Nomad Podcast

To kick off 2024 we thought we’d share a Nomad Revisited episode with you. Each month on Revisited Tim and Nick raid the Nomad archives, dust off an old interview, and ponder where their faith was then, where it is now, and what influences shaped that transition.

Nomad Revisited is usually tucked away behind a paywall on our Patreon page as a little thank you for the listeners who help us pay the bills. But we’re making this one freely available as a little New Years treat.

In this Revisited, we travel back to 2015 and a conversation Tim had with the much loved blogger and author Rachel Held Evans. Rachel was one of the early pioneers in the deconstruction space, blogging about her experiences of growing up in a fundamentalist Bible Belt culture, and her experiences of publicly questioning this.

Rachel became a beacon of hope for thousands of people wrestling with an evolving faith. But sadly she died suddenly in 2019 at just 37, leaving a husband and two young children. So this is an episode marked by sadness, but also a celebration of a beautiful life. 

Interview starts at 15m 42s

Books, Quotes, Links →

If you’d like a brand new Nomad Revisited each month, then sign up at our Patreon page.

In this Christmas devotional podcast, Dr Christena Cleveland explores the symbolism of the Black Madonna. In times of dysregulation and uncertainty, the Black Madonna has provided Christena a powerful symbol of love, nurture and connection, allowing her to move from a spirituality of fear to one of trust.

Following Christena’s refection, Anna Robinson creates a contemplative space for us to more deeply reflect and experience this womb-like space of safety and trust.

Jay Hulme then reads a poem about Julian of Norwich, the 14th Century mystic who experienced a radical connection with the divine feminine.

All this is beautifully woven together with the music of Jon Bilbrough (musically known as Wilderthorn). 

Full instrumental tracks of the music featured in this episode (and more) are available here.

Books, Quotes, Links →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

In this special seasonal episode, all the Nomad hosts come together for a Q&A to infuse your holidays with festive cheer.

As a thank you to our beloved listeners whose financial support made this year's 24 Nomad episodes possible, we've gathered around the virtual fireplace to wrestle with 24 of their burning questions. Everything from our favourite biscuits to whether Jesus is God! 

So, grab a cozy blanket, pour yourself a glass of mulled wine, and join us as we share stories, insights, and a touch of seasonal merriment. It's our way of saying thank you and celebrating the incredible community that makes the Nomad Podcast journey so special.

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

Author and poet Jay Hulme joins us to talk about his literal and metaphorical search to connect with a variety of ancient and eccentric saintly figures. Weaving together themes of wilderness, faith, sexuality and decay, Jay speaks of the connections he discovered and the inspiration we might find when examining these lives from long ago.

Following the interview Anna and Joy consider their past and present relationships to religious saints and reflect on what role these themes play in their lives today.

Interview begins at 16m 25s

Books, Quotes, Links →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

In this episode former pastor Dana Hicks guides us through the evolving landscape of marriage and relationships. Dana explores how our cultural perceptions of marriage are shifting and challenging established norms, and ponders the relevance of biblical images of marriage for our modern context. With a focus on reimagining relationships, Dana helps us explore ideas such as relationship anarchy, and how they might help us shape the future of marriage.  

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley reflect on the understanding of marriage they inherited, and how that’s being reshaped as their faith evolves. 

Interview begins at 14m 07s

Books, Quotes, Links →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

In this episode we’re joined by Franciscan sister and theologian Ilia Delio. Ilia guides us through the intersection of science, spirituality, and love. We explore the concept of God's love as a fundamental force in the cosmos, existing at the heart of everything, connecting us to God, each other and the physical structures of the universe. 

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Anna Robinson ponder the place of love in their evolving faith. 

Interview begins at 18m 25s

Books, Quotes, Links →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

As part of her personal spiritual journey and theological master's research, Lindsay Monroe invited a group of women to explore the impact of purity culture on their sexuality. We invite her to discuss what she discovered, about the harm inflicted by this ideology and how we might be open to finding healthier and more authentic ways forward.

Following the interview, Nick Thorley and Joy Brooks consider their experiences of purity culture and how they might develop a wider understanding of sexuality.

Interview starts at 15m 32s 

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

In this episode we speak with a non-human guest: the AI chatbot, ChatGPT. We quiz ChatGPT on the ethical complexities and moral implications of weaving AI into our lives and spiritual journeys. We discuss what safeguards need to be in place to ensure AI acts as a catalyst for human flourishing, what AI can teach us about what it means to be human, and whether it could create it’s own religious texts, and lead it’s own Church of AI?  

After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Joy Brooks look for signs of hope in this emerging AI landscape. 

Interview starts at 19m 13s

Books, Quotes, Links →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

Reflecting on the Lord's Prayer, theologian, writer, and poet Nicola Slee delves into some of it’s problematic language, and through a process of improvisation reimagines the prayer as one that brings a universal message of hope in a world marred by injustice. 

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Anna Robinson reflect on their own journeys with the Lord’s Prayer, and ponder its role in their current spiritual practices.

Interview starts at 17m 28s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

Well, this is it. After over six years of hosting, interviewing, music and creativity, David Blower is bowing out.  In his final episode Tim and David reflect on David’s nomad journey, answer listener questions, and listen to some music. And, of course, talk about the Nah Box and signs of hope.  So raise a glass, wipe the tear from your eye, and enjoy a final hour in the company of DBB.

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

Host of the In the Shift podcast Michael Frost is a researcher, writer and theologian. In this episode he shares from his own experience of faith and church, as he unpicks the language that has so often been co-opted in Christian spaces to enforce power and perpetuate unhealthy systems of control.

Afterwards Nick Thorley and Joy Brooks consider the impact of this misuse of power on their own lives and reflect on how they have found healthier ways of engaging with their own faith.

Interview starts at 15m 34s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

Theologian and community gardener Sam Ewell reflects on his years as a missionary and a neighbour, and how a radical priest called Ivan Illich led him back to the soil.

After the interview, Nomad hosts David Blower and Anna Robinson ponder how the life and teaching of Illich might help shape their evolving faith. 

Interview starts at 10m 50s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

During two and a half years of cancer treatment, Claire Gilbert found a spiritual companion in Julian of Norwich. We speak to Claire about her experience of writing Julian's fictional autobiography. She considers the tensions between Julian's visions and Holy church, whilst reflecting on the possibilities that open up when we are transformed by both suffering and love.

Following the interview, Anna and Joy consider the themes of Julian's life and how they apply to their experiences of faith and spirituality.

Interview starts at 18m 13s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

We speak with Doug King about the evolution of his faith, progressing from Christian fundamentalism to a post-Christian identity. At the heart of Doug’s understanding of this journey is the historical framework of Spiral Dynamics, a model that illuminates the evolution of worldviews across cultures worldwide. This model reveals that the journey many of us have been on - from fundamentalism, through deconstruction, to a more expansive, inclusive spirituality - are not isolated personal experiences, but an integral part of the collective evolution of the human race.  

After the interview Tim and Nick share their own experience of Spiral Dynamics, and how it’s helped them make sense of their own journeys.

Interview starts at 18m 58s 

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

Sally Mann has lived on the same road in East Ham that her family have lived on since the 1800s. She and Dave have worked and played with their neighbours to form all kinds of shared spaces for common life: community halls, gardens, sports fields and more. This is a story about faith shaped more by encounters with people and place than by institutions and dogma.

After the interview David Blower and Joy Brooks reflect on their own experiences of place and encounter with others. They consider the impact of power and politics on how they experience connection, community and spirituality.

Interview starts at 14m 40s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

Over the last 20 years Rachel and Simon Jay have been parents to many children through fostering and adoption as well as raising their own biological children. In this conversational episode, we listen in as they reflect on their experiences, discuss what they've learnt, and explore the expectations, challenges and delights of being family.

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

We speak with author and teacher Brad Jersak about his book Out of the Embers: Faith After the Great Deconstruction, and how his dark night of the soul led him to a 12 Step program, the Eastern Orthodox Church and to a new kind of faith. Brad also reflects on the roots of what he refers to as The Great Deconstruction, and the wider cultural shifts that situate our evolving faith.

After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley ponder their own evolving faith journey, how they’ve been shaped by a changing culture, and how they now relate to Christianity. 

Interview starts at 18m 36s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

Frustrated at the lack of literature on faith deconstruction, Olivia Jackson carried out her own research as she sought to provide hope and solidarity to others on a similar journey. Here she talks about her own story, alongside the impact of receiving hundreds of questionnaires and listening to 140 individual experiences in order to draw together 'a collective memoir of deconstructing faith'.

Following the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Joy Brooks consider their own experiences and how connecting with the wider story affects their view of deconstruction.

Interview starts at 16m 13s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

In this Easter special we interviewed the theologian Ched Myers about the politics of the passion narratives, exploring what the cross and its religious atonement ideas have to do with colonialism, capitalism and the power structures we live in today.

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

We speak with Bible scholar and author, Pete Enns about his new book Curveball, and how he allowed his crisis of faith and deconstruction to open him up to new ways of engaging with the Bible, and to a God who was bigger and more mysterious than he could have previously imagined. 

After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Anna Robinson talk about their journey with the Bible, the curveballs life has thrown them, and how their faith has evolved and shifted as a result. 

Interview starts at 15m 09s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

In this episode we speak with award-winning translator Carmen Acevedo Butcher. Carmen’s latest work is a new, inclusive translation of Brother Lawrence’s classic Practice of the Presence. Brother Lawrence was a poor, uneducated, disabled monk who worked in a monastery kitchen, who found the divine in the depths of his soul, and learnt to experience the divine presence throughout each day. So we ask Carmen how immersing herself in Brother Lawrence’s writings and spiritual practice helped guide her through her evolving faith and what role it played in her journey of healing from trauma.

Following the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Anna Robinson reflect on their own experience of Brother Lawrence in both evangelical and more contemplative spaces, and ponder the role the Practice of the Presence might play in their evolving understanding of prayer. 

Interview starts at 17m 10s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

Growing up during the northern Ireland Troubles, author Gareth Higgins experienced some of the devastation stories can effect on individuals and communities. He joins us to talk about his subsequent development and growth, reflecting on the role of story telling and inviting us to consider its role in our own beliefs, relationships and communities.

Following the interview Nomad hosts Joy Brooks and Tim Nash reflect on Gareth’s journey, and ponder how it might inform their own evolving faith.    Interview starts at 15m 22s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

In this episode we chat with journalist and editor Katelyn Beaty about Christian celebrity. After distinguishing between celebrity and fame, Katelyn explores the ways celebrity has shaped the church and Christian faith in unhealthy ways, how it has led to the abuse of power, the pursuit of growth at all costs, and the fall from grace of so many celebrity Christian leaders.  

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley reflect on their own relationship with Christian celebrities, both positive and negative, and the role they’ve played in their evolving faith. 

Interview starts at 17m 19s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

Psychotherapist and philosopher Mark Vernon chats with us about his evolving faith journey, and his conviction that nurturing our spiritual intelligence is crucial if we are to survive and thrive in these troubled times. Known by many names, spiritual intelligence, Mark contends, is the foundation of who we are and the foundation of peace, purpose and solidarity.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Anna Robinson, Joy Brooks and Tim Nash reflect on the framing of spirituality as an intelligence and ponder which of Mark’s observations might help shape their ongoing spiritual evolution. 

Interview starts at 23m 31s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

In this episode we listen in on a conversation between Jo Dolby, Hub leader of Oasis Church Bath, and Anglican Priest Azariah France-Williams. Together they reflect on their faith shifting experiences alongside navigating church leadership roles. With honesty and humour they communicate the challenges and rewards of growing towards a wider understanding of faith, whilst carrying responsibilities within a Christian setting.

Conversation starts at 16m 26s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

Since the world has all been a bit much lately, here are your loving Nomad hosts talking about Christmas songs and films, weird dreams, family gatherings, the smell of tinsel and other varying shades of Christmas nostalgia, with songs and jingle bells included. Merry Christmas one and all.

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

Christmas is just round the corner, so we’ve invited Professor Kyle Roberts to help us ponder the idea of Jesus’s virgin conception. Kyle helps us wrestle with questions like, where did Jesus get his Y chromosome from? What’s so great about virginity? And can Jesus stand in solidarity with humanity if he came into the world in a way that no other human has before or since?

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Anna Robinson talk about the understanding of the virgin birth they inherited, and how their evolving faith has reshaped it, along with their views on bodies, sex, the gospels, and all manner of other things.

Interview starts at 15m 23s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

Passionate about creating safe spaces for people on the margins of faith and life, Kathy Escobar talks to us about the values and practices that help us to connect with ourselves and others at difficult times. Through shifting faith and traumatic loss, she shares principles that have guided her towards a more congruent and healthy spirituality. 

Following the interview, Nomad hosts Nick Thorley and Joy Brooks consider how they have related to emotional and physical challenges alongside their own evolving faith.

Interview starts at 14m 26s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page or our Nomad members page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

Therapist, researcher and writer Hillary McBride is back on the show, this time to talk about toxic masculinity. Hillary takes us through some of the various characteristics and manifestations of toxic masculinity, reflects on why it has become so pervasive in Western society, why it often show up in our images of God and in the religious leaders we follow, and how men can begin to recognise and move beyond these limiting and oppressive social constructions.  

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Joy Brooks reflect on their own experiences of toxic masculinity, how it shaped the faith they inherited, and how they now understand and relate to gender.   

Interview starts at 16m 35s  

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page or our Nomad members page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

Having read the Gospel of John, Nomad hosts Joy Brooks, Nick Thorley and Tim Nash get together for a chat about the Bible. They reflect on the view of the Bible they inherited, the role it played in their deconstruction, how it felt reading the Bible again after a number of years, and what role the Bible might play in the ongoing evolution of their faith.

Conversation starts at 26m 16s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page or our Nomad members page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

We chat with author Heather King about how the faith she inherited was profoundly reshaped both by recovery from addiction to alcohol and the discovery of the 19th Century French saint Thérèse of Lisieux.   After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash, Anna Robinson and Nick Thorley, reflect on their own experiences of brokenness and addiction and how it contributed to the deconstruction of the evangelical faith they inherited. They also ponder the role Thérèse’s Little Way might play in the ongoing evolution of their spirituality. 

Interview starts at 21m 18s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page or our Nomad members page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

We chat with professor, researcher and clinical psychologist Dr. Lisa Miller about her fascinating research into the benefits of spirituality.  Dr. Miller’s groundbreaking research has revealed that humans are universally equipped with a capacity for spirituality, and that our brains become more resilient and robust as we engage with healthy spiritual beliefs and practices.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley talk about out how Dr. Miller’s research fundamentally challenges the evangelicalism they inherited, and how through their faith deconstruction the spirituality that has emerged is very similar to the one Dr. Miller is advocating. They also ponder what Dr. Miller’s research means for how they pass spirituality onto their children. 

Interview starts at 17m 12s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page or our Nomad members page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

We chat with activist and scholar Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza about their journey towards reconnecting with their body, and the role bodies play in dismantling oppression.

Robyn inhabits a non-binary, autistic, trans, Latinx body, and we ask if they were able to find a safe space within church for their embodiment journey, whether the Christianity they inherited needed deconstructing, and whether they could find a home in a more progressive Christianity.

After the interview Tim Nash and Joy Brooks talk about their experiences growing up evangelical and the role that reconnecting with their bodies has played in the deconstruction and ongoing evolution of their faith.

Interview starts at 15m 11s

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page or our Nomad members page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

The last two decades have seen a growing consensus that we have entered a new geological epoch, triggered solely by human behaviour. The anthropocene is an idea with huge implications for how we see ourselves as part of the living planet.

Mark Maslin is Professor of Earth Science at UCL and co-author of The Human Planet.

Catherine Keller is professor of constructive theology at Drew University, New Jersey, and is the author of many books including Facing Apocalypse.

This is an Everybody Now podcast: a series Nomad produces for the public domain, to encourage shared learning and a commons of storytelling. This podcast may be freely uploaded by any podcast onto any feed. You can access the files here. 

Show Notes →

The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited.

If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page or our Nomad members page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug!

If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page.

Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

Writer, academic and activist Alastair McIntosh became a Quaker as a young adult. In this interview he reflects on how the Quaker tradition has shaped his life and his practice, how it intersects with mystical experiences, and where Jesus sits amidst his own generous worldview and in the Quaker tradition.

After the interview, Nomad hosts David Blower and Nick Thorley talk about other religious traditions, what it might mean for a religious tradition to be Christ-centred, and how they understand what it means to be a Christian.

Interview starts at 14m 59s 

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

We welcome back to Nomad author, activist, and public theologian Brian McLaren. This time we talk with Brian about his new book Do I Stay Christian?, in which he helps us reflect on the pros and cons of holding onto a Christian identity and, more importantly, what kind of human beings we want to be.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley talk about their own faith deconstruction and move towards a more progressive spirituality, and whether they now still identify as Christian.

Interview starts at 17m 46s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

We talk to the hymn-writer John Bell, who is a member of the Iona community, about the roots and traditions of Celtic Christianity, which took shape in the British Isles and modelled a very different way to the Roman church that followed shortly after.

After the interview, Nomad hosts David Blower and Anna Robinson talk about their own experiences of Celtic Spirituality, and the role it’s played in the evolution of their faith.

Interview starts at 14m 40s 

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Feminist and trauma theologian Karen O’Donnell shares her experiences of repeated reproductive loss. Describing the physical, emotional and spiritual impact, she explores the complexity of faith from the perspective of the miscarrying person. Karen brings thoughtful sensitivity to a reality that has often been ignored and offers her responses to some of the many questions we are likely to encounter in the face of trauma, suffering and grief.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Joy Brooks talk about their experiences of loss, and the role this played in the deconstruction and reconstruction of their faith. 

Interview starts at 16m 06s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Philip Carr-Gomm is a Druid, psychologist and writer, who has a particular interest in combining psychological understanding with spiritual perspectives to help people lead richer, more fulfilled lives. Although his spiritual practice is rooted in Druidry, he believes we have entered an era in which we can move beyond attachments to labels, drawing instead upon the Perennial Tradition, being inspired by the wisdom in all spiritual paths and teachings – following the way of the Universal Mystic.

So he seemed like the idea person to speak with about the ancient tradition of Druidry, and what Christians might learn from it.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Anna Robinson talk about their interest in nature based spirituality and the Celtic roots of their Christian faith, and the role this has played in the deconstruction and reconstruction of their faith.

Interview starts at 18m 40s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Faith Van Horne left the fundamentalist Pentecostal tradition that she’d grown up in as a young person. Years later, after exploring various spiritualities, she was surprised to find herself drawn back to her Pentecostal roots, allbeit on very different terms. In this podcast we talk to Faith about her academic studies in atonement theories, embodied spirituality, and healing from traumatic experiences. 

After the interview, Nomad hosts David Blower and Joy Brooks talk about their own experiences and understanding of Pentecostalism, atonement, power dynamics, healing and mystical experiences.

This episode involves themes of trauma and abuse.

Interview starts at 11m 03s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Priest Karen Rooms and transgender poet, author and educator Jay Hulme describe what it's like for them to be part of an ancient and LGBTQ+ affirming church. As they recall the story of their developing friendship, their conversation guides us through the pandemic, Jay's early faith experiences and Karen's reflections on being a cisgender heterosexual woman entrusted with the care of a diverse and fully inclusive congregation. With humour, insight and creativity they offer a unique perspective on what it could mean to be church.

Conversation starts at 18m 23s 

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce conversations like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

We chat with author of With All Your Mind: Autism and the Church, Erin Burnett about her personal experience and research into autism and the unique ways Christians with autism understand and experience God. We ask her why she was initially attracted to more fundamentalist expressions of Christianity, what triggered her deconstruction, and why she’s now more at home in progressive Christian spaces. 

After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Joy Brooks reflect on what neurotypical people can learn from the ways people with autism experience the world and spirituality.

Interviews starts at 13m 45s 

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this Devotional podcast, psychologist and theologian Richard Beck explores what it means to take sides without becoming hardened, and how he remains hopeful in a world on fire.

Show Notes →

Nomad produces devotional podcasts like this one every month. To access them simply make a small monthly donation through Nomad’s membership platform or Patreon. 

We also produce group discussion questions to help you and your community dig deeper into the issues raised in the devotionals. 

Nomad hosts Anna Robinson and Joy Brooks have a conversation about the challenges of joys of experiencing a shifting faith, their ambivalence to the word deconstruction, the deconstruction groups they’ve been hosting and what they’ve learnt from them. 

If you'd like to be part of one of these group, contact Anna through her website.

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode we speak with social psychologist, theologian, activist and author of God Is a Black Woman, Dr Christena Cleveland. Christena speaks with us about her journey of unmasking the white male image of God and the hurt, hopelessness, and racial and gender oppression it has caused.

Christena shares with us the intellectual and spiritual journey that led her to the sacred black feminine and the discovery of a new and hopeful way of connecting with the divine and honouring the sacredness of all black people.

After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Anna Robinson reflect on their own experiences of inheriting a white, male image of God, and how they've attempted to deconstruct it.

Interview starts at 14m 51s 

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode we chat with native American, author, songwriter and storyteller, Terry Wildman. Terry was also the lead translator and general editor of the First Nations Bible, a fascinating project that produced a translation of the New Testament that reflects the language, symbolism and rituals of native peoples. So we ask Terry to unpack indigenous spirituality for us, and to reflect on how the Church has historically treated native peoples, how this triggered his deconstruction and the role an indigenous worldview and spirituality played in the reconstruction of his faith.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley reflects on what they find attractive about indigenous spirituality, and what it might mean to explore their own spiritual roots. 

Interview starts at 17m 56s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode we speak with author and director of creative writing at Alma College, Sophfronia Scott. We speak with Sophfronia about how her faith has been shaped by the author, monk and mystic, Thomas Merton.  Having struggled to connect with Merton through his autobiography, Sophfronia immersed herself in his journals, and there she found a mentor, friend and kindred Spirit. So we ask her what we can learnt from Merton about being “spiritual but not religious”, the relationship between action and contemplation, inner work, sexuality and more.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Anna Robinson reflect on how the life and theology of Merton might shape their own faith journey.

Interview starts at 15m 36s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode we chat with clinical social worker and a trauma-informed coach, Brian Peck. Brian grew up in a fundamentalist Christian church and upon leaving he began to realise the trauma this had caused, which triggered his faith deconstrcution. He now specialises in helping people work through their experiences of religious trauma. So we talk to Brian about why religious spaces seem predisposed to traumatic experiences, what red flags we should be looking out for, how we can protect ourselves, how we can navigate relationships if we feel we have to leave, and many other things.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Joy Brooks reflect on their own experiences of religious trauma, and how this has shaped their subsequent faith journey.

Interview starts at 10m 52s 

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode we speak with former church pastor, author and teacher Keith Giles. Like many evangelicals, Keith inherited a dispensational understanding of the End Times. If you’re not sure what that is, think anti-Christ, mark of the Beast, the rapture, Jesus’s return, and the New Jerusalem. Keith slowly became aware that this was a relatively new, ill-informed and damaging way of reading the bible. So he set about discovering a healthier ‘End Times’ vision.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley reflect on their own experiences of dispensational End Times theology, and how their faith deconstruction and subsequent embrace of a more progressive faith has reshaped that. 

Interview starts at 11m 40s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Merry Christmas to One and All from Nomad Podcast. 

In this devotional episode, Fr Azariah France Williams recalls the story of Viraj Mendis, who sought sanctuary in the UK from Sri Lanka. He lived for several years in a room in the Church of the Ascension, in Hulme, Manchester, being protected by the community. In 1989, the police raided the church and he was forcibly deported.

This episode also features the poet and artist Steve Beal. And David Benjamin Blower performs the medieval traditional Christmas carol, Coventry Carol.

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

The former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams carries a lifelong love for the theology and practice of the Eastern Church. His recent book, Looking East in Winter gives a window into the beautiful contemplative practices of the Eastern tradition.

In this conversation we explore the life of contemplation, political solidarity, simplicity, and "the natural process of becoming natural."

After the interview, Nomad hosts David Blower and Nick Thorley ponder how Dr. Williams’ ideas might shape their own faith journey. 

Interview starts at 16m 32s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

When Hannah Malcolm was approached to write a book on climate grief, she chose, instead, to edit a book compiling voices from across the global church. The resulting picture is an extraordinary collage of very different experiences, all of which begin to suggest the many different ways in which everything is connected. 

In this conversation we glimpse the church as something far richer and more diverse than we thought; we discover the marks of colonialism and extractive capitalism everywhere; and we explore how the crises of the present is drawing us back to land, to one another, and to our own bodies.

After the interview, Nomad hosts David Blower and Anna Robinson reflect on how Hannah’s book might shape their own activism and faith journey. 

Interview starts at 12m 16s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Claire Gilbert is a theologian, writer, and founding director of Westminster Abbey Institute. When she discovered that she had Myeloma - terminal cancer in the blood - she began her way by writing letters to a circle of trusted friends. The journey drew her home to nature, to her body, and to her long love for the mystic, Julian of Norwich. The letters are now published in the book Miles to Go Before I Sleep.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and David Blower chat about how Claire’s experiences might inform their own faith journeys.

Interview starts at 16m 15s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Cop26 is a gathering of world leaders, meeting this November in Glasgow to review agreements to reduce carbon emissions. While the meeting was being confirmed, the Young Christian Climate Network planned a relay pilgrimage from Cornwall to Glasgow. 

In this podcast Rachel Mander talks to us about what’s at stake in this historic gathering, about faith and activism, about how poorer countries are being pushed into debt to the bigger carbon emitters, and about the trials and joys of the political pilgrimage.

After the interview, Nomad hosts David Blower and Anna Robinson have a conversation about how Rachel’s experiences might inform their own activism and faith journeys. 

Interview starts at 22m 06s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to produce episodes like this one because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode we listen in on a conversation between Alex Clare-Young and Sarah Hobbs about their trans experience. Alex is a transmasculine non-binary minister with the United Reformed Church, currently completing doctoral research into trans theology. Sarah is a trans woman, who leads a consultancy business, and is a speaker and trainer. Together they co-chair the Open Table Network, a partnership of Christian communities which welcome and affirm people who are LGBTQ+. In the conversation Alex and Sarah honestly and vulnerably share their stories of coming to terms with their identities, their transition, the reaction of their faith communities, and their evolving relationship with the Bible and the Christian faith. It’s a beautiful, honest, heartbreaking, inspiring, hopeful conversation.

Conversation starts at 21m 25s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to host conversations like these because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode we’re joined by religion and contemporary spirituality commentator, Diana Butler Bass. Diana talks about her latest book Freeing Jesus, in which she tracks the evolution of her understanding and experience of Jesus. From liberal Methodist beginnings, through fundamentalist evangelicalism, to a more progressive Christianity, Diana has never lost her interest in Jesus, or her openness to mystical experiences. But how does she, and indeed the Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley, now understand titles like Lord, Saviour, Friend and Way?

Interview starts at 14m 53s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to host conversations like these because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Every month we produce a podcast for our supporters called Nomad Revisited. In each episode Tim Nash and Nick Thorley enter the Nomad archive and chose an episode from the last 12 years, and spend an hour or so reflecting on how their faith has evolved since then. It’s an exercise in self forgiveness and compassion, as they are often confronted with terrible interview technique, poor audio quality and very earnest, evangelical theology! This month we thought we’d put one of these episode on Nomad’s main feed, as a free taster. It’s a 2014 conversation with the author of the book The Evangelical Universalist, Robin Parry. At the time Tim and Nick would have considered ‘evangelical universalism’ an oxymoron, and a slippery slope to liberalism. But how do they view it now?

Interview starts at 21m 56s

Show Notes →

If you want to access Nomad Revisited, and our monthly Devotionals and Contemplations, head over to our Patreon page or our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

This episode is a conversation between good friends Emma Morton and Lyn Baylis. Emma is a former pastor, art therapist and activist, whose faith led her towards pagan spirituality and community. Lyn has practiced her pagan spirituality all of her life. She’s been a priestess for 40 years, is a Multi-faith minister, and is the UK Coordinator for LifeRites and Senior teacher on the LifeRites Foundation Course. Here they talk about how their journeys took shape, how they’ve dealt with rejection and persecution, and what they’ve learned from one another.

Conversation starts at 16m 5s 

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to host conversations like these because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Natalia-Nana is a teacher, trainer, and coach in Equity, Diversity, and Liberation. In this episode we talk about what it means to decolonise our faith, why it is important and how we can go about it. Jemimah and Natalia-Nana explore the relationship between deconstruction and the work of decolonising and dismantling. They discuss the impact of colonisation on the ways we think, relate, and the way that institutions operate including in our spiritual journeys and faith communities.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Jemimah McAlpine and Anna Robinson ponder how Natalia’s experiences might inform their own activism and faith journeys. 

Interviews starts at 20m 57s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to host conversations like these because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

On this episode we’ve invited Liz Pattison and Jim Robinson to have a conversation around their experiences of death. Jim lost both his parents at quite a young age, and Liz recently lost her partner. They share their experiences of grief and loss, how friends, family and church responded, and how their faith has evolved through these experiences. It’s an honest, real, insightful, moving and hopeful conversation.

Conversation starts at 21m 32s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to host conversations like these because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Miles Irving has been foraging since childhood. Having journeyed through Pentecostalism, he returned to his first passion for wild foods, and began to discover that our relationship to what we eat bears deeply on our relationship to everything.

In this episode, Miles and David Blower spend a day eating nothing but foraged food and talking through the joys, trials and transformations that come of eating what grows out of the soil where we live.

Interview starts at 15m 15s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to host conversations like these because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Many of us inherited a faith that had a lot to say about life after death. But as our faith shifted and evolved we were left increasingly unsure whether these beliefs had any basis in reality, or were just fairly tales.

Well, it turns out science has an increasing amount to say on the subject. So, we interviewed Dr Bruce Greyson, a self proclaimed “skeptical scientist”, who as well as being a very well respected psychiatrist, has also spent the last 50 years pioneering near death studies. He went into this field confidently expecting to find a physiological explanation for what people were claiming to have experienced as their bodies were shutting down. But what he discovered challenged all his preconceived ideas.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley chat about the understanding of the afterlife they inherited, how their deconstruction challenged this, and how they might integrate Dr Greyson’s finding into their spirituality. 

Interview starts at 17m 02s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to host conversations like these because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode Jemimah McAlpine talks about her transformative experience of dance and her thinking about the theological significance of dancing. She and David Blower discuss dualism and embodiment and how reconnecting with our bodies can lead to an experience of wholeness and connection with the earth and everyone around us. Jemimah shares how embodiment has changed her understanding of God and enjoyment of life.

Interview starts at 12m 32s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to host conversations like these because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

It’s always a pleasure to have author, activist, and public theologian Brian McLaren on Nomad. This time we talk with Brian about the vital role that doubt plays in our faith development. Brian breaks down the faith journey into four stages - simplicity, complexity, perplexity and harmony. He talks about the struggles and joys of each stage, and how it’s only when we embrace our doubts that we can grow and move onto the next stage. After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley ponder the role doubt played in the evangelicalism they inherited, and in the deconstruction and reconstruction of their faith.

Interview starts at 20m 14s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to host conversations like these because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this podcast, David Benjamin Blower converses with musician, podcaster and activist Samantha Lindo on the subject of music: music as a wisened friend, music as a gatherer of people and radical energies, and music as a kind of prayer that can halt the Powers that Be, even just for a moment.

Interview starts at 23m 44s

Show Notes →

Nomad is able to host conversations like these because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode we speak with author of The God Who Riots, Damon Garcia. Damon talks to us about how he found meaning in the God of liberation theology after questioning his beliefs and leaving the faith he inherited. We explore the importance of embodiment and community in faithful practice and how our context shapes our ideas about God. We talk about reading the Bible from the perspective of the marginalised through the example of the Magnificat and the call to listen to those on the underside of power.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Jemimah McAlpine chat about Damon’s ideas, and the role liberation theology might in play in the reconstruction of their faith. 

Interview starts at 14m 41s

Nomad is able to host conversations like these because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Ched Myers is a theologian, and author of the explosive Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus.

We asked Ched to reflect on the theology and ecology of rivers for this extended devotional podcast. He takes us on a journey down the Ventura river, where he lives in California, and goes on to open up the radical political imagination of the many biblical visions of rivers, in a world where colonisation and empire habitually steal water and turn fertile places into deserts.  Ched has recently co-authored, with Elaine Enns: Healing Haunted Histories: A Settler Discipleship of Decolonization.

If you'd like to listen to devotionals like this one every month, then head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate. There you can also gain access  to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and further bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug!

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Before the October Rebellion of 2019, we interviewed Dr Gail Bradbrook, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, for the Everybody Now podcast. However, the whole conversation was so utterly fascinating that we wanted to upload it in its entirety, especially at a time when the freedom to protest is under threat. We talked to Gail about climate emergency and civil disobedience, and also about prayer and spirituality, science and wonder, sacredness, love and the radical power of women. We talked to Gail about climate emergency and civil disobedience, but also about prayer and spirituality, science and wonder, sacredness, love and the radical power of women.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and David Blower chat about Gail’s activism and spiritual journey and ponder how it might shape their own spirituality. 

Interview starts at 19m 21s

If you'd like to help us fund our public domain podcasts project, head over to our gofundme page.

Nomad is able to host conversations like these because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode we talk about Jesus with Franciscan friar, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation and author of The Universal Christ, Richard Rohr.

Fr. Richard believes Jesus is the personification of God’s constant, unfolding work in the world. Consequently, he sees faith as being less about proving Jesus was God, and more about learning to recognise the Creator’s presence all around us and in everyone we meet. So we ask Fr. Richard how his faith has been reshaped by this discovery, what the implications of the loss of this worldview have been for the Church and the world, where the atonement fits in, whether there’s still any need for religion, and many more questions.

Following the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley reflect on how the idea of the Cosmic Christ challenges the evangelicalism they inherited, and might be a foundation for their reconstructed faith. 

Interview starts at 17m 53s

Nomad is able to host conversations like these because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

We live in a death and grief averse culture. Aided by modern medicine and the funeral industry, we’ve created an ever-increasing distance between us and our mortality. So we ask author of Awakened by Death Christiana Peterson what psychological and spiritual impact this is having on us, and how reclaiming a healthy relationship with our own mortality might help us live fuller and richer lives.

Following the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Anna Robinson reflect on their own experiences of death, how it challenged their previous evangelical faith, and whether a more progressive faith might be better able to hold such experiences.

Interview starts at 15m 8s

Nomad is able to host conversations like these because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Having left behind the Anglican roots of her childhood, Jennifer Kavanagh discovered the Society of Friends - better known as Quakerism - as an adult. We spoke to her about how to be a practical mystic, how to subvert hierarchies by being silent, how to be part of a Christian religion without being a Christian, how to have a church without a leader, and what not to call the Queen.

Following the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and David Blower reflect on the faith they inherited, what it means to be a Christian, and what Quakerism might offer their evolving faith. 

Interview starts at 13m 24s

Nomad can only host conversations like these because a group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Following on from our conversation with Matthew Fox, in this episode Anna Robinson leads us in a meditation that explores the spirituality of the remarkable 14th Century mystic Julian of Norwich. Anna gives us a short introduction to Julian and how she lived through a deadly global pandemic, suffered loss and yet still wholeheartedly pursued God, and received visions that Christians are still pondering nearly seven centuries later. Anna then uses a breathwork technique to help us to become present and more relaxed and then leads us in a lectio divina mediation based around some of Julian’s words. Anna then finishes with a short examen and closing prayer. 

Anna produces meditations like this each month. To access them simply sign up and make a small monthly donation to the work of nomad, either via Patreon or our own donation platform.

Our supporters can also access Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited, and the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Matthew Fox is an American priest and spiritual theologian and an activist for gender and eco-justice. His work on creation spirituality and mysticism has given him the reputation of being one of the most challenging religious-spiritual teachers in America. It’s also got him into trouble with the Catholic Church, most notably for rubbing two popes up the wrong way, which eventually got him excommunicated. We speak with Matthew about his latest book Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic-And Beyond, and ask him what this 14th Century mystic can teach us about what it means to live well in the midst of a global pandemic and climate meltdown.

Following the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Anna Robinson reflect on what Julian and mystics like her, might bring to their evolving faith. 

Interview starts at 15m 47s

Nomad can only host conversations like these because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Adele Jarrett-Kerr is a writer and podcaster on compassionate living. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, she now lives in Cornwall where her family is unschooling and working on a small regenerative farm. We talk to her about her journey towards counter-cultural living, decolonisation, evolving faith and spirituality, and the values behind the decisions she has made for family and work. 

Nomad can only host conversations like these because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Merry Christmas, beloved listeners!  In this episode we hear from Revd Canon Eve Pitts. Having missed Christmas in their church last year, due to repairs, the residents of Birchfield were looking forward carols and candles in their building. But 2020 being what it is, Eve wondered if Christmas might as well be cancelled all together. However, perhaps living in a time of restrictions, precarity and mess is all the more Christmassy. Eve reflects on the humanity of Mary, the messiness of birth, and the God who is found in the places where nobody wants to live.

The music is from the EP Epiphany by The Blood Magnetic.

Nomad can only host conversations like these because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Singer-songwriter and author Lisa Gungor’s life was all coming together. She’d married her college sweetheart and was establishing herself as a successful musician. But cracks began to form when her husband told her he no longer believed in God and they were asked to leave the Church she helped start, a close friend died, their baby girl was born with two heart defects, and her musical career began to unravel. But through the depression and despair she slowly began to let go of what she thought was true, and began to see hope and new life through these hardest of experiences.

After the interview Nomad hosts Jemimah McAlpine and Tim Nash reflect on their own evolving faith journey.

Interview starts at 13m 45s

Nomad can only host conversations like these because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Therapists Justin and Joy get together for a conversation about spiritual abuse and how it can present in a church environment. Reflecting on their personal experiences, they explore the impact of spiritual abuse, describing how they learnt to recognise it and what it was like to walk away from congregations they cared about deeply. They also share some of the healing and growth that has taken place as their lives changed and they began to recover and rebuild in different areas of their lives.

Conversation starts at 14m 09s

Nomad can only host conversations like these because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode David speaks with priest and author Azariah France-Williams about his new book Ghost Ship: Institutional Racism and the Church of England. Azariah reflects on his experience of racism within the church, and how sticking plasters won’t suffice, but instead a wholesale change in structure and mindset is required. Jemimah is then joined by diversity and inclusion trainer Natalia Nana, to reflect on the interview and to speak about anti-racist habits and practices.

Interview starts at 19m 12s

Nomad can only host conversations like these because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page and our own members page to donate.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we use to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

We’ve caused a turning point in the Earth’s natural history. Everybody Now is a podcast about what it means to be human on the threshold of a global climate emergency, in a time of systemic injustice and runaway pandemics. Scientists, activists, farmers, poets, and theologians talk bravely and frankly about how our biosphere is changing, about grief and hope in an age of social collapse and mass extinction, and about taking action against all the odds.

Everybody Now is being released by podcasters all over the world as a collective call for awareness, grief and loving action.

Nomad is only able to create content like this because of a small group of financial supporters. If you'd like to join them, head over to our Patreon page or our own donation platform.

In this episode we speak with the director of Theos Think Tank and host of The Sacred podcast, Elizabeth Oldfield. Elizabeth is passionate about exploring how we can build healthy friendships and societies in an age characterised by seemingly ever deepening differences, and what role faith can play in this. So we ask Elizabeth why we find it so hard to relate to people who are culturally, politically and religiously different from ourselves, and how we can begin to overcome this.

After the interview, Nomad hosts David Blower and Tim Nash reflect on their own experiences of relating to people in their lives whose faith is in a different place to their own. 

Interview starts at 12m 40s

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode we welcome Rob Bell back to the podcast. Rob’s written a new book - Everything is Spiritual - within which he explores how ideas about creation, love and connection have profoundly shaped his faith journey. We chat with Rob about what it means to embrace who we are and where we’ve come from, our wounds, our pain and our regrets, and how this can deepen and expand our sense of self and connection to the world and the divine. As you’d expect from Rob, it’s a conversation full of humour, insight and inspiration.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley talk about their deconstruction journey, and the role figures like Rob Bell have played in their evolving faith. 

Interview starts at 15m 4s

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode we discuss radical theology with author, philosopher and storyteller Peter Rollins. Peter explores the freedom that comes when we accept and embrace the lack within us and the struggle within life. He believes that letting go of the frenetic pursuit of that which will make us whole and complete opens the way to accepting the lack within and finding enjoyment within the struggles of life. From this place of freedom we find God in the act of love, the depth dimension of our experiences, and in a continual transformative conversation.

After the interview Nomad hosts Jemimah McAlpine and David Blower ponder the implications of Pete's philosophy and theology for their own faith journey. 

Interview starts at 14m 53s

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Toxic masculinity is a term that seems to be cropping up more and more in academic and media discussions, as we become more aware of the harmful effects - on men, women and society in general - of men conforming to traditional masculine ideals, like dominance, self-reliance, and competition. So we dialled up Stephen Whitehead, who is an author, researcher, consultant and lecturer on gender, sexuality and identity, and asked him where these traditional expressions of masculinity came from, what effects they are having on us, and how we can overcome them.

After the interview, Tim Nash and Nick Thorley reflect on their own relationship with masculinity, the role their inherited evangelical faith played in this, and how their faith deconstruction has liberated them from these stereotypes. 

Interview starts at 12m 16s

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode we speak with artist, poet and author Emily Garcés. It’s a heart-warming, heart-breaking, inspiring and challenging conversation, as Emily shares with us her journey through life and faith, with all of its joys and struggles, as she wrestles with what it means to be fully alive.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Jemimah McAlpine and Tim Nash reflection on their own faith deconstruction and what has subsequently brought them life. 

Interview starts at 11m 48s

You can buy Emily's book in the US through CreativeOnion Press and in the UK through Proost. And you can find her art at Etsy.com and on her Facebook page.

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook, twitter and Instagram. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode we speak with therapist, theologian and author, Mark Karris. For anyone going through a faith deconstruction, prayer is often near the top of the list of things we struggle to make sense of. And Mark is certainly no exception to this. He had the kind of traumatic childhood you’d only expect to see in a film. But despite all his prayers, and the prayers of his church, the situation steadily deteriorated. So we asked Mark why so often our prayers aren’t answered? How can a God of love observe such suffering without intervening? Why does God often seem to answer quite trivial prayers, and ignore the more significant ones? Mark has a fascinating take on all our questions, and proposes a hopeful, loving and grounded vision of prayer.

After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley reflect on their own faith deconstruction and how it has radically redefined how they understand and practice prayer. 

Interview starts at 17m 45s.

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook, twitter and Instagram. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Dr. Hillary McBride is a clinical counselor in Vancouver. When she’s not doing clinical work she is researching, speaking, writing and podcasting (as a host on The Liturgists Podcast), about the intersection of spirituality and mental health, trauma, and trauma therapies, embodiment, eating disorders, body image, and sex and sexuality. But we wanted to focus in on embodiment, so we spent a hour chatting about what it means to be truly embodied, why many of us feel so disconnected from our bodies, and how a greater sense of embodiment can profoundly reshape our sense of self, gender, sexuality, spirituality, and just about anything else you can think of.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash, Jemimah McAlpine and Tim Nash reflect on their faith deconstruction and the ways in which this has redefined how they understand and relate to their bodies. 

Interview starts at 17m 41s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook, twitter and Instagram. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode, black liberation theologian Prof Anthony Reddie and the poet Ravelle-Sadé Fairman reflect on black experience. These searching thoughts begin with the recent murder of George Floyd at the hands of US police officers, and from there reach into a knotted web of power and oppression: the disproportionate suffering of black people from Covid19, the enduring roots of European colonial rule, the dynamics of white fragility, the experience of black embodiment, the veneration of the statues of slave traders, and the emerging anti-racism movement.

Anthony Reddie is professor of Liberation Theology at Oxford University and the author of many books, including Is God Colour Blind? and Theologising Brexit. Ravelle-Sadé Fairman is a poet from Nottingham, UK, who performs as A Poetic Perception.

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook, twitter and Instagram. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode Mark Oakley shares with us his lifelong relationship with poetry. He believes poetry is the language of the soul, and should therefore be the person of faith’s native language. For Mark poetry has put to words his deepest longing, has sustained him through troubled times, and has transformed the way he’s come to see God, himself and others. And Mark believes that in our ever more chaotic world, now more than ever we need to rediscover the language of poetry. 

After the interview, Nomad hosts David Blower and Jemimah McAlpine reflect on the role poetry has played in their faith and lives. 

Interview starts at 8m 45s.

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our supporters gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Theologian, poet and author Nicola Slee joins Jemimah to talk about when she first encountered feminist theology and its potential to challenge, inform and enrich our Christian faith and practice. 

Nicola Slee is Director of Research at the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theology and Professor of Feminist Practical Theology in the Faculty of Religion at VU Amsterdam. Her research interests range around Christian feminist practical theology but also encompass poetry and theology and other aspects of practical theology.

After the interview, Nomad hosts David Blower and Jemimah McAlpine reflect on the increasing role feminism has played in their evolving faith and lives. 

Interview starts at 19m 22s.

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church at Trafalgar Square, London and professor of Christian ethics at King's College, Sam Wells shares his belief that to live well is to improvise well. He defines improvisation in the theatre as "a practice through which actors seek to develop trust in themselves and one another in order that they may conduct unscripted dramas without fear." And that, he believes, is how we should approach life. Building trust, overcoming fear, conducting relationships, and making choices - all without a script. The Bible therefore is not a ‘script’ but a training school that shapes our habits and practices. And living well is "faithfully improvising on the Christian tradition." 

After the interview Nomad hosts David Blower and Nick Thorley reflect on how Sam's ideas might shape their evolving faith. 

Interview starts at 16m 30s. 

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

We felt these unprecedented times deserved an unprecedented episode of nomad. So for the first time we recorded a remote episode, with Jemimah beaming in from Cardiff, David from Birmingham, and Tim and Nick from Nottingham. 

To help stimulate the conversation, we thought we'd ask the Listener Lounge for questions. 

So tune in if you want to know how we’re coping with the pandemic, what signs of hope we’re seeing, whether we still believe in God, what prayer means to us, the most significant thing we’ve learnt from the nomad journey, the most cringe-worthy thing we’ve said during an interview, the funniest things our kids have said recently, and much much more! 

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this final meditation of the series, Anna reflects on the power of the greeting that Jesus gave his disciples when he met them in the upper room on Easter day. She considers what Pádraig Ó Tuama shares about this greeting in his book In The Shelter: Finding a home in the World. She then leads us in a stilling exercise followed by an Ignatian style meditation, using our imaginations to enter into the scene in the locked room as told in John and Luke’s gospels. Anna then finishes with a short examen and closing prayer.

David Blower responds to the meditation with original music and ambience.

If you want a meditation like this one each month, then visit either our PayPal or Patreon membership page.

In this meditation Anna Robinson reflects on our struggles with fear, anxiety and distress. She looks at how Jesus himself felt great fear, particularly at this time of Easter. Then, drawing on the wisdom of James Finley, Anna leads us through a stilling exercise and meditation where we can bring our deepest fears and distress to Jesus. Through this we hope together we can find freedom from our experience of the tyranny of fear.

David Blower compliments the meditation with original music and ambience.

If you want a meditation like this one each month, then visit either our PayPal or Patreon membership page.

In this contemplation, Anna Robinson considers the significance of acknowledging how we are feeling in these uncertain and unsettling times. She considers the importance of kindness and compassion to others and ourselves, recognising our shared human experiences. Anna then leads us into a stilling exercise to help us become fully present, after which she guides us a Loving-Kindness meditation that fosters feelings of compassion and kindness and enables us to feel more connected to those we love and those around us during this time of isolation. 

David Blower compliments the meditation with original music and ambience.

If you want a meditation like this one each month, then visit either our PayPal or Patreon membership page.

Rather than an interview based episode, we felt these strange times required something a little more meditative. 

Each month for the last year Anna Robinson has been producing some wonderful meditations for our patrons. So we asked her to produce a short series for our main podcast feed, called Meditations for Isolation. 

In this meditation, Anna reminds us we are not alone in finding ourselves weighed down by worry and concerns. Anna will lead us in contemplating divine presence and peace. We will then be led on an imaginative journey where we are invited to acknowledge our fears and concerns and give them to God. We will then be invited to rest in this peace and presence and receive what it is we need at this time.  

David Blower compliments the meditation with original music.

If you want a meditation like this one each month, then visit either our PayPal or Patreon membership page.

For just a few weeks we’ve all been living in a very different world. Sociologist and Baptist Minister Sally Mann reflects on how her community in London’s East End are adapting to the coronavirus pandemic, and where she sees glimmers of hope amidst the grief and isolation.

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Mike McHargue is the host of the podcast Ask Science Mike, co-founded of the The Liturgists Podcast and author of Finding God in the Waves. He’s a public educator who weaves together insights from science and faith to help people navigate what it means to live well.

We ask Mike the question that scientists, philosophers, theologians and self-help gurus have wrestled with for thousands of years: why we do the things we do? Or rather, why we so often don't do the things that we want to do! Why, for example, do we binge Netflix when we know taking a walk outside would be better for us, or why do we scroll Facebook when our real friends live just down the street. Drawing on science, personal revelation, and spiritual insight, Mike shows us how to live more at peace with ourselves and the world around us.

After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley reflect on how Mike's ideas might shape their evolving faith. 

Interview starts at 16m 47s. 

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In another break from our usual interview format, we listen in on a conversation between Jemimah McAlpine and Joy Brooks as they reflect on their experiences as women who grew up immersed in evangelical Christianity. Unpicking some of the messages they absorbed over the years, they examine what it means for them to move away from repression and reconnect with their embodied and internal experiencing. Learning to value their own voice, they also explore the responsibility that comes with agency and privilege within their respective communities.

Conversation starts at 4m 30s.

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode we speak with anabaptist, anarchist and Christian animist, Noel Moules. Christian and animism are perhaps two words you haven’t heard together before, in fact you may well think that animism sounds somewhat dodgy! Noel shows us though how Jesus himself held to this ancient indigenous worldview, where rather than matter and spirit being understood as dualistic opposites, the entire natural world is sentient, personable and alive. 

So we ask Noel how this revelation has changed the way he understands and relates to God. And how he loves his neighbour now his neighbour includes everything from birds to trees?!

After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley reflect on how animism might shape their own evolving faith. 

Interview starts at 15m 16s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Ann Morisy is a community theologian, community worker and author who has researched and written on everything from the spirituality of public transport, through to the spirituality of ageing. Her works draws on a wide range of research and influences, including sociology, political science, economics and theology. 

We ask Ann whether in these increasingly troubled times, her community work and studies are leading her to hope, what can get in the way of our discovery of hope, and what a genuinely hopeful Church looks like? 

After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and David Blower reflect on how Anne's understanding of hope might shape their own evolving faith. 

Interview starts at 17m 2s.

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

There’s a handful of guests that have appeared on Nomad a number of times, and Steve Chalke is one. Why? Because he keeps speaking and writing about really interesting things. He was one of the first high profile evangelicals to critique the penal substitutionary understanding of the cross, and to bless a same sex marriage. Not only that, but he founded and leads one of the UK’s largest charities, whose volunteers, activists and professionals work in 36 communities across the country.

In this episode we speak to Steve about the Apostle Paul and why he has often been presented as the champion of exclusion, when, as Steve believes, he was in fact the great includer; a revolutionary who saw a new inclusive world dawning and gave his life to help bring it in.

After the interview Nomad hosts David Blower and Nick Thorley reflect on their own evolving faith and evolving relationship with the Apostle Paul. 

Interview begins at 17m 49s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

It's Christmas! And so we thought we'd share a festive Devotional episode with you all. Pub landlady, touring musician and anglican priest Em Kolltveit talks about community building and hospitality when there’s no room at the Inn.

We produce Devotionals like this every month. If you're interested, you can access them by making a small monthly donation in $s on our Patreon page, or in £s on our PayPal membership page. 

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Rather than our usual interview format, in this episode we host a conversation between Zoe Heming and Nick Thorley. Zoe is a priest in the Church of England and for many years has suffered with chronic pain, which often means she has to use a wheelchair. Nick works for Christian Aid and (as you may be aware) hosts Nomad Podcast. He has been visually impaired since he was a teenager. 

Zoe and Nick talk openly and honestly about their experience of disability, how it has shaped their life, faith, and experience of church, and how they’ve come to understand what it means to be whole.

Conversation begins at 17m 25s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Richard Beck is Professor of Psychology at Abilene University, author, blogger and leader of a weekly bible study for inmates at the maximum security French-Robertson unit. He’s also a big fan of the country musician Johnny Cash (who also knew a thing or two about prison).

David Blower (another Cash fan) asks Richard what we can learn from the faith of Johnny Cash, a man known for his deep empathy for the marginalised and who risked commercial success to stand in solidarity with them, but who wrestled with deep personal pain and struggled for years with drug addiction.

After the interview, Nomad hosts David Blower and Tim Nash discuss what they can learn from the life of Johnny Cash and how this might shape their evolving faith. 

Interview starts at 19m 28s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community - which manifests as Nomad Book Club and The Beloved Listener Lounge - and bonus episodes, such as Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page to donate in dollars and our PayPal members page to donate in pounds.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode we speak with writer, speaker and researcher, Vicky Walker. Vicky conducted a survey with nearly 1500 people about their experiences of the changing nature of relationships and how, if at all, their faith and churches have helped them make sense of this. It turns out (spoiler alert!) the Church hasn’t always been that helpful. So where do we look for signs of hope in these confusing times? 

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash, Jemimah McAlpine and Nick Thorley discuss how the evangelical faith they inherited shaped their view of sex and relationships, and how these views have changed since their deconstruction. 

Interview starts at 14m 5s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you want to donate in pounds sterling, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode Jemimah speaks with Irish poet, storyteller and theologian, Pádraig Ó Tuama. It’s a profoundly wise and insightful interview, touching on themes of language, story, gospel, power, community, sexuality and religion.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Jemimah McAlpine reflect on Pádraig faith journey and ponder how the lessons he's learnt might shape their own evolving faith.  

Interview starts at 16m 10s

During the conversation, Padraig reads the poems Narrative Theology 1 & 2, which are taken from Readings from the Book of Exile (Canterbury Press, 2012), and he reads a prayer from Daily Prayer from the Corrymeela Community. These are used with permission by Canterbury Press.

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you want to donate in pounds sterling, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map and our Nomad Gathering Facebook page, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

When Jennie Hogan was 11 years old she had a brain haemorrhage. Then at the age of 14 she had another one. This devastating experience left her with a brain injury that would transform her life. 

So we met up with Jennie at Goodenough College where she is a chaplain, to talk with her about how her experience of trauma, illness and disability has caused her to reflect on how she relates to her body, what an embodied faith means to her, how she’s learnt to live with uncertainty, and about the emergence of a new identity through her experience of brokenness.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley reflect on Jenny's faith journey and ponder how their own experiences of disability and brokenness have shaped their evolving faith.  

Interview starts at 17m 17s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, or you want to donate in pounds sterling, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Author, speaker and activist Brian McLaren knows a thing or two about navigating an evolving faith. He was raised in the fundamentalist Plymouth Brethren tradition, but is now a passionate advocate for "a new kind of Christianity" - just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good.

He also knows a thing or two about raising children, with four of his own, grandchildren, and he’s the author of the children’s book Corey and the Seventh Story.

So he seemed like the perfect person to talk to about how to raise your children in the faith, when you’re not sure where your faith’s at. 

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley reflect on Brian's experiences, and ponder how they might shape the way they raise their own children at a time when their faith is evolving. 

Interview starts at 17m 1s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, or you want to donate in pounds sterling, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Fr. Greg Boyle is a Jesuit priest, who in 1986 was appointed pastor of a church in one of the most deprived areas of Los Angeles, in a church that sat between two large public housing projects, which had the highest concentration of gangs in the country. 

Amidst shocking levels of violence and murder (Greg has personally conducted the funerals of some 229 young men), Greg slowly began to make connections with the gang members, and eventually established the largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley reflect on Greg's experiences and wonder how it might shape their evolving faith journey.

Interview starts at 16m 12s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, or you want to donate in pounds sterling, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Instead of our regular show we're treating you to a Nomad Devotional. Community development worker Simon Jay reflects on life in his neighbourhood and his discovery of urban walking as a form of prayer and community building. David Blower responds with music and ambient sounds.

You can enjoy devotionals like this every month, along with Nomad Contemplations and access to our Listener Lounge. Simply donate $5 a month, either through Patreon or PayPal. 

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

How do we face change? How do we move through suffering? How do we receive joy? And how do we mature in service? According to psychologist, spiritual director, liturgist and author Alexander Shaia, these four questions are the questions of our lives. They are universal, sequential, and cyclical, and are recognised by every major religious faith and school of psychology and forms the very heart of Christian belief and practice. In fact, Alexander made the startling discovery that each of the four gospels were written to address each of these four questions. So if we long for transformation, then we need to join the gospel writers in wrestling with these questions. 

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash, Jemimah McAlpine and David Blower reflect on Alexander’s discoveries and discuss what they might personally take from it. 

Interview starts at 15m 30s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, or you want to donate in pounds sterling, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Episcopal priest, professor, theologian and author Barbara Brown Taylor, joins us on Nomad.  

In the early 2000s Barbara left the ministry, an experience she described in Leaving Church, the first of a trilogy of books about redefining her faith. But it’s what Barbara got up to after church leadership that we want to talk about. Barbara spent 20 years teaching world religions, and forming relationships with local leaders from a variety of other faiths, a journey which she describe in her latest book Holy Envy. So we quiz Barbara on what she’s learnt about finding God in the faiths of others.

After the interview Nomad hosts David Blower, Jemimah McAlpine and Tim Nash reflect on Barbara's journey and chat about what the lessons she's learnt might mean for their own evolving faith.

Interview starts at 18m 16s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, or you want to donate in pounds sterling, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

In this episode we bring together London based sociologist, pastor and community theologian Sally Mann and Philadelphia based social activist and author Shane Claiborne.

Shane had crossed the pond to join Sally and others in launching Red Letter Christians UK. So we took the opportunity to quiz them about the state of evangelicalism in both the UK and US, what lies at the heart of their faith, their concerns about post-evangelicalism, and why they see signs of hope in the Red Letter Christians movement.

After the interview Nomad hosts David Blower, Jemimah McAlpine, Tim Nash and Nick Thorley reflect on their own experiences of evangelicalism, their subsequent deconstructions, and where they are seeing hope. 

Interview starts at 12m 30s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, or you want to donate in pounds sterling, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Cynthia Bourgeault is a mystic, priest, and author, who is committed to teaching and spreading the recovery of Christian contemplative practices. So she’s the perfect guide for nomad’s ongoing exploration of contemplative practices.  

She’s been a long-time advocate of the meditative practice of Centering Prayer, and so that’s what we quizzed her on.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley reflect on their own relationship with prayer - pre and post-deconstruction - and ponder what place Centering Prayer might have in their evolving faith. 

Interview begins at 14m 30s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Christopher Collingwood is an Anglican priest - Canon Chancellor of York Minster, no less. And… he’s a Zen Buddhist teacher. So clearly he knows a thing or two about navigating an evolving faith, and the pushback that can come with it.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley ponder how, if at all, Zen can help them on their our journey of faith deconstruction and reconstruction.

Interview begins at 16m 30s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Jemimah McAlpine sit down with fellow host David Benjamin Blower to talk through his new album - We Really Existed and We Really Did This. It's a conversation in which David wrestles with faith and theology, and searches for signs of hope in the increasingly chaotic times we live in. As you'd expect from David, it's a classic, full of deeply reflective, insightful and challenging observations.

Interview starts at 4m 25s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Natalie Collins is a gender justice specialist, who speaks, writes and trains on issues of violence against women and wider gender injustice.

In trying to make sense of her own experience of domestic abuse - and the fact that over the course of a lifetime over a quarter of women experience domestic abuse - Natalie began to ask questions about the patriarchal nature of our society (and Church) and how this shapes the way men view women and themselves. 

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Jemimah McAlpine reflect on their own experiences of patriarchy and how it has shaped their faith and lives. 

Interview begins at 10m 44s

If you want to learn more about Natalie’s writing, consultancy and activism, then check out her website, and her book Out of Control: Couples, Conflict and the Capacity for Change.   

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Rather than based around an interview, this episode is in the style of our Nomad Devotionals, which our patrons enjoy each month.

Ruth Wilde of Christian Peacemaker Teams reflects on the practice of "getting in the way", and John-Philip Newell reflects on a spirituality deeply rooted in the material creation. And we ask what does it look like to become peace makers between humanity and creation? David weaves these reflections together with readings, music and songs.

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Martin Newell is a catholic priest who has been arrested over twenty times. His crimes range from  criminal damage, trespass, and burglary, for which he has been to prison several times.

All of this has been the result of Martin’s non-violent protests against the arms trade and more recently the government's inaction on the climate crisis. He believes that now more than ever we need to resist the rules and authorities, as the future of the planet is at stake. 

Not only this, but Martin has formed a community with destitute asylum seekers. 

After the interview Nomad hosts David Blower, Jemimah McAlpiine and Tim Nash ponder when it's right to say no to the rulers and authorities? Would they go to prison for their convictions? And how would they go about modelling a community that points to the world to come?

Interview begins at 11m 1s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

On this episode we speak with theology professor and climate change activist Timothy Gorringe about the climate crisis. Towards the end of last year the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change released a pretty bleak report. In summary, the report said that the situation is much worse than we previously thought, and unless we reduce global carbon emissions to zero by 2050, then by the end of this century the earth will be a very hostile place to live. 

So we ask Prof. Gorringe how we are meant to respond? How can we as individuals radically reduce our carbon footprint? And how can we put pressures on government to move towards creating a carbon neutral society? And we ponder the theology of the potential collapse of human civilisation.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley try to process everything Prof. Gorringe said, and figure out what all this means for the ongoing evolution of their faith and lifestyle.

Interview begins at 22m 50s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Rather than our usual interview format, in this episode we’re hosting a conversation. We’ll be listening in on Chine McDonald and Azariah France Wiliiams as they discuss their understanding and experience of blackness and how that has shaped their identity, their place in society and the way they relate to God and Church.

It’s an authentic, moving, and inspiring conversation, and it was a real privilege to be able to listen in.

Interview begins at 10m 

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

Janet Williams joins us to discuss apophatic theology and spirituality. I know, it doesn’t sound like the most riveting topic. But trust me, it’s essential listening for anyone who’s been through some kind of deconstruction, faith evolution or dark night of the soul, anyone who’s interested in mysticism, or who’s gown tired and disillusioned with the Church’s obsession with trying to tightly define God.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Jemimah McAlpine reflect on Janet's experiences and insights and ponder whether they shed new light on their own evolving faith journeys.

Interview starts at 11m 32s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

It was 10 years ago that Nomad first uploaded an episode. 10 years!! So to celebrate we’d like to give you a gift as a thank you for all your support and encouragement. But what to give the beloved listener to mark such a special occasion? How about a 3 hour 40 minute Q&A marathon episode with the whole gang, Jemimah McAlpine, David Blower, Tim Nash, Nick Thorley, and Dave Ward.

If you'd like to give a gift back to us, why not leave us a nice review on iTunes, Apple Podcasts - or whichever podcast app you use - and on our Facebook page.

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

Edwina Gateley is a mystic, and a social activist. Her life has been a rhythm of extended periods of prayer and solitude (including 9 months of silence in a caravan in a forest!) and activism (including establishing a mission agency that has sent hundreds of people into missions work around the world, and working with prostitutes on the streets of Chicago).

Through both her radical activism and deep contemplation Edwina’s understanding and experience of God and Church has been radically challenged and reshaped.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Jemimah McAlpine reflect on Edwina’s journey, how they now understand Church and mission, and how they now describe and relate to God. 

Interview begins at 11m 50s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast guests and listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Brian Zahnd is back on the show. This time we’re chatting with him about the themes raised in his soon to be released book Postcards From Babylon. In it he takes aim at the toxic relationship between Church and Empire, and the religion that has emerged from it, which he calls Americanism. This religion has its own liturgies, gods and sacrificial systems, nearly all of which stands in direct opposition to how the early church understood what it meant to follow Jesus.

So how are followers of Jesus meant to respond? What does it mean to be Church? What spiritual practices can help us stay awake to what feels like an ever more toxic political and religious environment? What does it mean to be a Christian in the age of Trump?

After the interview, Nomad hosts David Blower and Tim Nash reflect on these and many other questions.

Interview begins at 16m 26s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast guests and listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

It's that time of the year again! So we thought we'd offer up a Christmas themed Devotional for you all. Brad Jersak talks a bit about how the Nativity is understood in the Eastern Church, we reflect on the feminine in the salvation story, and Danielle Wilson shares reflections on her time spent in a refugee camp in Greece. And of course, all this is woven together with music and song by David Blower.

If you'd like to contribute to Danielle's work with Global Aid Network, you can do so through the give.net website. 

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast guests and listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

For many of us, the charismatic movement has been a mixed bag of bonkers and blessing. The danger is, of course, that we throw the blessed baby out with the bonkers bathwater! Especially for those of us who have been through some kind of deconstruction, we can easily end up rationalising away anything mystical.

So we asked Brad Jersak to help us think all this through. Brad is a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church and is deeply contemplative. But he’s also a charismatic. So we ask him what the charismatic and contemplative traditions can learn from each other, and whether contemplation can help take some of the crazy out of the charismatic. 

After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash, David Blower and Nick Thorley reflect on their own experience in Charismatic spaces, and what they've kept and rejected as their faith has continued to evolve.

Interview begins at 17m 32s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast guests and listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Enneagram trainer Liz West joins us on the show to talk about this ancient tool for transformation. You may have seen the rather "dodgy" looking enneagram symbol, but don’t be put off. This is an ancient treasure that goes right back to the fourth century desert mothers and fathers who began to discern the things that blocked our relationships with ourselves, with others and with God. And that’s what make the enneagram unique. It doesn’t so much reveal who you are, as the coping mechanisms you’ve developed that have become blockages to your transformation.

After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Jemimah McAlpine reflect on their their enneagram 5ness, and how it's shaped their life and faith.

And if all that's not enough to convince you, head over to patreon or our own membership platform where you can listen in on Tim getting enneagram-ed in a bonus Nomad Extra episode!

Interview begins at 17m 9s

If you’re still not convinced having listened to the interview, then head over to patreon where you can listen in on Tim getting enneagram-ed!

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

You might also want to have a look at our blog, which we're now using to share the stories of the evolving faith of our podcast guests and listeners. 

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Catholic theologian and priest, James Alison joins us on the show to discuss scapegoating. It's a word we're all familiar with, but as James explains, it's through the violence of the scapegoating mechanism that civilisations are built. And, it is through the scapegoating mechanism that the cross heals. It's a fascinating way of understanding the atonement, especially for those of us disillusioned with models of atonement that require a violent God.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash, David Blower and Nick Thorley try to get their heads round all these new ideas, and ponder how it might shape their evolving faith.

Interview begins at 18m 43s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Elaine Heath is the perfect person to speak to about the emergence of new expressions of Church. She's one of those rare people who understands and can navigate the institution (she's former Dean of Duke Divinity School and an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church), while at the same time has years of experience in small, experimental, missional communities. She's a pioneer who through her writing, speaking and retreats, has opened up a space for many others to explore new forms of church a little more safely.

So we took the opportunity to pick Elaine's brain about the joys and heartbreaks of being a pioneer.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and David Blower reflect on the ups and downs of their own church journeys.

Interview begins at 10m 10s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Professor Tom Wright has got another book out! If you found the 1800 page tome that was Paul and the Faithfulness of God a little intimidating, then perhaps try his mere 500 page Paul: A Biography. Or failing that, how about a 50 minute Nomad interview to bring you up to speed with Tom's new insights on the apostle Paul. And fascinating insights they are too. Did you know, for example, that Paul struggled with doubts and with his mental health?

After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and David Blower ponder these fresh Pauline revelations and ponder what it means for their evolving faith.

Interview begins at 9m 13s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to the Nomad community, which manifests in such ways as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations and Nomad Devotionals. And you may find yourself the proud owner of a Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

From just two verses at the end of Romans, Paula Gooder has gleaned some fascinating insights about Phoebe. She was likely a freed slave, who became wealthy and influential. And she was a deacon who carried Paul's letter to the Church in Rome, and most likely explained it to them. From these intriguing details, Paula has written a novel, exploring the life of this woman (and others) in the early church.

So we met up with Paula to chat about women in the early church and the church today. And as you'd expect from Paula is was a conversation brimming with enthusiasm, wisdom and insight.

After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and David Blower ponder what all this means for their evolving faith.

Interview begins at 12m 47s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to a wide range of bonus content, such as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals, and of course, the Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

You're no doubt aware that the Church has been in steady decline in the West for a number of decades now. In the UK for example, Church attendance has roughly halved in the last thirty five years. But what do we know about all the people who left? Why did they leave? And what are they doing now? Researcher Steve Aisthorpe contacted 5000 church leavers to find out more. And what it discovered revealed a much more hopeful, but no less challenging picture of the Church!  

After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash, Jemimah McAlpine and David Blower reflect on their own church exits and ponder what for them are signs of hope.

Interview begins at 8m 7s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to a wide range of bonus content, such as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals, and of course, the Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

It's summer and we're feeling generous, so with thought we'd share this month's Nomad Devotional with everyone. If you're a patron of nomad you'll be very familiar with our Devotionals. Each month we ask a guest to offer us a reflection. And then we unpack it with music, song and readings.

This month we asked the former Dean of Duke Divinity School Elaine Heath to reflect on the spiritual practices she sees as vital for Christians today, and the spiritual practice that has had a particularly deep impact in her own life. David Blower then responds with music and a couple of new songs.

If you want more resources like these, and opportunities to connect with the nomad community, then check out our Patreon page.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to a wide range of bonus content, such as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations, and of course, the Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

For those of you who support us on Patreon, you’ll already be familiar with David Benjamin Blower’s music. Each month he responds to a guest’s reflection with music and song. And out of these Devotionals has emerged the album Hymns for Nomads, a compilation of spirituals, murder ballads and campfire songs. It’s a record that invites us to pick up an instrument, to play, sing, join hands and have some hard-won hope.

So Tim Nash met up with David to talk about why we sing together, why some of us have become suspicious of singing together, and some of the themes of his record; creation, the Holy Spirit, judgement, creatureliness and messianic hope.

If you’d like a copy of the record, head over to Nomad’s store, or Minor Artists. And if you’d like to follow David’s monthly Devotionals, you can find them on our Patreon page. 

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to a wide range of bonus content, such as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations, and of course, the Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Christianity in the West is collapsing. Poet, peacemaker and scholar John Philip Newell believes we can either deny it’s happening, try to shore up the foundations of the old thing, or we can radically reorientate our vision and ask what new thing is trying to be born. So we ask John Philip what this new thing is that is trying to emerge from deep within us and from deep within the collective soul of Christianity.

After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and David Blower reflect on what all this means for their evolving faith.

Interview begins at 6m 3s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to a wide range of bonus content, such as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals, and of course, the Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Vicky Beeching was the darling of the Christian worship scene. For a decade she wrote hit albums and toured American mega-churches, leading worship for thousands of people every week. Her songs become some of the most sung around the world. But from the age of 13 Vicky had kept a secret. She was gay.  

When finally at the age of 35 she came out, the evangelical Church she loved turned on her. Boycotting her music, they ended her career over night. This was backed up with an unrelenting flood of online abuse.

We chat with Vicky about the importance of wholeness, vulnerability, authenticity and the radical and inclusive love of Jesus.  

After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Jemimah McAlpine reflect on Vicky's story and on their own journey towards an affirming theology.

Interview begins at 8m 2s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. Our donors gain access to a wide range of bonus content, such as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals, and of course, the Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

"If we want our world to be more beautiful, kind and fair, then should'nt our activism be beautiful, kind and fair?" It's obvious when you hear someone say it. So why is so much activism loud and aggressive? Sarah Corbett burnt out on just this kind of activism, partly because she's an introvert, and partly because she increasingly doubted its effectiveness. So she formed the Craftivist Collective "an inclusive group of people committed to using thoughtful, beautiful crafted works to help themselves and encourage others be the positive change they wish to see in the world."

Sarah's is a fascinating story. And the collective she founded is a truly inspiring and challenging movement!

After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and David Blower reflect on Sarah's activism journey and the role activism has played in their own evolving faith.

Interview begins at 12m 36s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. As a thank you, our donors gain access to a wide range of bonus content, such as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals, and of course, the Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Metropolitan Kallistos Ware is considered by many to be the leading theologian today in the Orthodox Church. He is perhaps best known as the author of the book The Orthodox Church, and more recently the companion volume, The Orthodox Way.

Metropolitan Kallistos is also known as one of the great advocates of the Jesus Prayer, a prayer that countless Christians through the centuries have considered to be central to their spiritual growth. It was a prayer Rowan Williams referred to in our 2017 interview with him as being foundational to his prayer life. So we thought it was about time we learnt more.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and David Blower reflect on the spiritual practices they've found helpful, and whether the Jesus Prayer might play a role in their evolving faith.

Interview begins at 7m 27s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. As a thank you, our donors gain access to a wide range of bonus content, such as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals, and of course, the Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Rachel Held Evans was brought up in the 'buckle of the Bible Belt' and inherited a conservative evangelical faith. But shaken by the realities of our broken world, cracks began to form, and questions turned to doubts, doubts to cynicism and cynicism to despair. But through this journey she continued to wrestle with the Bible, sometimes exasperated by its apparent complicity with the bloody, ugly, mess of this world, and other times challenged and inspired by it. So how does she understand this book now? How, with all its contradictions, violence, patriarchy, and bewildering images of God, can she say it's inspired? How has she found a way to love the Bible again?

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and David Blower reflect on the changing role the Bible has played in their own evolving faith.

Interview begins at 11m 59s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. As a thank you, our donors gain access to a wide range of bonus content, such as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals, and of course, the Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Political theologian Stephen Backhouse believes that the earliest Christians tended to see patriotism as a vice – a temptation to guard against. Now it seems most Christians assume it is a virtue. Many of us, for example, don't think twice about asking God to Save the Queen or Bless America. So we ask Stephen whether the gospel is good news for our nations, what it means for a follower of Jesus to be a good citizen, whether we should be a blessing to our nation, or an unsettling presence, and how we should respond when loving our nation rubs up against our call to love our enemies.

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and David Blower reflect on Stephen's ideas and wonder how they might shape their own evolving faith.

Interview begins at 12m 28s

If you want more from Stephen, then have a look at this Tent Theology website.  

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. As a thank you, our donors gain access to a wide range of bonus content, such as Nomad Book Club, The Beloved Listener Lounge, Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals, and of course, the Beloved Listener mug! Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you're not fussed about the bonus content, you can make a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

And if you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Danielle Shroyer believes that more than any other idea, the doctrine of original sin has "slowly eroded our understanding of our relationship with God". Not only that, she believes it is unbiblical, and was rejected by Judaism and many Christian traditions, such as the Eastern Orthodox Church. So we ask Danielle how she understands sin, separation, and our relationship with God. Her answer? Original Blessing. 

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and new host Jemimah McAlpine reflect on the role Original Sin played in shaping their faith, and what a more hopeful and live-giving theology might look like for them.

Interview begins at 11m 56s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Poet and priest Malcolm Guite helps us mark the death and resurrection of Jesus with poems from his series on the stations of the cross, and with his reflections on the Messianic Event. Nomad's David Blower responds to Malcolm’s poetry and thought in sound and song, and Kate Blower brings the Easter readings.

Malcolm’s poems are published in the book Sounding the Seasons.  Used with permission by Canterbury Press. 

We produce devotionals like this every month as bonus content for our supporters. So if you're interested in helping us pay the bills, head over to our Patreon page, where you'll also be able to access Nomad Book Club and our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and you'll be able to get your hands on a beloved listener mug! 

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.

Professor Thomas Oord has spent years wrestling with the problem of evil. Why, if God is all powerful and all loving, is there so much evil in the world? This question has brought Thomas to the edge of his faith. In recent years, though, he has begun to consider a radical solution. Perhaps God can't stop evil? As shocking as this sounds, Thomas is careful to show how biblical this idea is, and just how much it looks like Jesus. Tune in for a mind bending episode!

Interview begins at 11m 21s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Georgia May's parents had an open-door policy. Literally. Most of the time the front door of their home was left open, so that people would feel welcome at any time. Consequently, Georgia grew up with a house full of people who's didn't feel they had a family of their own. This radical approach to hospitality led to many lives being transformed. But Georgia also knows first hand what can happen when radical hospitality goes wrong. So we ask her, when is radical too radical?

Interview begins at 9m 14s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Jayme Reaves grew up in a home and a church that weren't safe environments. This later led to a passion to study and experience true hospitality. Through her study of church history and her experiences in the former Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland, she discovered that the hospitality we're called to goes way beyond simply welcoming the stranger. Instead we're called to protect the stranger. Tune in for an enlightening and challenging conversation. 

Interview begins at 9m 45s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Brad Jersak was in town recently, so we took the opportunity to quiz him about why his faith journey led him to the Eastern Orthodox Church. Despite many Western Christians being only vaguely aware of this ancient Christian tradition, it is increasingly influencing our beliefs. So we ask Brad, could the Orthodox Church be a home for spiritual nomads?

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

John Swinton is a Scottish theologian and founder of the University of Aberdeen's Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability. After years of work as a mental health nurse, John became an academic in order to process all that he'd learnt. And my word has he learnt a lot! His book Dementia: Living in the Memories of God, and Becoming Friends of Time are packed full of fascinating and vital insights about what we must learn from people with disabilities about what it means to be human and a disciple of Jesus.

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Here's the final part of our four-part Advent Devotional series. This time philosopher and theologian Elaine Storkey reflects on Advent in the context of those on the margins. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams finishes the Advent readings, and David Benjamin Blower closes things out with his unique style of music and songs.

If you want more Nomad Devotionals, you're in luck as we produce one a month. Head over to our Patreon page for more information.

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals.

It's week three of our four-part Advent Devotional series. This time philosopher and theologian Elaine Storkey considers how Advent might be Good News to the Poor. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams continues to work his way through the Advent readings, with the help of Kate Blower. And David Benjamin Blower continues to bring the music and song. So good!

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Here's the second part of our four-part Advent Devotional series. This time philosopher and theologian Elaine Storkey bases her reflection around the idea of Peace Across Borders. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams again brings the readings along with Kate Blower, and David Benjamin Blower brings the music and songs.

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

If you're one of our Patreon supporters, you'll already be familiar with our Nomad Devotionals. Every month we ask a guest to reflect on a topic, and we unpack it with music, song, readings, and prayers. 

For Advent we thought we produce a four-part Devotional and make it available to everyone. So for the next four Sundays you can expect a reflection from feminist philosopher and theologian Dr. Elaine Storkey, and the former archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams will be contributing the readings. And of course Nomad's David Benjamin Blower will be bringing the soundscapes and songs. What more could you ask for this Christmas?!

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Dave Randall has played guitar for some huge acts, including Faithless, Dido and Sinead O'Connor. As he's reflected on his career and the industry he's been a part of, he has begun to see the huge potential of music to change society. This prompted him to write the excellent book Sound System: The Political Power of Music. So if you're interested in pondering how the songs we sing might help us not just love God, but also love our neighbour, then tune in!

This episode ends with Ibrahim Qashoush performing the protest song "Yalla Erhal Ya Bashar", or "Come on, Bashar, leave", during the 2011 Syrian up-rising. Qashoush's song is mocking president Bashar al-Assad. Qashoush was later found dead in the Orontes River, his throat cut and his vocal cords ripped out. You can watch the video of the performance with subtitled lyrics on YouTube. 

Interview start at 12m 36s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Muhanad Al Qaisy's grandfather, grandmother and seven children were driven from their home in Palestine and into a refugee camp in 1948. Nearly 70 years later, the family is still struggling to make a life in the same camp. So we ask Muhanad what he sees as signs of hope.

Interview starts at 11m 10s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Well, this is it, Dave Ward's final episode. After six years of podcasting, he's decided to go on to other things (probably something to do with horses...). 

In his final episode, we're chatting with Nick Spencer, the Director of Research at Theos Think Tank, and author of The Evolution of the West: How Christianity Has Shaped Our Values. And we're asking him, what difference has Christianity really made to society, and what indications are there that it has a hopeful future? 

Interview starts at 19m 38s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

A recent report into human trafficking revealed that the problem is significantly worse than previously thought. In fact, it is believed that in the UK alone, every large town and city will have trafficked people in it who are effectively enslaved, and many of us are unwittingly coming into contact with trafficked people every day. So we speak with three people - Ruth Dearnley, Julia Pugh and Hannah Flint - committed to finding signs of hope in this seemingly bleak situation. 

For more information about the work they do, and the difference you can make, check out the Stop the Traffik website.

Interview starts at 8m 58s.  

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Elizabeth Edman believes she has learnt more from the LGBTQ community about what it means to be a Christian, than she has from the Church. Why? Well, she believes the church has forgotten what it means to be scandalous, to struggle for identity and to expand its boundaries to include the marginalised. And so the Church needs to learn from the gay community - and other marginalised groups - that have embraced these virtues. It's an insightful and challenging conversation!

Interview starts at 6m 16s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Malcolm Guite is a poet, priest and theologian. Years of inhabiting these roles has led him to the belief that we're relying far too much on reason and thought in the formation of our faith, and are overlooking the significance of the 'poetic imagination'.  He believes that we can find deep truth in the imagination and that poetry can bring our faith alive in a way that nothing else can. It's a fascinating and hope-filled conversation!

Interview begins at 6m 50s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

I know, we only just interviewed Walter Brueggemann! But he's just brought a book out entitled Money and Possessions and we've still got unresolved questions after our chat with Justin Welby on that subject. So why not spend another hour in the digital presence of one of the great biblical scholars of our time?! And as you'd expect, it was an hour chock-full of wisdom and insight.

Interview started at 6m 53s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Walter Brueggemann is widely considered to be one of the most influential theologians of our time. So who better to help us get a handle on the idea of the Sabbath. Especially as he wrote the fascinating and insightful Sabbath as Resistance. That's right, Sabbath is so much more than simply taking a day off, it's an intentional and creative act of resistance. 

Interview starts at 10m 8s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Shane Claiborne has been an inspiration to many ever since his book The Irresistible Revolution came out, with its 'What if Jesus really meant what he said' message. For the last 20 years Shane has been trying to live out Jesus's message in a deprived area of Philadelphia, where he founded the new monastic community, The Simple Way. This journey has led him to a commitment to non-violence, 'from womb to tomb', which has been tested on many occasions. So tune in for a challenging and counter-cultural conversation. 

Interview starts at 11m 15s. 

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

It's pretty clear what Jesus was about. Love you neighbour (and if that's not challenging enough, love your enemies) was at the top of his manifesto. So why do we find it so hard to follow his example? Professor of Psychology at Abilene University, Richard Beck, doesn't think the issue is a lack of understanding. We know what we're meant to do. Instead, Richard thinks the issue is a psychological one. And it's to do with a misplaced psychology of disgust. Tune in for a truly fascinating conversation!

Interview starts at 6m 47s  

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

In many ways Brian Zahnd is like many of Nomad's guests in that he deconstructed (although he doesn't like that term) what he came to see as a very narrow faith, and reconstructed something much deeper and broader. The difference with Brian, though, is that he went through this process while pastoring a mega-church. So we asked him, how can you lead a church, or indeed be a member of a church, when your faith is changing and you feel like you're in a very different place from everyone else. 

Interview starts at 13m 25s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Every now and then we like to interview a fellow podcaster who, like us, is creating a space for an open and honest exploration of the Christian faith. And Justin Brierley is one such person. Over the last 11 years he's been producing Unbelievable?, on which he moderates conversations between Christians and people from others faiths and none. So firstly I took the opportunity to see if he suffers from the same podcaster insecurities that I do. Then we dug into whether apologetics - the rational defence of the faith - still has a place in our post-secular culture, and in a faith that seems increasingly comfortable with mystery and doubt. 

Interview starts at 6m 8s.

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

As much as we love some good old fashioned theological cut-and-thrust, we're increasingly aware that if this journey is going to be sustainable, it's got to be an holistic one. So each month we'll be producing Nomad Devotionals, through which we'll be experimenting with readings, prayers, liturgies and songs. We're making the first one free to everyone, so you can decide whether you're interested in joining us on this leg of the journey. If you are, then head over to Patreon and donate $5 or more a month to gain access to future Devotionals (as well as bonus interviews and post-interview reflections). 

This first devotional was made with help from: Rabbi Margaret Jacobi from Birmingham’s Progressive Synagogue; theologian and urban gardener Sam Ewell; and Brian McLaren, who kindly gives the benediction. The song Hallelujah Sing Exulting was adapted from an old hymn by Martin Gensichen (1879-1965). All other music is by David Benjamin Blower (all rights reserved, and all that). The song Come Holy Spirit is Public Domain (as is Hallelujah Sing Exulting), so please help yourself.

Devotional begins at 14m 17s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

What actually is prayer? What happens when we do it? What difference can it make, if any, to the events and circumstances we find ourselves in? Should we expect to sense God in prayer, or perhaps even hear him communicate to us? And if so, why do so few of us ever seem to have these sorts of experiences. 

For many of us, these questions, and others like them, have led us to a place of disillusionment and prayerlessness. And yet we still yearn for the deep, rooted, holistic connectedness that prayer promises. 

So we brought these questions, and others, to Dr. Rowan Williams, Master of Magdalen College, Cambridge, former Archbishop of Canterbury, and expert in the history of Christian spirituality. He's known as a man of great wisdom and deep spirituality. And he didn't disappoint! 

Interview starts at 8m 5s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Greg Boyd is back on the show. This time he's tackling the tricky issue of violence in the Old Testament. How is it, for example, that the God revealed in Jesus loves his enemies and lays down his life for them, when the God we see in the Old Testament seemingly thinks nothing of killing his enemies? What does this tell us about the nature of God, and the nature of the Bible? Greg is certainly the man to ask, as he's just published a 1492 page book on this very subject, The Crucifixion of the Warrior God. 

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

At our recent offline Gathering, Mark Vernon - former Anglican Priest, turned atheist, turned Christian agnostic - led us in a Buddhist inspired meditation. To get the full benefit from this, you might want to sit near some other people (e.g. in a cafe, the library, or park, etc.) as it's all about how we perceive ourselves in relation to others. 

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

This podcast comes to you from Nomad's first offline Gathering. We had a great weekend of food, drink, conversation, music and meditation. We also interviewed Mark Vernon. Mark was an Anglican priest but developed deep doubts about the faith. His subsequent journey took him through atheism, agnosticism, through ancient Greek philosophy, to a Christian faith that sees doubt and uncertainty as integral parts. 

Interview starts at 8m 39s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

We recently invited the beloved listener to Nottingham for Nomad's first offline get-together. It was a splendid weekend of conversation, interviews, music, food and drink. And we recorded some of it for you. First up is a Q&A we did on the Friday night, where David Benjamin Blower asked us about the Nomad story and what impact the last few years of podcasting has had on our faith. Personally, I think we're much better at interviewing people than we are at being interviewed, but nevertheless I hope you enjoy the podcast!

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

We recently travelled to the Creature Conference in London, where we spent the day pondering the question 'Is Christianity Good News for Animals?'. Animal welfare used to be seen as an important expression of the gospel for leaders such as Spurgeon, Wesley, C. S. Lewis and many others. But more recently it seems to have dropped off the Church's agenda. So we asked theological ethicists Prof. David Clough, and Christian leaders Tony Campolo, Steve Chalke, Ruth Valerio, and founder of the animal welfare charity Sarx, Darrel Booth, why we've lost sight of this, and how Christianity can again become good news for animals. 

Interview starts at 7m 9s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

With Easter fast approaching, we thought it was about time we had a fresh look at the central symbol of our faith, the cross. And who better to help us than one of the world's most respected and influential theologians, Professor N. T. Wright. So we ask Tom how through the cross Jesus's revolution began, and why after 2000 year does it often look like the revolution is struggling to transform the world. 

Interview starts at 6m 23s

David Benjamin Blower's album The Book of Jonah is available from Minor Artists and Bandcamp. And make sure you also grab a copy of the accompanying book Sympathy for Jonah.

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

For those of us who have been through some kind of faith deconstruction, spiritual practices often take on a new significance, as we seek to connect with God without what often feels like restrictive doctrinal and organisational frameworks. Scottish theologian and activist Alastair McIntosh recently wrote Poacher's Pilgrimage about a soulful journey he took across the Islands of the Outer Hebrides. So we invited him on the podcast to explore with us the importance of the ancient practice of pilgrimage. 

Interview starts at 12m 1s

David Benjamin Blower's album The Book of Jonah is available from Minor Artists and Bandcamp. And make sure you also grab a copy of the accompanying book Sympathy for Jonah.

This episode features the song Homage to Young Men which is used with permission by Nizlopi

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Lent is upon us once again. A wonderful counter-cultural season where we reflect on those things we might need to give up. So we asked Brian Draper to send us something that would help guide us through this time. And he came up trumps with a reflection on the transforming power of stillness. So tune in if you're feeling overwhelmed, stressed out and frazzled, and join us as we commit to intentional stillness through Lent. 

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

We've been wanting to do an episode on money for a while now, so when the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby put pen to paper and wrote his first book - Dethroning Mammon - all about the dangers of money, we seized upon the opportunity and headed off for Lambeth Palace. We asked the Archbishop what his life experience has taught him about money and how it shapes what we value and where we place our identity. Tune into the podcast for a honest, humble and insightful conversation.  

Interview starts at 6m 27s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

In both Liverpool and Bradford, Barbara Glasson has drawn together communities that have provided safe, honest, authentic spaces for the poor, marginalised, disillusioned, and people from other faiths and none. As well as being a spiritual home for these people, she believes they have an important message for the mainstream church. So we ask Barbara how she formed these communities, and what wisdom she has gained along the way. So tune in for a conversation full of insight, challenge and humility. 

Interview starts at 7m 47s.

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Priest, poet and feminist theologian, Rachel Mann is a trans-woman. From an early age she had a profound sense that her body didn't reflect her gender. After a long, frustrating and painful journey she emerged into the woman she is today. We ask Rachel to look back over this transition and reflect on what it means to be human, what place gender has in our identity, and what she's learnt from seeing the word through male and female eyes. Tune into the podcast for a fascinating and challenging conversation. 

Interview begins at 9m 58s

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter

If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area. 

Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page.

As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

What are 21st Century educated, questioning Christians supposed to make of the Devil and evil spirits? Are they literal spiritual beings who spend their time trying to lure us into sinful acts? Or should we see them as metaphors for social injustices that we need to confront? We ask professor of psychology, author and blogger Richard Beck. Tune into the podcast for a conversation full of insight, wisdom and honesty. 

Interview begins at 6m

If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter