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In this episode of Irreverend Faith and Current Affairs, Rev. Dr. Jamie Franklin turns to the Russell Brand trial and reads it through the parable of the Prodigal Son. Brand faces multiple charges of rape and sexual assault as the jury deliberates. Jamie refuses to play judge of the man’s heart or the legal outcome. Instead he asks what the story reveals spiritually: the far country of untethered lust, the slavery of sin that looks like freedom, the moment of coming to oneself, and the Father who runs to embrace the son while he is still a long way off. Grace is real for the genuinely repentant. But the past still catches up. Celebrity conversion without a season of hiddenness and humility is dangerous. Restitution matters. And the elder-brother instinct in all of us must be watched. Also in this episode: the John Lewis Christmas advert, and a listener question on how Christians should engage with Halloween. Support Irreverend: 🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend 🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com 📧 Email / donations → [email protected] Like, subscribe, comment and share if you want more fearless commentary on church, culture and current affairs. #RussellBrand #ProdigalSon #Christianity #Halloween #Irreverend Support the show

In this episode of Irreverend Faith and Current Affairs, Rev. Dr. Jamie Franklin follows up on the legal challenge to Project Spire — and delivers a proper good-news story at the end. First: the BBC wanted Jamie in a pre-recorded debate with Professor Alan Lester. He declined and suggested credentialed historians instead. Robert Tombs took the slot. Then Lester delivered a lecture from a church pulpit in Sussex, linking opponents of Project Spire to Edward Long, the so-called “founding father of English racism,” and accusing them of “misinformation.” When Bijan Omrani asked him to name names, Lester denied the charge, refused to specify, and blocked him. Jamie lays out the sequence, rejects the smear, and issues a direct invitation: come on Irreverend and make the case properly. Then the good news: Harry Kane wins the Ballon d’Or. Rejected by Arsenal at eight for being “too chubby,” years without a trophy, no campaigning, no preening — just relentless work, team play, humility, and fidelity to his wife and children. “Work hard in silence, let success be your noise.” Jamie argues Kane is the perfect antidote to football’s narcissists and a model worth holding up for parents and the next generation. Support Irreverend: 🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend 🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com 📧 Email / donations → [email protected] Like, subscribe, comment and share if you want more fearless commentary on church, culture and current affairs. #ProjectSpire #AlanLester #HarryKane #BallonDor #Irreverend Support the show

In this special episode of Irreverend, Rev'd Dr Jamie Franklin explains why he and author Dr Bijan Omrani decided to take the Church of England's Church Commissioners to court over their proposed plans to spend £100 million on slavery reparations from a fund that exists to help struggling parishes churches. If you support Jamie and want to see the Church of England fulfilling its Christian mission in England, please like, subscribe and share! Support Irreverend:  🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend  🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com  📧 Email / donations → [email protected] #ProjectSpire #CulturalChristianity #Irreverend #Slavery #Racism #Reparations Support the show

Live from the University of Greenwich: Rev. Dr. Jamie Franklin and Rev. Daniel French on The God Solution. For a generation the Church felt like a lost cause under new atheism and The God Delusion. Now the mood has shifted. People step toward the vicar. Interest in real Christianity is rising. But can the Church meet the moment? Jamie lays out the thesis of his book The Great Return: Western values — human dignity, equality, liberty, the intellectual conditions for science — are Christian capital, not Enlightenment inventions. The Greco-Roman world had no such vision of humanity. Strip out Christ and the borrowed capital runs out. We already see the collision in debates over abortion and assisted dying. Cultural Christianity is not enough. Preference for the Christian story without genuine belief has no binding authority. Real renewal means prayer, holiness, parish life, and a recovered confidence in the Church’s historic identity — not more fashionable politics. Jamie also discusses his high-profile involvement in the legal challenge, brought with Dr Bijan Omrani, against the Church Commissioners’ £100 million Project Spire slavery-reparations fund — including the media coverage it has attracted and why the use of Section 106 is being contested. Support Irreverend: 🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend 🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com 📧 Email / donations → [email protected] Like, subscribe, comment and share if you want more fearless commentary on church, culture and current affairs. #TheGodSolution #TheGreatReturn #ProjectSpire #CulturalChristianity #Irreverend Support the show

In this episode of Irreverend Faith and Current Affairs, the Rev'd. Dr. Jamie Franklin covers four major stories. First: twenty years after The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins is still misunderstanding classical theism. Jamie explains necessary vs contingent being, why “a universe from nothing” isn’t nothing, and why new atheism has become largely irrelevant. Second: the failed lethal injection of Krista Pike in Tennessee after 30 years on death row. Church leaders appeal for mercy. Jamie supports the death penalty in rare cases of pure malice, but finds the American system Kafkaesque and would not reintroduce something similar in Britain. Third: a South London rector refuses to close the church doors on members of an anti-immigration group labelled “far right.” Jamie largely praises the pastor’s gospel-first stance and questions whether “Christian nationalism” is always the bogeyman it is made out to be. Fourth: Bijan Omrani’s call not to abandon the Church of England plus listener emails on staying and fighting rather than leaving for continuing Anglicanism. Jamie argues the fight for the soul of the C of E is the fight for the soul of the nation. Also: Live event — The God Solution with Jamie and Rev. Daniel French at the University of Greenwich, Wednesday 14 October, 7pm. Book here! Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 0:33 – Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion & classical theism 7:08 – “A universe from nothing” and why it isn’t nothing 11:49 – The God Solution live event, University of Greenwich (14 Oct) 13:46 – Krista Pike: failed execution & the death penalty 20:18 – When is capital punishment justified? 25:28 – “Sinners are welcome”: Danny Tomo, Patriot Platform & St Lawrence’s Morden 30:11 – What does “Christian nationalism” actually mean? 35:00 – A short digression on “rights” 37:00 – Support the show / Uncollared 39:30 – Bijan Omrani: “Don’t Abandon the Church of England” 48:30 – Listener emails (Victoria & Richard) 55:00 – Stay and fight: the soul of the Church & the nation 59:00 – Lord’s Prayer & close Support Irreverend: 🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend 🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com 📧 Email / donations → [email protected] Like, subscribe, comment and share if you want more fearless commentary on church, culture and current affairs. #RichardDawkins #DeathPenalty #ChristianNationalism #ChurchOfEngland #Irreverend Support the show

In this episode of Irreverend Faith and Current Affairs, Jamie, Tom and Daniel take on three stories that reveal how far parts of the Church have drifted from historic Christianity. First: a viral sermon by Episcopal priest Flourish Klink claiming God is non-binary, Mary “assigned” Jesus male at birth, and the risen Christ “transitioned.” The clip has millions of views. The three vicars walk through the argument and ask what happens when the pulpit becomes a webcam for untested ideology. Second: St Helen’s Bishopsgate, one of the Church of England’s flagship evangelical churches, distances itself from episcopal oversight. Rector William Taylor has described bishops as false teachers. What does that mean for the future of conservative churches still inside the C of E? Third: the Archbishop of Canterbury’s interfaith award, given on 9/11, to a Pakistani cleric who once praised Osama bin Laden. The award was withdrawn after the backlash but this withdrawal has now caused deep offence to the Church in Pakistan who demand an apology from the Archbishop of Canterbury. The panel asks how Lambeth got into this mess and what should be done now. Also in this episode: Ephesians 6, spiritual warfare, and why the modern Church prefers net zero to the unseen realm. Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro & banter 6:50 – Lord’s Prayer 7:10 – Ephesians 6 & spiritual warfare 12:03 – “Jesus is trans” sermon begins 16:54 – Flourish Klink clip 29:29 – “If you deny God is trans, you deny Christ’s divinity” ~40:00 – St Helen’s Bishopsgate severs ties with bishops ~55:00 – Interfaith award to the Bin Laden praiser Support Irreverend: 🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend 🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com 📧 Email / donations → [email protected] Like, subscribe, comment and share if you want more fearless commentary on church, culture and current affairs. #JesusIsTrans #FlourishKlink #StHelensBishopsgate #ChurchOfEngland #Irreverend Support the show

Jamie Franklin, Tom Pelham and Daniel French on a week the Church of England and the culture both told on themselves. On the anniversary of 9/11, the Archbishop of Canterbury gave an interfaith award to a cleric who praised Osama bin Laden as a Muslim warrior standing next to his wife in a niqab. Lambeth put the photo out then withdrew the honour after a Google search anyone could have done. The hosts say the real scandal is a church that would rather curry the world’s favour than speak of Christ. Then: Greta Gerwig’s new Narnia. Meryl Streep voices Aslan. Rainbow whiskers. Bowie eyes. The panel argues Aslan is Christ in Narnia, not a costume, and that “Translan” is the point. 1 Corinthians 1: boast in the Lord. Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 0:15 – Welcome 4:24 – Lord’s Prayer 5:07 – 1 Corinthians 1 11:08 – 9/11 award to a Bin Laden praiser 35:45 – Church leadership, repentance, and the episcopate 42:01 – Meryl Streep’s Aslan / “Translan” 56:40 – Close, support & blessing Support Irreverend: 🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend 🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com 📧 Email / donations → [email protected] 📚 Buy The Great Return → https://link.amazon/B02p0N26M Like, subscribe and share if you want more fearless commentary on church, culture and current affairs. Support the show

In this episode of Irreverend Faith and Current Affairs, Rev. Dr. Jamie Franklin reacts to two major developments. First: a narrow but historic defeat for the assisted dying bill in the Commons. Jamie gives thanks to God, dismantles the myth of the “inevitable march of liberal progressivism,” and argues that only a restoration of Christian faith can stop this returning. He also critiques the weak responses from Church of England bishops who failed to make a distinctively Christian case. Second: the Lindsay Clancy trial update. After a near-acquittal, several jurors have gone public. The sole holdout who refused to declare her not guilty by reason of insanity was a black man — shattering the expected narrative. Even more disturbing, a prominent panel discussion now frames Clancy’s near-escape as white privilege and calls for the same energy to exonerate women of colour who kill their children. Jamie calls this the demonic endgame of the culture of death. Also in this episode: Andy Burnham’s push to let Catholics advise on Anglican bishop appointments, Angela Rayner’s two-tier donation rules, and a listener question about the nature of the devil. Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro & dog disclaimer 2:26 – Lord’s Prayer & Philippians 1 10:01 – Assisted dying bill defeated 20:15 – Church leaders’ responses 27:04 – Lindsay Clancy trial update 29:44 – The holdout juror reveal 31:21 – Oprah-style panel: “women of colour” and child murder 35:41 – Listener question: how should we understand the devil? 40:23 – Andy Burnham & Anglican bishop appointments 47:53 – Angela Rayner’s two-tier donation rules Support Irreverend: 🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend 🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com 📧 Email / donations → [email protected] 📚 Buy The Great Return → https://link.amazon/B02p0N26M 👍 Like, subscribe, comment and share if you want more fearless commentary on church, culture and current affairs. #AssistedDying #LindsayClancy #CultureOfDeath #ChurchOfEngland #Irreverend Support the show

In this episode of Irreverend Faith and Current Affairs, Rev. Dr. Jamie Franklin is joined by Rev. Thomas Pelham for a wide-ranging discussion on two major stories. First: Sadiq Khan celebrates a partnership between Fabric nightclub and St Paul’s Cathedral. Is this just another concert in a historic building, or a sign that the Church of England has lost the distinction between the sacred and the secular? Jamie and Tom examine Bishop Robert Barron’s strong critique, Gavin Ashenden’s polemics, and the wider question of what church buildings are actually for. Second: Cambridge academic and Reform UK policy chief James Orr is forced to step down after being caught in a journalistic sting discussing foreign funding. Was it illegal? Immoral? Or just politically disastrous? The pair dig into the optics, the law, Nigel Farage’s ruthless response, and what it means for Christian influence in politics. Also in this episode: the assisted dying bill, the AfD surge in Germany, Iceland rejecting the EU, and a listener question about blessing children’s backpacks. Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro & banter 7:04 – Lord’s Prayer & Psalm 117 13:30 – Fabric nightclub at St Paul’s Cathedral 25:13 – Bishop Robert Barron’s critique of sacred vs secular 33:02 – Gavin Ashenden & Roman Catholic reactions 36:32 – James Orr, Reform UK & the foreign funding controversy 50:02 – Assisted dying, abortion & the AfD rise in Germany 1:00:39 – Listener question: blessing backpacks 1:06:41 – Closing prayer Support Irreverend: 🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend 🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com 📧 Email / donations → [email protected] Like, subscribe, comment and share if you want more fearless commentary on church, culture and current affairs. #StPauls #Fabric #JamesOrr #ReformUK #ChurchOfEngland #Irreverend Support the show

In this episode of Irreverend Faith and Current Affairs, Rev. Dr. Jamie Franklin confronts one of the most disturbing stories gripping social media: the Lindsay Clancy trial. A Massachusetts mother methodically strangled her three young children before attempting suicide. As the jury remains deadlocked, supporters gather outside the courthouse wearing “Stand with Lindsay” T-shirts, while commentators rush to excuse her by blaming sleep deprivation, “the patriarchy,” mental illness, or Big Pharma. Jamie argues this is a clear bellwether of a post-Christian anthropology that replaces objective morality and personal responsibility with identity hierarchies — and shows how the logic of abortion is now being applied to born children. Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro & welcome 1:59 – Lord’s Prayer and Bible reading: Matthew 18:15–20 3:06 – Personal responsibility & the breakdown of the moral universe 9:40 – The Lindsay Clancy story begins 12:47 – Post-Christian anthropology & the decline of the West 17:00 – Pagan Rome, infanticide & the Christian revolution 22:04 – Lindsay Clancy as feminist icon & the TikTok supporters 26:56 – Caitlin Bennett interview with Clancy supporters 32:45 – Legal ramifications if she is found not guilty 35:41 – Anne Hathaway on abortion as “mercy” 40:44 – Church of England / Church Times silence 44:41 – Why the leftist ideology is uniquely toxic 50:14 – Listener question: Big Church Festival tragedy & the problem of evil 1:01:01 – St Stephen of Hungary & the call for Christian restoration 1:04:50 – Closing prayer This is one of the darkest and most important conversations Jamie has hosted. Not for the faint-hearted — but essential if you care about the direction of our civilisation. Support Irreverend: 🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend 🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com 📧 Email / donations → [email protected] Like, subscribe, comment and share if you want more fearless commentary on church, culture and current affairs. #LindsayClancy #CultureOfDeath #MoralResponsibility #ChristianAnthropology #Irreverend Support the show

Rev Jamie is back with a solo episode that starts with absurdity and ends with righteous anger. 🔥 The Home Office’s jaw-dropping pamphlet telling asylum seekers that “in the UK both people must say yes to sex” – complete with unfinished sentences and cartoon illustrations. Madeleine Grant calls it Victorian moralising; Jamie calls it something far darker. 👑 Prince Harry’s latest “hostage video” for the Diana Award: systemic racism, unconscious bias, and the obligatory apology for the sins of previous generations. Production values that would embarrass a parish podcast. 🎓 Academia continues its descent: a very tall man in a dress receives an honorary degree for DEI activism at the University of Bradford… while Cambridge’s Education Faculty hires someone who once called for engineering degrees to produce “advanced weaponry for jihad.” And the main event: the continuing fallout from Jason Arday’s death. Nathan Cofnas speaks. The Bishop of Croydon and former Archbishop Rowan Williams turn the tragedy into a morality play about “bullying” and “basic human dignity” – while ignoring the plagiarism, the fabrications, and the DEI machine that put an unqualified man on a pedestal from which he had so far to fall. Jamie names names, refuses the victimhood narrative, and asks the forbidden question: who is actually responsible? Plus: the quiet death of the parish system under “oversight ministry” and why the Church of England’s technocrats don’t understand what a priest actually is. Support Irreverend: 🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend 🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com 📧 Email / donations → [email protected] Like, subscribe, comment and share if you want more fearless commentary on church, culture and current affairs. Support the show

Rev Jamie returns with a powerful solo episode on the tragic death of Cambridge professor Jason Arday and what it reveals about our post-truth culture. In this episode: 🔥 Jason Arday’s death and the reaction The James O’Brien interview, the rejection of meritocracy, the Trafalgar Square vigil, Diane Abbott’s claims of a “vicious campaign”, and the Committee for Academic Freedom’s response. 📖 Victimhood as the new sainthood How modern culture has taken the Christian idea of martyrdom and twisted it into identity politics. ⛪ Church of England Project Spire Alex Scott discovers her ancestor was a slave owner — and why race-based reparations make no sense. ⛪ Truro’s 21-church benefice Mass opposition ignored, and Bishop David Williams’ comments on “priest-centred” ministry. Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro & apology on sociology  3:30 – Lord’s Prayer & John 9  11:30 – Jason Arday’s death and the culture war  25:40 – The James O’Brien interview & meritocracy  42:00 – Trafalgar Square vigil & Diane Abbott  55:00 – Project Spire & Alex Scott  1:05:00 – Truro 21-church benefice  1:15:00 – Listener emails Support Irreverend: 🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend 🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com 📧 Email / donations → [email protected] Like, subscribe, comment and share if you want more fearless commentary on church, culture and current affairs. #JasonArday #Cambridge #DEI #ChurchOfEngland #ProjectSpire #Irreverend Support the show

Jamie and Tom are back with another explosive episode. 🔥 Jason Arday / Cambridge scandal The “inspirational” professor whose remarkable life story is collapsing, extensive plagiarism, incoherent teaching, a $1.15 million book deal still going ahead, and the toxic DEI culture that allowed it all to happen. ⛪ Madeline Grant on the Church of England Why the CofE is still doubling down on Project Spire and 2020-era racial politics long after the rest of society has moved on. ⚖️ Massachusetts abortion law A major change expanding access to later-term abortions — and what it reveals about the direction of Western culture. Sharp, unfiltered, and no sacred cows. Support the show: 🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend 🔥 Substack → https://www.patreon.com/c/irreverend 📧 Email / donations → [email protected] Please subscribe, leave a 5-star rating, and share if this episode hit home. Support the show

In this episode of Irreverend, Rev. Jamie Franklin examines two major stories making waves in the Church and wider culture. 1. The Archbishop of Canterbury in Ghana Filmed visits to former slave sites, public displays of piety, and a renewed commitment to the Church of England’s £100 million slavery reparations fund. Historical claims, collective guilt theology, African involvement in the slave trade, British abolition, parish backlash, and the legal challenge now underway. 2. Oxford Union debate – “The West is right to be suspicious of Islam” Protesters outside, Tommy Robinson on the panel, a revealing joke about him being “cooked,” the attempt to separate Islam from Islamism, the age of Aisha, and why the Christian-history comparison doesn’t work the way some claim. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 5:37 Archbishop in Ghana & reparations 21:13 Oxford Union Islam debate Parish funding stories and other comments, questions and stories welcome: [email protected] Support the show: 🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend 🔥 Substack → https://www.patreon.com/c/irreverend 📧 Donate → [email protected] Please subscribe, leave a 5-star rating, and share if this episode hit home. Support the show

The Church of England is sitting on an £11.6 billion endowment — yet parish churches are being closed, merged, and left without clergy or cash. In this hard-hitting episode, Jamie Franklin interviews the Rev. Marcus Walker, rector of St Bartholomew the Great in the City of London and one of the key voices behind the Save the Parish movement. They dig into: 🔥 The extraordinary growth at St Bartholomew’s (from ~50 to 250+) and why young adults are flocking to traditional high-church worship💰 How historic parish money has been redirected while poorer churches struggle⛪ The controversial push for 10,000 new lay-led church plants📖 The Quiet Revival, the King James Bible, beauty, and why “relevance” often means the opposite of what people actually want⚔️ What ordinary Anglicans can do to fight backThis is one of the most important conversations about the future of the Church of England right now. Get involved: 🔥 Join Save the Parish → https://www.savetheparish.com/join/ 🔥 Stand for General Synod → https://www.savetheparish.com/general-synod-manifesto-2026/# Support the show: 🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend 🔥 Substack → https://www.patreon.com/c/irreverend 📧 Donate → [email protected] Please subscribe, leave a 5-star rating, and share if this episode hit home. Support the show