S2 E15. Does the future have a church? Theos panel live in London

The Surprising Rebirth Of Belief In God

Justin Brierley

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 592 Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2025

⏱️ 88 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In a secular age, many have predicted the death of the church in the West. But with evidence of a 'Quiet Revival' in the UK, where are the new signs of life in the church? Justin Brierley recently joined a panel of journalists and church leaders to discuss the future of the church, with Nick Spencer of Theos chairing the conversation. Panellists: Daisy Scalchi, Head of Religion and Ethics, BBC Television Madeleine Davies, senior writer for the Church Times Mary Harrington, writer and author of Feminism Against Progress Bishop Mike Royal, General Secretary of Churches Together in England 'Responding To The Rebirth' Conference: http://rebirthconference.net/ More info, book & newsletter: https://justinbrierley.com/surprisingrebirth/ Support via Patreon for early access to new episodes and bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/justinbrierley/membership Support via Tax-deductible (USA) and get the same perks: https://defendersmedia.com/portfolio/justin-brierley/ Give a one-off gift via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/brierleyjustin Buy the book or get a signed copy: https://justinbrierley.com/the-surprising-rebirth-of-belief-in-god/ Got feedback? Share it with us by emailing: feedback@think.faith 'Responding To The Rebirth' Conference: http://rebirthconference.net/ Ep 15 show notes: https://justinbrierley.com/surprisingrebirth/season-2-episode-15-does-the-future-have-a-church-theos-panel-live-in-london Also, check out our show ‘Uncommon Ground’ for discussion and debates: ⁠https://justinbrierley.com/uncommon-ground-podcast/⁠ The conversation and audience Q&A was recorded live in London for the Theos Annual Lecture. The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God is a production of Think Faith in partnership with Genexis, and support from The Jerusalem Trust. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Well, we were not prepared for this. The venue is full. However, the mission is bigger than the room. You can still join us. Due to the incredible uptake, our responding to the Rebirth Conference will now be live streamed. Book your online pass now at rebirthconference.net. You may not be in the room, but you can still be part of the
0:22.5	response from anywhere in the world on Saturday the 22nd of November. On the live stream,
0:28.5	you'll get full access to all keynote sessions, panels and interviews with guests, including
0:33.6	John Lennox, Paul Kingsnorth, Elizabeth Oldfield and Al Gordon. You can take part in the
0:38.9	Q&A. You'll get to take home recordings of all of the sessions and get a front row seat to what God is doing.
0:45.7	A rebirth is happening. Let's respond together wherever we are. Book your live stream pass at
0:52.0	rebirthconference.net.
0:58.0	Three big areas of growth, the Orthodox Church, the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches are growing,
1:05.8	and then a third area, and that is a lot of migrant churches.
1:10.0	The churches which are growing are the very high
1:12.2	church and the very low church. Anybody who does the bells and smells and anybody who does the
1:16.3	capping and the hand waging. It's the ones that offer something otherworldly. It's the mushy
1:21.3	middle that sort of is the place where I think that churches are declining actually.
1:27.1	Respectable institutional middle of the road,
1:30.3	spreadsheet, wielding, PowerPoint, mongering Christianity is probably toast.
1:38.3	I, for one, will not warn it. Hi there and welcome back to today's show where I'll be bringing you a panel discussion I was part of in London hosted by the think tank Theos.
1:58.7	I discussed the question, does the future have a church, along with four
2:02.6	other distinguished panelists? But just before we dive in, a reminder that you can keep up to date
2:07.5	with this show by subscribing to my newsletter. I'll even send you the first chapter of both my
2:12.6	surprising rebirth book and my new book, Why I'm Still a Christian, when you subscribe to the newsletter.
2:18.6	And if you can support this podcast, it does make a huge difference in me being able to
2:23.1	record and broadcast events like this one. Monthly silver supporters get early access to new
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