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What does it mean to preach creation as gospel rather than guilt? Canon Grace Thomas joins Sneha Ninan, Saju, and Anne Scott, the diocesan environmental officer at Leicester Diocese, to explore preaching, creation care, and Christian hope. From Grace’s remarkable journey into preaching to climate anxiety, Scripture, discipleship, and the work of the Holy Spirit, Grace invites preachers to rediscover creation as woven through the whole Christian story.Along the way, she offers a beautiful reframing of responsibility as our “ability to respond” and reminds us that preaching is not simply something we do alone in a pulpit, but something that happens in relationship, community and the movement of the Spirit.A conversation about recovering wonder, speaking honestly about a wounded world, and preaching the resurrection hope that enables us to act in love.

A teenage moment. A lifetime of words. A voice that still crackles with life. In this episode, J. John takes us back to 1975—one conversation, one encounter with Christ—and shows how it still fuels everything. He tells stories that stick. He laughs. He disarms. Then he gets honest: most of us neglect the very thing that gives preaching power—prayer. We travel from the streets of London to 70 nations. We watch him break barriers the way Jesus did—start with what’s shared, speak simply, make it land. No jargon. No hiding. This is preaching that walks, prays, listens, and dares to be clear. If you want to speak of Jesus without strain—naturally, courageously, joyfully—don’t miss this.

Few people know the hidden work behind public preaching. In this moving conversation, Archbishop Sarah Mullally shares the realities of preaching with dyslexia: the fear of reading aloud, the discipline of preparation, the challenge of comparison, and the joy of finding her own voice. Together, we explore how sermons are born, why accessibility matters, how confidence grows, and what happens when weakness becomes a gift for others. Warm, practical and profound, this episode will encourage preachers everywhere to trust that God can use their voice, exactly as it is. It is a conversation about preaching, calling and becoming who God has made and called you to be.

Eight pilgrims from Leicester travel down red-dust roads beneath Mount Kilimanjaro to learn from a bishop whose diocese has planted hundreds of churches, many meeting under trees. In this powerful conversation, Bishop Stanley Elilekia Hotay shares a startlingly simple vision: preach Christ, go where people are, and never avoid the places nobody else wants to go. Along the way, he challenges Western assumptions about preaching, leadership, and church growth. He speaks of sermons that first wound the preacher before they heal the listener, of faith that builds churches before the money arrives, and of a gospel that must transform culture rather than be shaped by it.  Full of stories, wisdom, humour and hard-earned conviction, this episode is a reminder that preaching is more than information. It is truth carried in the heart, spoken with love, and lived among the people. From the foot of Kilimanjaro comes a fresh invitation: stop decorating the gospel. Preach Christ.

Jonathan Agnew: Cricket, Trust, Voice and the Art of Communication. What can preachers, leaders and communicators learn from one of the most recognisable voices in British broadcasting? In this special episode of Preaching Well, Bishop Saju Muthalaly and Rev James Pickersgill sit down with Jonathan Agnew, the legendary BBC Test Match Special commentator, for a conversation that goes far beyond cricket. Together they explore the surprising connections between cricket commentary and preaching: how to build trust, hold attention, tell compelling stories, communicate under pressure, and find the right words when millions are listening. Agnew reflects on: * The secret of great broadcasting * What he learned from Michael Parkinson * How to interview people in moments of triumph and failure * Why trust takes decades to build and seconds to lose * The power of voice, silence and timing * Commentary, leadership and communication in an age of social media * Lessons from cricket that apply equally to pulpits, classrooms, boardrooms and public life Along the way, there are memorable stories involving Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Test Match Special, St Paul's Cathedral, radio broadcasting, and the craft of communicating with authenticity. Whether you're a cricket supporter, preacher, journalist, teacher, podcaster or leader, this is a masterclass in how great communicators earn trust and keep it. A conversation about cricket. A masterclass in communication. A lesson in trust. Jonathan Agnew has spent more than three decades helping millions understand what is happening on the field. In this fascinating and unexpected conversation, he reveals what every communicator can learn from a lifetime behind the microphone.

Content Warning: This episode contains personal stories and descriptions of violence, war, armed conflict, death threats, bereavement, and traumatic experiences from ministry in Burundi. Simon recounts incidents involving killings, threats to life, severe suffering, and the effects of conflict on families and communities. Some listeners may find these stories distressing or triggering. Please take care while listening and consider whether this episode is right for you at this time. What happens when a prayer changes the course of your life? Simon Guillebaud takes us from an awkward first sermon at boarding school to war-torn Burundi, where a single phone call set him on a path of danger, faith, miracles, heartbreak, and radical discipleship. Along the way, he wrestles with fear, faces death threats, watches God show up in extraordinary ways, and learns that preaching is far more than communication. It is surrender.In this raw and deeply personal conversation, Simon explores courage, storytelling, spiritual warfare, prayer, suffering, and what it means to preach Christ without compromise. From refugee camps to revival meetings, from parenting struggles to moments of breathtaking hope, this is a conversation that refuses easy answers and keeps pointing back to Jesus.If you preach, teach, lead, or simply want a faith that moves beyond comfort, this episode will challenge, encourage, and stay with you long after it ends.

A barrister turns preacher... Stephen Foster from St Aldates, Oxford strips preaching back to its core: speak Jesus, trust the Spirit, love the people in front of you. From serving coffee to leading a new generation of preachers, he shares what actually forms a voice that connects—across ages, doubts, and a culture that feels "pre‑Christian” again. Expect sharp honesty, surprising hope, and a simple challenge: - Don’t impress—serve. - Don’t complicate—proclaim. - Don’t move on—stay with the gospel. Because you never graduate from it.

Preaching isn’t performance. It’s clarity under pressure. In this lively, wisdom‑packed conversation, Paula Gooderpulls back the curtain on what really makes a sermon land. Do the deep work—but don’t show off your notes. Know your congregation— Choose one thing. Say it simply. Let it travel. From cathedral pulpits to small congregations, Paulaexplores how great preaching adapts, listens, and lives in the real world. She shows why story bridges every gap—centuries, cultures, sceptics, and saints—and how imagination can bring scripture off the page and back to life.  Expect sharp truths and freeing permission: – You can’t say everything—so say one thing well. – Make the complex accessible, not diluted. – Stop teaching sermons; start shaping encounters.  Along the way, she champions unheard voices, celebrates laypreachers, and calls the Church back to its core: communication that reaches everyone.  Honest, practical, and unexpectedly funny—this episode willstretch your imagination, sharpen your preaching, and quietly re‑centre everything on Christ.

He tried to disprove Christianity — and met Jesus instead. In this episode of Preaching Well, we are joined by Nicky Gumbel, the pioneer of Alpha, a storyteller of faith, and a quiet evangelist to millions. Nicky talks about the night he opened the New Testament as a sceptic — and found himself addressed. About preaching not as performance, but as love in motion: introducing people to Jesus because nothing else matters more. They explore what shapes preaching that connects — law courts and lunch tables, doubt and delight, logic and story. Why the best sermons anticipate objections before they speak. Why stories slip past defences. Why honesty, humility, and joy still cut through a secular age. Nicky reflects on suffering and hope. On praying Come, Holy Spirit when you can’t change a life — and trusting God to do what only God can do. On unity across traditions, passing the baton well, and why succession is an act of faith, not loss. At the heart of it all: three human longings — love, meaning, belonging — and the stubborn belief that all three are found in Jesus. This is preaching shaped by Hyde Park walks and kitchen‑table conversations. Faith without noise. Confidence without ego. Hope without naivety. If you preach. If you doubt. If you’re still wondering whether the gospel can speak today This episode reminds us why we speak at all.

What happens when a preacher shaped by student hostels, Pacific villages, and the aftermath of the Christchurch attacks steps into the pulpit? Bishop Eleanor Sanderson brings a rare mix of tenderness and power—prayer that burns deep, vulnerability that risks everything, and a global vision that refuses to shrink God to one culture. In this episode, she talks mission as apprenticeship, preaching as community life, leading through crisis, praying inside a mosque, and learning to hear God’s voice in both silence and tears. It’s preaching with guts. Preaching with joy. Preaching that leans hard on the Spirit. Come and hear a bishop who doesn’t just prepare sermons—she wrestles with them, weeps over them, and sometimes proclaims them like a wave that’s been building for days. This is a conversation for anyone who wants to preach with depth, clarity, courage, and hope.

What if worship didn’t just include different cultures — but was shaped by them? In this episode of Preaching Well, Bishop Saju sits down with Ian Collinge, an ethnodoxologist —a listener of cultures, rhythms, stories, and songs. Not a curator. A guest. A learner. They talk about the move from multicultural worship (many cultures present) to intercultural worship (many cultures shaping the song together). From adding a token language to sharing real agency. From attendance to ownership. Ian unpacks worship as a journey — God speaks, we respond, God speaks again. A rhythm of revelation and response that reshapes preaching, prayer, music, table, and pulpit. He asks sharp questions with gentle force: Who chooses the songs? Who holds the mic? Who gets heard? This is a conversation about humility and power. About language and listening. About story — not fitting God into our story, but finding ourselves inside God’s story, from creation to new creation. You’ll leave with images you won’t forget: A table with more than one kind of bread. A song with more than one pulse. A pulpit with more than one voice. If you preach. If you plan worship. If you’ve ever felt your services needed more than good intentions — This episode listens deeply, challenges gently, and invites the church to sing again — together.

What if the most powerful theologians in the room are eleven years old?In this episode of Preaching Well, Lat Blaylock — teacher, thinker, storyteller, and longtime shaper of young hearts — takes us to the frontier where school and church meet. Lat moves between classrooms and chapels, parables and poetry, Gandhi essays and jigsaw‑piece souls.He shows how children crack open questions adults are too afraid to ask, how teaching trains the preacher’s imagination, and how good news sounds when spoken to the honest, unfiltered minds of young people. He talks about grace, curiosity, artistry, silence, formation, and the fierce belief that anyone — absolutely anyone — might be standing on the threshold of a spiritual awakening. It’s surprising. It’s tender. It’s alive with wonder.

What happens when a preacher steps into the pulpit carrying stories of Belfast, Bosnia, Coventry — and the hard‑won wisdom of reconciliation? In this episode of Preaching Well, David Porter — strategist, peacebuilder, listener, and longtime companion in conflict‑torn places — opens up the craft of preaching as a public act of courage, humility, and deep, attentive love. David talks flags and fractures, identity and nationalism, lament and trauma, listening as a spiritual discipline, and the miracle of speaking truth with grace in communities that don’t agree on much.He names the complexity, refuses the easy slogan, and shows how preaching can hold open a space where enemies become neighbours, and truth walks gently. This is preaching that steadies, unsettles, and heals. Quiet strength. Fierce honesty. Real hope.

Bishop Graham Tomlin has preached through fire — literally. From parish pulpits to national crises, he’s carried a voice shaped by Scripture, culture, and the raw edges of human experience. In this episode, he opens his study, his honesty, and his hard-won wisdom.  We move fast: from Pascal’s “night of fire” to Grenfell’s ash; from the surprises hidden in familiar texts to the quiet weight of a preacher’s character; from storytelling as spiritual art to preaching that speaks to believers, doubters, and everyone in between.  Graham shows us why the cross still disrupts, why good sermons begin in silence, why hope matters in catastrophe, and how every preacher can learn to read the world with biblical eyes.  It’s warm. It’s searching. It’s full of stories, insight, and unexpected laughter. A masterclass in preaching — and a gentle call to become the kind of person whose life can bear the weight of the words we speak.  Preaching Well with Graham Tomlin — where Scripture burns, culture listens, and the Spirit breathes.

What happens when preaching refuses to soothe and instead dares to tell the truth? In this episode of Preaching Well, Professor Anthony Reddie — theologian, storyteller, disruptor, and one of the UK’s leading voices in Black liberation theology — takes us into the pulpit as a place of protest, imagination, memory, and mercy. Anthony speaks of Windrush beginnings, Bradford classrooms, family storytellers, and the church’s long entanglement with power.He names the courage it takes to preach against empire inside institutions shaped by empire.He shows how humour undoes defences, how stories open doors, and how the gospel sides — stubbornly — with those crushed at the margins. This is preaching with fire, tenderness, resistance, and grace.Not comfort. Not neutrality. A summons to truth.