Wayne Jacobsen was a successful pastor. But as his disillusionment with the institutional nature of church grew, he decided to walk away and begin a search for the church Jesus was building. 20 years later he says this…
Easter is upon us again, so we thought it was a fine time to look at the atonement again. So we popped over to Bristol to chat with Alan Mann. Alan asks the question, what could the…
Robin Parry is a theologian best known for advocating universalism. But more recently he’s turned his attention to writing about The Biblical Cosmos. In this book he systematically lays out all the weirdness of the biblical universe, with…
On Nomad we often talk about the changing nature of culture and how the church has changed (or not) in response. But rather than continuing to rely on our own anecdotal and wildly speculative evidence, we…
Jamie Arpin-Ricci joins us on the latest leg of our Nomadic pilgrimage of hope. Jamie felt called to leave his comfortable middle class life and move to a high poverty and crime inner-city area. Obviously this presented many challenges, but none…
The UN said recently that ‘Gender-based violence is perhaps the most widespread and socially tolerated of human rights violations.’ We spoke to philosopher, sociologist and theologian Elaine Storkey about the reasons behind this, and how the church should respond. This led…
Terry Waite travelled to some of the most dangerous places in the world, negotiating with the likes of Idi Amin and Colonel Gaddafi for the release of hostages. Then while working in Lebanon he was taken hostage by Islamic…
On this edition of Nomad we thought we’d answer a few of your questions. Everything from ‘Who are you two?’, through to ‘Is there a north-south divide in heaven?’. It’s a marathon 2 hour something…
As if building a church of 10,000+, producing an international bestselling DVD series, writing critically acclaimed bestselling books, producing a hugely popular podcast, and having his own TV show wasn’t enough, Rob Bell has decided to write a novel. And much to the frustration of all us lesser talented…
Ever felt awkward and uncomfortable in Church, like you just don’t fit in? Well, according to Jonny Baker that feeling could be the gift of pioneering. Jonny was pioneering before pioneering was a thing. Most notably he founded the alternative worship community Grace,…
At the core of author and teacher Brad Jersak’s faith is the belief that God looks like Jesus. Simple enough, right? But what about the violent ‘God of the Old Testament’? What about the parable’s of Jesus…
Dave Andrews has lived and worked in intentional communities with marginalised groups of people in Australia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal. Through these experiences he developed a passion for seeing Christians and Muslims learning together what…
The recent image of a drowned child washed up on a Turkish beach brought the refugee crisis into sharp focus. So to help us better understand the complexities of the situation and how best to…
The idea of beauty has shaped Joanna Jepson‘s life and ministry. Born with a jaw defect she was mercilessly bullied through her childhood and into adulthood. But after successful surgery she then had to figure out…
10 years ago Marina Cantacuzino began to interview people who had suffered all sorts of trauma, abuse and wrongdoing, but who instead of choosing vengeance chose forgiveness. It’s easy as Christians to think that we’ve cornered…
Robert Song is a professor in the department of Theology and Religion at Durham Uni. He recently wrote ‘Covenant and Calling’, in which he challenges traditional ideas of marriage, having children and celibacy and proposes a whole…
Nomad started out with a group of people wanting to explore new forms of church, so after six years we thought it was about time to explore this idea again. Kelly Bean grew up in traditional…
Jewish blogger, Robert Cohen is back on the show, sharing with us lessons from his faith journey. So if you’re interested in knowing more about the connection between faith, ancestry and land, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict,…
Eve Tushnet is a freelance writer and blogger. And she’s gay, Catholic and celibate. So we asked Eve to tell us the story of how she went from atheist lesbian, to Catholic and celibate. And what…
With yet another terrorist atrocity in the news – this time leading to the deaths of at least 38 people in Tunisia – people are again asking, ‘Is Islam inherently violent?’ We ask Carl Medearis, an…
Tom Wright is unquestionably one of the most influential NT scholars of our generation. It’s hard to overestimate the influence he has had on the Church’s understanding of Jesus and Paul. But what makes this great…
It’s quite popular these days to refer to yourself as an activist. But Alastair McIntosh is the real thing. Not only is he a respected academic and writer, but he’s taken on major corporations, and won!…
In this episode we talk to Rachel Held Evans about her journey from a conservative evangelical faith, through a period of wrestling with questions, doubt, cynicism and despair, to the emergence of a new kind of faith. And…
[Science] Mike McHargue describes himself as a Christian turned atheist turned follower of Jesus. That’s right, Mike was a fully-fledged conservative evangelical Christian, but then he read the whole Bible and his faith crumbled away….
What on earth are we meant to do with those passages in the Bible where God commands genocide, the stoning to death of rebellious children or poems about dashing the heads of babies on rocks?!…
Another General Election is upon us. Levels of apathy and disillusionment are at an all time high, and popular figures like Russell Brand are urging us to have no part in what he sees as…
The Rapture is a curious doctrine, as it’s not in the Bible, anywhere! But let’s pretend it’s real, and you missed it! How would you survive the collapse of civilisation? Lewis Dartnell‘s day job is to…
Jesus told us to love our enemies. But surely not the monstrous soldiers of Isis? With an almost constant stream of stories of burnings, beheadings, and mass slaughter, what could love possible look like in this…
Mike Stygal is a shaman (i.e. he whips himself up into an altered state of consciousness in order to hang out in the spirit world). He also happens to be the president of the Pagan…
Apparently, Britain is set to become the first country to have three parent babies! It’s all to do with genetically modifying an embryo to prevent certain inherited diseases. But as with many scientific advances folks…
Dave Tomlinson is effortlessly interesting and seems to effortlessly attract interesting people. He mentors the leaders of the now global atheist church, he took the funerals of two of the countries most notorious criminals, and…
Wendy is passionate about creating ‘generous spaces’ in churches, where people with different understanding of sexuality can meet together without judgment, listen to each others stories and to seek Jesus together. Sounds great! But is…
Just in case you’re suffering withdrawal symptoms from our 12 Days of Christmas series, and are slumped listlessly in front of your now empty mp3 player, we’ve got one final Christmas treat for you. We…
Nomad made a commitment a while back to have a lot more women on the show. So we thought it was about time we looked at the theology behind that decision. Jenni Williams lectures in…
Alister McGrath is the master of apologetics. With three doctorates under his belt and ranked among the ’20 most brilliant Christian professors’, he’s publically locked horns with the likes of Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins….
Richard Rohr is a Catholic priest and a Franciscan Friar. He is well connected and respected across Christian traditions (including the emerging church), so he seemed like the perfect person to speak to about what…
The late Phyllis Tickle had her finger on the pulse of the emerging church like no one else. So if you’re interested in why the emergence of a new kind of church is both inevitable and…
Sara Miles was an atheist. Then one day, out of idle curiosity, she wandered into a church, had a bite of bread and a sip of wine and God came crashing into her life. Her…
Dave Andrews has committed his life to serving the poorest and most marginalised people through small, local Christian communities. He’s clearly a man who knows Jesus intimately, and has gained tremendous experience and wisdom. So…
Dr. Bex Lewis is a research fellow in social media at Durham University and author of the popular book Raising Children in the Digital Age. So we thought we’d have a chat with her about…
Robin Parry is an evangelical, but unlike many evangelicals he doesn’t believe that Hell and death is the end of the story for the majority of humanity. Instead he believes the Bible teaches that we…
Krista Tippett has built a career on listening. Through her award-winning public radio show and podcast, On Being, she listens to people from all religious and spiritual traditions, learning about what it means to be…
David Benjamin Blower is a prophet in the Old Testament tradition. Using music and the written word, he creatively and insightfully points the finger at himself and the world around him railing at the injustices…
Gail Dines is a professor of sociology and women’s studies. She has been studying porn and its effects on society for over 20 years, and has become one of the world’s leading anti-porn activists. Why…
Richard Wilkinson is professor of social epidemiology (that’s the distriThe Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone has caused quite a stir, because he believes he’s answered a very long-standing question. Why are we…
Nadia Bolz Weber is anything but boring, Raised in a fundamentalist church, she rebelled, immersed herself in a hedonistic lifestyle, found faith again, and now leads House for all Sinners and Saints. Tune in for a…
Bob Ekblad serves immigrants, inmates, homeless people and people struggling with addiction in the US. What’s even more interesting about Bob though is how he seamlessly combines social justice with a miraculous healing ministry! Image…
Author and lecturer in evangelism, theology and Chrisitan spirituality Elaine Heath joins us on the show. We chat with Elaine about contemplative prayer, and the healing and outreach that naturally flows from it. So tune in…
Theologian, church leader, and author Greg Boyd is back on the show. Greg believes a call to non-violence is at the heart of the gospel. He also believes this call impacts how we relate to…
Sharon Baker is a theologian and author who is best known for taking issue with the traditional understanding of hell. Instead she holds to a ‘Christian Universalism’ where all people are refined by God’s purifying fire…
Pete Rollins is a philosopher, writer and founder of the Ikon community. Pete believes that unless we die to certainty and embrace doubt then God becomes just another consumer product. God, in effect, becomes an…
Paul Kerensa is a stand-up comedian and BBC scriptwriter for shows like Miranda and Not Going Out. So he seemed like just the chap to talk to about the relationship between humour and religion, and…
Michael Hardin is a theologian who’s got a rather colourful background and doesn’t mince his words, which always makes for an interesting interview. So we asked him whether God is really as violent as the…
We’ve somehow managed to persuade Tom Wright, one of the world’s leading New Testament theologians, to come on the show for a third time! We ask Tom to summarise his 1680 page Paul and the…