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The Surprising Rebirth Of Belief In God

S2 E26. Grief, Hope... and Teddy Bears: Simon Thomas, Julie Tatchell & Amanda Middleditch. Big Church Festival Pt 2

The Surprising Rebirth Of Belief In God

Justin Brierley

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.8592 Ratings

🗓️ 4 November 2025

⏱️ 97 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

TV sports presenter Simon Thomas joins Justin on The Big Church Festival podcast stage to share his love of football and faith. He also talks about the death of his wife Gemma and how faith in Christ helped him put the pieces of his life back together. In part 2 Justin is joined by the 'Teddy Bear Ladies' - Julie Tatchell and Amanda Middleditch - stars of the BBC 'Repair Shop' show. They share their love of crafting and how mending treasured toys reflects their own adult journeys to Christian faith. '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 Ep 26 show notes: https://justinbrierley.com/surprisingrebirth/season-2-episode-26-big-church-2 Also, check out our show ‘Uncommon Ground’ for discussion and debates: ⁠https://justinbrierley.com/uncommon-ground-podcast/⁠ 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

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Well, we were not prepared for this. The venue is full. However, the mission is bigger than the

0:37.3

room. You can still join us.

0:39.4

Due to the incredible uptake, our responding to the Rebirth Conference will now be live streamed.

0:45.2

Book your online pass now at rebirthconference.net. You may not be in the room, but you can still be

0:51.9

part of the response from anywhere in the world on

0:55.2

Saturday the 22nd of November. On the live stream, you'll get full access to all keynote sessions,

1:01.3

panels and interviews with guests including John Lennox, Paul Kingsnorth, Elizabeth Oldfield,

1:06.7

and Al Gordon. You can take part in the Q&A. You'll get to take home recordings of all of the sessions

1:12.2

and get a front row seat to what God is doing. A rebirth is happening. Let's respond together

1:18.7

wherever we are. Book your live stream pass at rebirthconference.net. dot net. We were invited to a church that a colleague of my husbands went to.

1:39.7

I can remember distinctly standing in the car park on that first day and saying,

1:45.0

if anybody hugs me, I'm out of fear.

1:49.0

Shameful now, because I'm always hugging.

1:51.0

She's hugging everyone.

1:53.0

It's terrible.

1:54.0

But I can remember thinking, you know, this is terrifying, but actually, no, it was a,

1:58.0

it was the perfect church.

...

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