Andy, Leah and Jörg talk to Anna, who has lived her life bouncing around the UK, Uganda, Rwanda and other African nations, working for charities and aid organisations. She's seen the best and worst of churches and well-meaning people and been through many joys and crises. She talks of her struggles with cynicism and hopelessness, and reflects on wh…

Andy, Jörg and Leah bumble through Isaiah 35 wondering whether there is any hope to be found, or just nationalistic rhetoric. Some of the things mentioned: Nomad Podcast 329: Brian McLaren - Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart The Ezra Klein Show Gungor - Us For Them The Broken Earth by N.K. Jemisin Contact us on justiceworriers@artificial…

Content warning: brief discussion of coercive control and inappropriate sexual behaviour. Andy, Leah and Jörg talk to Shamilka about her faith journey, especially the importance of her experiences at the Soul Survivor festival, and the impact of finding out about the scandal surrounding its leader, Mike Pilavachi. She describes how as a teenager sh…

Andy, Jörg and Leah talk about freedom: What did Jesus mean when he talked about freedom? Would it be right to be "free" when so many terrible things are happening? Is the "Free World" free, or just free to buy things if you can afford them? What was it like for Jörg when freedom came to East Germany? Can we hope for freedom from sin? What would th…

Andy asks Leah and Jörg for help writing some hopeful prayers for Easter Sunday in the face of appalling violence across the world. What hope is there, and what should we do when we see precious people treated so cheaply again and again? Does the resurrection of Jesus offer some kind of pattern of hope that our world repeats every Spring? Or is it …

Jörg asks Leah and Andy for help preparing his sermon on Mark 6:45-56, where Jesus walks across the surface of a lake, and his disciples are terrified that he is a ghost. What are we supposed to make of this story? Is it about how Jesus is powerful, or how silent prayer can somehow make us powerful? If so, how come Jesus didn't prevent them being b…

Andy, Jörg and Leah talk to Steve and Claire talk about the kindness they have felt in church communities. We talk through the different phases of both their lives, including the remarkable influence of an "all-in" Christian community where members shared all their possessions and lived together, with all the joy and heartache involved. Their exper…

Andy, Jörg and Leah talk to Rima about her extreme adventures, from the North Pole to the Community Fridge, with a lot of dragging tires in between. Rima is an adventurer and a challenge-maker. She tells stories of cancer treatment and running marathons with the same vigour and passion, encountering God viscerally in those experiences. She has give…

Andy, Leah and Jörg talk to Sue about her story with the church, including the death of her son Jake, and her work helping people escape from debt. Sue received incredible support from friends and leaders at her church in her grief and anger, and she somehow still sees God working. She describes the support she received when people sat with her, an…

Andy, Leah and Jörg meet Anu, whose experiences of being part of communities across the world lead her to call for productive rage about ecological destruction, instead of mourning or despair. She sees the climate crisis as a continuation of the centuries-long process of unfettered grown and extraction, and the trail of destruction left by the colo…

Many of us sometimes find it a struggle to go to church. Andy, Jörg and Leah work through some of the reasons, and try to figure out why we meet, why it's difficult, and maybe even what we can bring. Andy's poem at the end is Deaf Song. Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or look for JusticeWorriers on Mastodon, Twitter, Facebook, Li…

Andy, Leah and Jörg talk a bit about their experiences of gender, and what they read in the Bible about it. There are lots of binaries set up, and scripts that constrain us - can we find any helpful messages or hopeful ways to live? The book that Leah reads from at the end is Queer Virtue by The Reverend Elizabeth M. Edman Contact us on justiceworr…

Tim, Rachael, Lesley, Jörg, Leah and Andy gather around a microphone for the first ever in-person Justice Worriers! The question we asked was "what are your worries?" and we spent most of the time discussing "why don't I care?" and "how can we be a real community?". Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or look for JusticeWorriers on M…

Sending you love this Christmas: here is a little prayer. Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or look for JusticeWorriers on Mastodon, Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube. Subscribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, Stitcher, tunein, SoundCloud, Tumblr or good old RSS.

In many of our churches, God is addressed with male pronouns. Andy, Leah and Jörg discuss some of the effects of this choice, and whether we can do better. Maybe we can playfully explore different ideas of God's gender, accepting that with every step we gain some things and lose others? You are invited to a special episode of Justice Worriers: "Wha…

Andy, Leah and Jörg talk about what they have been thinking about over the summer, which means sharing their vulnerabilities, worries and questions. Really this is just a chance to eavesdrop on us catching up and making space for each other. Listen carefully and you might notice there are even some glimpses of hope in there. That plumber who helps …

You are invited to a special episode of Justice Worriers: "What are your worries?" Come along to listen and share your worries about justice and life as a Christian. (No obligation to say anything!) Or, if you can't get to Egham in the UK, send us your worries, questions and comments and we will discuss some of them on the podcast. Don't miss your …

Inspired by recent news stories about refugees, abortion and climate crisis, Andy, Leah and Jörg talk about population: are people the problem, and should we have fewer of them? Or are the Christian ideas of abundance and valuing life showing us a different way? If we become less individualistic can we see population growth and decline in different…

Special guest Matt brings his life experience of crisis and his study of the book of Revelation to a discussion with Andy, Leah and Jörg about our increasing sense of crisis, whether over war in Europe, the climate or in our personal lives. Can a fantastical vision written down for the victims of a brutal empire offer some hope to anyone now? Conta…

Special guest Dave talks with Andy about how the church educated them about sex and sexuality, and what aspects of that education and culture they want to leave behind: in particular, the sense that making a single mistake could ruin your life, or put you beyond the reach of God's love. Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or look for…

Andy, Leah and Jörg try to understand how a God who exists and interacts with our world could allow such awful things to happen, inspired by the interview with Andy (a different Andy, whose son Jake died very young), and his decision to have unconditional love for God. Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or look for JusticeWorriers o…

Andy, Jörg and Leah struggle with the western-centric, exploitation-focussed discussion on the economy, and explore what we can learn from the Bible about how to run a country. Rather than tweaking the system to run smoothly, should we expect inequalities to develop and build in resets? Does Christian wisdom about human nature teach us anything we …

Content warning: discussion of the death of a child. Special guest Andy describes his life story, including the death of his son Jake, by describing pictures he painted at different times in his life. Andy talks about how his early Christian faith, with an emphasis on positivity and trust in God to look after us, did not help him when faced with th…

Special guest Sue talks to Leah, Jörg and Andy about the way western economic thought has dealt with the welfare of people through history, and discusses what tools economists, politicians and the rest of us can use to fight the climate crisis. Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or look for JusticeWorriers on Mastodon, Twitter, Face…

Just a short message to suggest you might like to donate your money or time to help people escaping from Afghanistan to settle in to our local area. To donate money, go to: https://www.runnymede.gov.uk/news/article/33/appeal-launched-as-borough-prepares-to-welcome-first-afghan-families To volunteer your time, go to: https://www.runnymede.gov.uk/new…

Andy, Jörg and Leah struggle with whether forgiveness is a useful idea when talking about race. Surely the right response to the sins of the past involves some kind of forgiveness, but how can it be anything other than a demand on people who have been hurt to invalidate their own experience? What would it look like for repentance and power reversal…

Andy, Jörg and Leah discuss their own identity, and in particular, unusually, how their racial background affects their sense of identity. Is there a healthy way "white" people can understand their background, without descending into self-hatred? Where does the word "white" come from in this context, and is the idea of "whiteness" a useful way to v…

Andy, Leah and Jörg face up to the parts of the Bible that seem racist, and discuss how we can see a universal message as well as very concerning themes. Can we really describe ourselves as a "chosen nation", or do we need to move on from that idea? Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or look for JusticeWorriers on Mastodon, Twitter,…

Andy, Leah and Jörg try to wrestle with how we could be a fully accepting community that is also a challenging movement, with a message of freedom and change. To do this they reflect on their interviews with a variety of people and their experience of belonging in life and church. Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or look for Justi…

Andy, Jörg and Leah are joined by Keith, who describes his experience growing up as part of a strict Pentecostal community in East London, and moving outside: seeing different forms of Christianity, living his own life as a gay man, and reflecting on the experience of being Black in Britain. Keith is a breathtaking poet, author and playwright. His …

Andy, Leah, and Jörg try an experiment: praying together by discussing the awful violence happening in Ethiopia and working together to work out how to pray about it. This involves the usual doubt and self-contradiction, time to listen to some lamentation from the bible and a time of silence, leading to the creation of a spoken prayer that is as ra…

Andy, Jörg and Leah discuss their honest reactions to talk of spiritual warfare and the ideas of a magical alternative world, and try to find a way to acknowledge the reality of dark and light forces in our world, and to understand how our prayers interact with them. The Bible Project podcast we mentioned a couple of times is God Episode 3: Spiritu…

Andy, Leah and Jörg begin a conversation about prayer by asking whether God actually does things in the world. If so, how can it make sense? Does God need us to remind him to do good things? Why doesn't he help people in serious need? How can we ask for help with our trivial problems when people are suffering terrible hardship? Contact us on justic…

Andy, Jörg and Leah talk to Michael, who describes a normal Surrey upbringing, how he feels his race affects people's reactions to him, and surprising places where he felt like an outsider, and an insider. Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or look for JusticeWorriers on Mastodon, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube. Subscribe a…

Andy, Leah and Jörg wrestle with the ideas around heaven that have dominated evangelical consciousness: who is in and who is out? How can we imagine a God who keeps some people out, and what would it mean for people to write themselves out of God's story? Does people's intrinsic value change based on what they do? How does what we believe about who…

Leah, Jörg and Andy talk about what happens when we die, and how it affects how we think and behave now. Will we carry on as if nothing happened? If not, if we are changed, are we even the same person? Should we see resurrection as a metaphor that comforts us in the face of death? Can we accept death, letting go of our life and invest in something …

Andy, Leah and Jörg discuss heaven: is it a magical computer in the sky that we get copied into when we die? What did Jesus mean when he said heaven is here? Is heaven a different place or a renewed version of this place? If we see heaven differently will that affect how to act towards each other? Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net …

Andy Leah and Jörg talk to Andy about his experience of different classes and cultures in church, what he really needed from church when life was hard, and joining in with what Jesus is doing. Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or look for JusticeWorriers on Mastodon, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube. Subscribe and rate us on…

Inspired by last episode's conversation with Esther about living with a "song" of Jesus' approval over our lives, Andy Leah and Jörg talk about how being saved was never about being copied into a magic computer in the sky after you die, and how this story of God making all things new transforms how we see other people and our world. Contact us on j…

Starts with an intro from the Justice Worriers, but the main event is Everybody Now: We’ve caused a turning point in the Earth’s natural history. Everybody Now is a podcast about what it means to be human on the threshold of a global climate emergency, in a time of systemic injustice and runaway pandemics. Scientists, activists, farmers, poets, and…

Andy, Jörg and Leah talk to Esther, who hears a song of Jesus's approval even when other voices clamour to overwhelm her. She describes her journey of salvation through acceptance to repentance and being home, and discusses the forgiveness she is able to live out through her understanding of the fall. Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.…

Responding to last episode's conversation with Lizi, Andy, Leah and Jörg discuss sin: is sin a problem that God needs to solve? Does sin stain us indelibly with filth, or is it a gift that helps us imagine a better world? Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or look for JusticeWorriers on Mastodon, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouT…

Andy, Jörg and Leah talk to Lizi, who lived across two different worlds. She describes how she found herself cared for, but also asked to change to belong. Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or look for JusticeWorriers on Mastodon, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube. Subscribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, St…

Are we totally disillusioned with God, or with Christianity? Andy, Leah and Jörg explain why they are still around and trying to be involved; what gives them hope and helps them believe there is good news to be shared. Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or look for JusticeWorriers on Mastodon, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube…

Are we proud of our country? Are we proud of our "citizenship" as Christians? Andy, Leah and Jörg discuss our discomfort with those ideas, resisting separation between outsiders and insiders, and how to understand a sense of belonging. Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or look for JusticeWorriers on Mastodon, Twitter, Facebook, Lin…

Andy, Leah and Jörg explore an uncomfortable feeling that the Bible on the surface encourages keeping quiet and not resisting the authorities, whereas understood more deeply Jesus seemed to demonstrate defiant subversion of the values of society. How do we understand a message of non-violence without being complicit in the violence inflicted by opp…

It's quite simple, right? You should help people. In the second part of the "what does Christian justice look like" series, Andy, Leah and Jörg make it much more complicated than that, managing to worry from many different angles about hypocrisy, being patronising and assumptions about who needs helping in the first place. They look for an alternat…

Should we quietly get on with life, or make a noise about things that are wrong? Is there any point speaking up? Does the Bible tell us not to challenge leadership? Andy, Leah and Jörg share the sense of futility and the sense of necessity of talking about justice and injustice in the world. Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or loo…

Near the beginning of COVID-19 lockdown, Andy, Leah and Jörg discuss our response to fear for our lives and loved ones, and how we as Christians can understand crisis, and its disproportionate impact on different people. Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or look for JusticeWorriers on Mastodon, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTu…

Discussing ways we can think about the ongoing world climate emergency as Christians who take the Bible seriously, Andy, Leah and Jörg express our confusion and fear, and talk about how we can act in the face of hopelessness. Contact us on justiceworriers@artificialworlds.net or look for JusticeWorriers on Mastodon, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or …