Tag: Beyond Belief

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Media & Press Media - Audio

[MEDIA] Is the sermon dead (in a digital age?) for #BeyondBelief on @BBCRadio4

I recorded this the other week, looking at whether traditional church sermons still have a place in a digital age:

 

You can listen to the full programme here (28 mins).

Categories
Media & Press Media - Audio

[MEDIA] Beyond Belief: Public Grief for @BBCRadio4

Last Wednesday I recorded for BBC Radio 4 Beyond Belief, along with Linda Woodhead, Sughra Ahmed, and David Walker, which was aired this afternoon.

We were looking at public responses to recent tragedies (Manchester Arena, London Bridge, Grenfall House and Finsbury Park), and whether these were forms of public grief, or whether it was something else. We were asked to think about:

  • How have expressions of  public grief changed?
  • How has this been illustrated in recent tragic  events?
  • What does this tell us about the changing religious and spiritual needs of people?
  • What does this tell us about the state of faith and interfaith in our society? 
  • What about the role of religious institutions and leaders?   

Listen to the programme on the BBC, or download the MP3.

See my rough preparation notes (and yes I found it more interesting than the amount of preparation that I needed to do!)

Categories
Digital Media & Press Media - Audio

[PRESS] Pre-Record with Radio 4 for #BeyondBelief

13177327_10156749088990161_7956925460373693093_nSo, this afternoon, I completed a pre-record for Beyond Belief on Radio 4, to be live Monday 16th May, and afterwards on iPlayer. I was in the studio with Ernie (pictured here doing a couple of recording edits), and on the line were Shelina Janmohamed, Muslim activist, and Michael O’Loughlin, author of The Tweetable Pope – who posted the following:

The questions that I had been asked to prepare for were as follows:

  • How (exactly) is social media being used by Christian leaders/institutions/individuals?
  • Has the use of/attitude to social media changed within churches over the last 10 years or so?
  • Is there a danger of social media putting people on a pedestal/does it divert from ‘the real message’?
  • Is there evidence that social media is being used successfully by religious groups for social justice?
  • Do you feel there are good/bad examples of religious faith used online – or does the ‘anonymous nature’ cause problems?
  • Is there a problem with religious trolling – what does it look like and is it problematic?
  • [Programme then interviews Chris Juby re his @biblesummary project]
  • What is your reaction to what Chris did – do such projects genuinely have the power to change people’s faith (journeys)?
  • Has social media changed the way that people pray?
  • Are people doing church in different ways, including just online?
  • What do you think about tweeting in church?
  • Has social media changed what is church?
  • Are we witnessing the start of something new – what are the up & coming trends?
  • Is there a pressure on those who are not tech savvy/don’t want to live their lives online to participate?

Some came up in the conversation, but the show will be cut down from the full conversation, so we’ll see what makes the cut!