Defining church, US religious electorate, Prison Reform

The word ‘church’ was not used to describe hundreds of new Church of England congregations, initiatives and community groups set up over the last decade. Research by the Centre for Church Planting Theology and Research, at Cranmer Hall, Durham, found that in the past ten years, around 900 so-called “new things” have been started in 11 dioceses. But none of the dioceses used the term “church” as its main description of those ‘things’. Rev Canon Professor Alison Milbank, theologian and author of The Once and Future Parish (2023), and Rev Canon Dave Male, the Church of England’s co-director for vision and strategy, discuss if this is simply about the choice of language or something deeper?

In light of the government's emergency measures put in place in prisons, we’re joined by the lead bishop for prisons, the Right Reverend Rachel Treweek, and David Spencer, Head of Crime and Justice at Policy Exchange, to explore the sentencing of young people and whether custodial sentences are helpful in the long term.

Following Kamala Harris’ acceptance of the Democratic nomination for president, we speak to theologian Brad Onishi, Professor of Religion at The University of San Francisco and co-host of the ‘Straight White American Jesus’ podcast, to get his view on how the two candidates appeal to the US religious electorate.

Presenter: William Crawley Producers: Alexa Good, Bara’atu Ibrahim and Katy Davis Studio Managers: Simon Highfield and Jack Morris Editor: Tim Pemberton