We talk about how we experience God in nature. If your 'church' is the mountains or the countryside what does that mean? Is there anything you can do to enhance the experience? Also we talk about images of God, more on the incarnation and, of course, it's a happy new financial year to Joe. You see? Interesting and fun. Support the podcast Contact the podcast through your email machine Mentioned in this episode: Secret Byrd William Byrd BBC: Wiltshire church hosts summer Christmas carol service William Inge Four typologies of God – Samuel's email Botolphs Mary Oliver, Wild Geese Prunella vulgaris - Heal all, or Woundwort Wilderthorn

Wassail! It's the height of Summer which as everyone knows is the traditional time for the Midfaith Crisis Christmas Special! As usual we dive into the mystery of the incarnation. Was it a miracle or a reset? What does it tell us about the world and our humanity? And do our Christmas services relate it to the wrong bit of Genesis? Support the podcast Contact the podcast through your email machine Mentioned in this episode: Luxmuralis Rowan Williams, The Dwelling of the Light

Joe is back from holiday and Nick is recovering from some cricket. Meanwhile we tackle some of the difficult questions. What empowers us to be more Christlike? Does it matter if the resurrection is historical truth or mystical metaphor? And can you have too many multiverses? Support the podcast Contact the podcast through your email machine Mentioned in this episode: Swallowtail Butterfly God in Film Podcast - Thor: Ragnarok and Love & Thunder Utah primary schools ban Bible for 'vulgarity and violence' - BBC News Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse

We discuss our responses to the interview with Chris Scott in the last episode. Is it possible that the gospels could be both historical truth and life-informing myth? What is the relationship between beliefs and actions? And is the chiffchaff really a sign of hope and grace? Support the podcast Contact the podcast through your email machine Mentioned in this episode: The Jesus Myth: a psychologist's viewpoint Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony

Joe interviews Chris Scott, psychologist, psychotherapist and priest about his book The Jesus Myth. It's a thought-provoking exploration of how myth can carry deep truth, and whether we need to jettison what Chris calls 'bronze-age' images of God. Support the podcast Contact the podcast through your email machine Mentioned in this episode: The Jesus Myth: a psychologist's viewpoint

We discuss speaking in tongues. Is there a place for it in public worship? Or should it only be exercised in the privacy of your own home? Also we have more on retreats, a lot of love for the Song of the Chiffchaff, and we ask why there aren't any global conferences for people who put the chairs out. Support the podcast Contact the podcast through your email machine Mentioned in this episode: Glossolalia

Joe and Nick have both been on retreat, so this week we talk about our different approaches, what works for us, and why we find it vital to go to a place where 'there is less of you to get in the way'. Also, brilliantly, the Song of the Chiffchaff is now an official, actual song. Support the podcast Contact the podcast through your email machine Mentioned in this episode: Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All David Goodbourn Lecture 2023 - The Wretched of the Church: Dominance and Submission The Resurrection, Cookham Baldred of Tyninghame

We reflect on the Coronation service. Was it weird or wonderful? Amazing or anachronistic? Holy or hypocritical? Or was it just like every other church service only with more bling and a woman with a sword? Also what happens when you ask ChatGPT to write a worship song featuring the Chiffchaff? Support the podcast Contact the podcast through your email machine Mentioned in this episode: Private Eye: Man in hat sits on chair The song of the chiffchaff The Coronation Ceremony in 4 Minutes - BBC Did that really happen? -- Caitlin Moran on the coronation Supertunica Monty Python-Holy Hand Grenade

We discuss different ideas of heaven and the afterlife. Will we have bodies? Do we go to heaven? Will it be largely standing around on bits of gemstone singing? And, most importantly, will there be a buffet? Meanwhile, Nick is thinking of blogging and Joe looks in fridges. Support the podcast Contact the podcast through your email machine Mentioned in this episode: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry Clive Anderson: Me, Macbeth and I Race Across the World 1 Corinthians 13:12 Belinda Carlisle - Heaven Is A Place On Earth Dave Allen - Teeth will be provided Eschatology 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope N.T. Wright, New Heavens, New Earth: The Biblical Picture of Christian Hope David Lawrence, Heaven: It's Not the End of the World C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce Philip Larkin: An Arundel Tomb

Cheer up everyone, it's an episode all about hell. We reflect on the Staying Defiantly event that Joe hosted earlier in the week. In other news, Joe's been to Bristol, Nick has been to IKEA, God is love and beer is good. Support the podcast Contact the podcast through your email machine Mentioned in this episode: The Housemartins Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2022 Staying defiantly MFC Episode 41: What the hell! Gregory MacDonald, The Evangelical Universalist Robin Parry, 7 Myths About Universalism Robin Parry - Burning Love: The Theological Hermeneutics of Hell Four Views on Hell: Second Edition Inventing Hell: Dante, the Bible and Eternal Torment "The believing faculty": George MacDonald on Universal Salvation