgiving to God for the ‘wonderful sacrament’ of Holy Communion.
Image from Shutterstock.
“The bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world”.
Many of us find ourselves languishing in the wake of the pandemic. It’s good to remind ourselves – and the whole world – that Jesus came to bring life in all its abundance. The bread which Jesus gives, and is, is more than the food we need to stay physically alive. This is the nourishment we need to have life, to flourish again.
The second episode in this series on Holy Communion considers the Eucharist as a meal which looks back and remembers, calling to mind the story of manna and of John 6, after the feeding of the five thousand.
The music at the end is is Now the Green Blade Riseth, written by John McCrum, performed by Steve Winwood. Image from Shutterstock.
“The Lord, through his angel, simply sees what is needed. The Lord prepares a meal: fresh bread, cool, clear fresh water in a jar. Time to rest and sleep.”
Welcome to the first in a short series of podcasts on Holy Communion, the profound, wonderful meal at the heart of our faith.
Our starting point is the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19: the exhausted prophet, right at the end of his resources. Because that, if we’re honest, is where we are – tired and worn down, finding every day quite hard.
The Lord meets Elijah where he is – not with big visions or daunting tasks for the future, but with simply what he needs. An invitation to come and eat.