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  • Church Going, with Giles Fraser

    From Madhu@enometh@meer.net to uk.religion.christian on Wed Jul 29 14:21:24 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.religion.christian


    I heard an ad for this program on the Iraeli Propaganda Service: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002yvrb

    "Rev Giles Fraser looks at the stats and visits his parishes from the
    past to work out the state of Christianity in England."

    (may not available outside UK, but I may be able to catch it later
    live. looks like it's scheduled at the same time as "Sounds Sacred"
    music program on radio/foyle ulster, but Richard Yarr, MBE., will be on vacation)



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  • From Timreason@timreason@hotmail.co.uk to uk.religion.christian on Wed Jul 29 14:58:30 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.religion.christian

    On 29/07/2026 09:51, Madhu wrote:

    I heard an ad for this program on the Iraeli Propaganda Service: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002yvrb

    "Rev Giles Fraser looks at the stats and visits his parishes from the
    past to work out the state of Christianity in England."

    (may not available outside UK, but I may be able to catch it later
    live. looks like it's scheduled at the same time as "Sounds Sacred"
    music program on radio/foyle ulster, but Richard Yarr, MBE., will be on vacation)


    I've now listened to the series.

    There is no doubt that things are changing. The COVID years, advances in technology, the way people communicate and exchange ideas, all must have
    an influence on the way people engage with spirituality.

    I definitely felt very uncomfortable with the whole Tommy Robinson
    thing, and the baptisms with zero preparation and such.

    However, I do accept that God moves in mysterious ways. Personally I
    can't reconcile the notion of 'Nationalist Christianity' with my own understanding of the Gospel message. For me, it is difficult to find any
    link between far-right politics, and the teachings of Christ.

    There is much in the Bible about welcoming the stranger within your
    gates, treating them as one of your own, and such. How does that measure
    up to right-wing nationalism?

    Anyhow, thank you Madhu for bringing this series to my attention.

    Tim.




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  • From Kendall K. Down@kendallkdown@googlemail.com to uk.religion.christian on Thu Jul 30 06:26:30 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.religion.christian

    On 29/07/2026 14:58, Timreason wrote:

    There is much in the Bible about welcoming the stranger within your
    gates, treating them as one of your own, and such. How does that measure
    up to right-wing nationalism?

    But does the "stranger within your gates" term apply to our modern
    world, where immigration is controlled and common? In Bible times there
    were no passports or border controls but, lacking cars or jets, very few people travelled outside their home countries - and those that did so
    usually were driven by need. A merchant had to travel to sell his goods:
    these days he'd sit at home and use e-Bay. Equally, if he crossed from
    the Roman empire to the Persian without permission he might lose his
    head, so illegal immigration was not a big issue.

    God bless,
    Kendall K. Down
    --
    This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
    www.avg.com



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  • From Madhu@enometh@meer.net to uk.religion.christian on Mon Aug 3 16:28:53 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.religion.christian

    * Timreason <114d0u7$teg6$1@dont-email.me> :
    Wrote on Wed, 29 Jul 2026 14:58:30 +0100:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002yvrb
    "Rev Giles Fraser looks at the stats and visits his parishes from
    the
    past to work out the state of Christianity in England."
    (may not available outside UK, but I may be able to catch it later
    live. looks like it's scheduled at the same time as "Sounds Sacred"
    music program on radio/foyle ulster, but Richard Yarr, MBE., will be on
    vacation)
    I've now listened to the series.


    I caught the last episode live yesterday but I missed the first 10
    minutes, and my take away from it was coloured by the view[1] that
    church attendance was about people being required to be there on sunday
    to pay money and that is what "upkeeps" the churches..

    but today I was able to (with some difficulty) download the (apparently restricted) content, just episode 3 after all, and when I caught up on
    the first 10 minutes I was happy to see the opposite view had been
    stated, at around 10 minutes, by, Father Mark McIntyre? (around 10
    minutes) I couldn't get the church names, but was this is the Parish of ChristChurch? in Stokton-Tees? in "Blighton Estate"?, and the flats are mudflats or appartments..)

    also I couln't make what word Fr.Giles used when he said "Thanks Fr. XXX
    for your ministry", it didn't sound like the name he was introduced
    with.

    I see a wikipedia page for Linda Woodhead, who was ragging on Giles with
    the doom-view of Church. (around 0:35:20)

    There is no doubt that things are changing. The COVID years, advances
    in technology, the way people communicate and exchange ideas, all must
    have an influence on the way people engage with spirituality.

    I definitely felt very uncomfortable with the whole Tommy Robinson
    thing, and the baptisms with zero preparation and such.

    (If this is a previous episode, I'll try to get around to it if the
    content is still available)



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