Episodes
CHRISTIAN AID WEEK starts on 15 May and this week Louise Whitelegg - our local representative for the charity on the Isle of Man - joins us, not just with information about the last campaign, or even with news about the new appeal (although all that information IS there!) but Louise uses her own thoughts, Bible readings and prayers to put this year's appeal into its proper context. If you would like to get involved in this year's Christian Aid Week campaign, search for Christian Aid IOM on Facebook, or ring or text Louise Whitelegg on 07624 474275
GREATER HEIGHTS is the vitally important...
As soon as the severity of the Russian attacks on Ukraine was known, at the end of February this year, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool launched its #liverpool4ukraine fundraising appeal. To date (end April) it has already raised well over £100,000.00 through individual donations, and scores of fundraising events.
It also inspired a group of people from the Liverpool Archdiocese to actually take a consignment of aid to the Polish/Ukraine border, where they handed it over to Bishop Gregory Komar in the Diocese of Sambir-Drohobych in the Lviv region. When the volunteer drivers ...
On today's programme we're celebrating the life-changing message of Easter that's at the very heart of the Christian faith. There's great Easter hymns, worship songs from Graham Kendrick and Stuart Townend, a new composition from John Rutter, written to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine, and reflections and prayers too - and Ruth Rice from the charity Renew Wellbeing is back with three more letters from her alphabet of wellbeing - and, surprisingly, not one of them is E for Easter!
And there's notice board news too.
If you'd like to hear a favourite hymn or worship song in a fut...
Today is the start of the week that the Christian Church calls Holy - it begins with Palm Sunday - a day which recalls the tremendous excitement of the crowds when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey - they greeted him as their King, spreading palm leaves and even their cloaks on the ground under his feet - yet just FIVE days later, these same crowds were calling for the same Jesus to be crucified.
I invite you to join me as together we walk through the days that make up Holy Week .... immerse ourselves in the story and reflect on why the day when a man dies a hideous death, is called ...
Growing a supportive community ..... Scripture Union is an interdenominational, evangelical Christian organization, founded over 150 years ago - and works with churches and partner organisations, inviting children and young people to explore the difference Jesus can make to the challenges and adventures of life.
Scripture Union England and Wales works on the Isle of Man through partner organisation, Scripture Union Ministries Trust, whose local team leader is Ruth Walker.
Recently two members of Scripture Union England and Wales came to the Island to help Ruth to launch the results...
My special guests on this week's programme are different in many ways, but are united by a dedication to a powerful organisation that’s rooted in the Anglican Church, but whose four and a half million members reach out around the world to support family life in all its forms - helping it to thrive in all circumstances, particularly when difficulties come along.
They are Rev'd JEANETTE HAMER and Mrs MAY CORLETT - Rev'd Jeanette is the vicar in charge of Kirk Michael Parish Church and she has just begun a 3-year term as Diocesan President (local leader) of the Mothers' Union - a charity w...
In The Bible we read ..... 'and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God'
This is a verse that's often quoted by Christian Aid and similar charities, who share a vision for 'a world where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty'
But what about the 'walking humbly' part of that Bible verse?
What does it mean to 'walk humbly' with God whilst doing justice and loving kindness?
That's the question Christian Aid is exploring in a series of podcasts called WALKING HUMBLY - the podcasts are intended to carry us thoughtfu...
Ruth Keggin-Gell is the Manx Language Development Officer with Culture Vannin - dedicated to encouraging people to get interested and involved in wider use of the Manx language. When she thought of using Manx in our church services, she found an enthusiastic supporter in Pioneer Minister Rev'd Alex Brown.
On AT YOUR SERVICE today they discuss how this could be done, and Ruth has details of the half-day workshop she's leading - CREE AS ANNYM (Heart and Soul) using Manx for worship in easy and accessible ways. It's on Friday 25 March from 9:30am to 12:30pm with hot drinks served on arriv...
The Season of Lent - six weeks of preparation for the celebration of Easter - started last week, on Ash Wednesday. But what are its origins - and what does it offer us today? We eavesdrop on a conversation between Patrick Woodward and Russ Bravo `
And this week's special guest is Manx-born Ruth Rice, founder of Renew Wellbeing, the charity which runs simple cafe-style spaces attached to a quiet room - where it's OK to not be OK.
Ruth's latest book - The A to Z of Wellbeing - is an accessible introduction to help us care for our own individual wellbeing and live out our own 'alphabet of...
Friday March 4 is WORLD PRAYER DAY - there'll be services around the Island at different times on that day, which will link the Isle of Man with praying people all over the world, using the same theme "I know the plans I have for you".
The service this year has been prepared by the Christian women of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. But, in the light of recent developments, the services will also include special prayers for Ukraine, and for the peaceful resolution of the present international crisis.
Some wording in the order of service has caused a problem for certain Christian d...
Ways to pray is the theme that links three guests on today's programme. Reverend Alex Brown has been a Pioneer Minister in Douglas for the last couple of years, having conversations with people of all ages who have either never had any contact with a church, or have tried it, and left. What has he learned? And what is the significance of his commissioning service taking place later today?
Richard Gamble describes himself as 'an ordinary bloke' but he's got an astonishing vision to create a huge and permanent piece of artwork, rising up over the landscape in the Midlands, made up of a mil...
Love is in the air today!
Ahead of the day when a billion cards will be exchanged world-wide, Saint Valentine tells his story - and Louise Timmins tells her story of patience, prayer and total trust in God's guidance, which eventually led to her chance to adopt two children.
Russ Bravo reflects on the nature of another kind of love, and there's music from the Jane Lilley Singers, and from Aled Jones and Russell Watson.
Plus there's all our usual notice board news.
If you have items for the notice board, or you'd like to hear a favourite hymn in a future programme, do please email me: judi...
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Lord of Man, is the first British Monarch to reach a Platinum Jubilee - on this day - the 6th of February 2022, she completes 70 years of devoted service to the United Kingdom, the Realms and the Commonwealth. This morning we pause for a moment of reflection, and pray God's blessing on her.
Sunday 30th January was World Leprosy Day. Sadly, this crippling disease is not confined to the pages of the Bible, but continues to destroy lives today. But the new campaign just launched by The Leprosy Mission - called "Greater Heights" could well mark the beginni...
The theme for National Holocaust Memorial Day 2022 was 'One Day' - a stark reminder that life can fatally change for ever in the space of just one day. On today's programme we hear stories from three Holocaust survivors, and reflect on the horrifying fact that genocide can still happen today.
Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald is a Roman Catholic priest belonging to the Missionaries of Africa - also known as the White Fathers. After studying psychology and theology, becoming fluent in Arabic, leading courses on Islam for Muslims as well as Christian students, living and working in the Middle...
Philip Longworth is a 'glass half full' person!
Partially sighted all his life, Philip has faced every challenge with courage and positivity - and has dedicated his working life to reaching out with compassion and understanding to other people with their own challenges to face.
Now he's living on the Island and has just started a new job with the Anglican Diocese of Sodor and Man - which has the potential to benefit everyone. Philip is our special guest today, talking about everything from going to boarding school, playing music on the Cavern stage, and getting us to look at our churches...
Open Doors UK, and Kintsugi Hope are just two of around 90 charitable organisations who last year each received a share of around £2 million which AFD Software, the Postcode people based in Ramsey, gave away from their company profits during 2021. On this week's programme, I talk with Diane Regan of Kintsugi Hope and Henrietta Blyth from Open Doors UK - Kintsugi Hope is dedicated to promoting mental health through largely church-based wellbeing groups - 'Discovering treasure in life's scars' and Open Doors supports some of the millions of Christians around the world who face extreme perse...
The 6th of January is the official end of the Christmas season - it finishes with the Epiphany - a feast that is celebrated in different ways, according to local customs, all around the world. In the Christian church, it is the day when we recall the 3 Kings, or Magi, following a star to find the Christ child, and is a reminder that the Son of God came to offer fullness of life to everyone - whoever and wherever you are. It's this gift of love that we must never let go - and indeed the true work of Christmas only starts when the festivities end.
This is the theme of today's programme - ex...
Traditionally, the sound of Big Ben heralds the start of a New Year - so our first At Your Service programme for 2022 takes bells and their traditions for its main theme. Anglican Priest, Father Michael Brydon, is Chaplain to the Rt Rev'd Peter Eagles, Bishop of Sodor and Man - but joins in the programme today with a wealth of stories and bell-ringing legends to share. Plus there's some great seasonal music - Ding Dong Merrily on High, I Saw Three Ships a-Sailing, and a beautiful reflective piece by Margaret Rizza - The Lord is my Light and My Salvation.
There's notice board news too - i...
Celebrating the second day of Christmas in words, music and reflections.
The children of Marown Primary School, assisted by their teacher Mrs Jacqueline Shirtliff, share a selection of poems on different aspects of the Christmas story.
Church leaders - Anglican Bishop Peter and senior priest in the Roman Catholic Church on the Island, Monsignor John Devine - both reflect on celebrating Christmas at the end of a particularly challenging year - and there's great music, too!
As this is the Feast of St Stephen, when good King Wenceslas went out in the winter weather to give alms to a beggar, t...
Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, with an hour of carols, Christmas songs, Bible readings and reflections. The music is :
Angel Tidings (Rutter)
Once in Royal David's City
Mary Did You Know? (Peter Hollens version)
Gabriel's Message (Matt Creer version)
Away in a Manger (Kings College Cambridge Live Recording
In the Stillness (Kings College Cambridge - composer Sally Beamish)
What Sweeter Music? (Choirboys)
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
The Shepherd's Pipe Carol (Rutter)
The Little Road to Bethlehem (Adult Aled Jones and young Aled)
The Nativity Carol (Rutter)
Christmas Hallelu...
Two very different Carol Services held this week provide words and music to help us prepare to celebrate the deeper significance of Christmas - that lies beyond gifts and gatherings.
We have two carols - "Gabriel's Message" and "Jesus Christ, The Apple Tree" - sung by the Choir of King William's College, Castletown, conducted by their Director of Music, Mr Steve Daykin, and recorded during their recent Carol Service.
The programme also features music and prayers recorded at the Tynwald Carol Service in St Mary's Roman Catholic Church earlier this week. The service was led jointly by Bi...
Welcome to Week 3 of Advent - the time which the Christian church uses to prepare for the great celebration of Christmas.
The coming of Jesus Christ as a helpless baby - a human like us - sharing our earthly life, but leading us to an everlasting life - is often likened to the darkness of our world being driven out by the light of Christ. So it's appropriate that, at this time, we celebrate the Feast of St Lucy - Sankta Lucia - which falls on 13th December. We do this with a short Service of Light - a partnership between Birmingham Cathedral, and the Church of Sweden - with some glorious ...
Pioneer Minister Reverend Alex Brown is constantly looking for ways to offer the powerful and life-changing Christian message in ways that will speak to the many people who don't feel drawn to formal, organised religion and attending church services.
He's also passionate about keeping Christ at the very centre of everything about Christmas - and once again he's leading a re-telling of the Christmas story, on a grand scale, outdoors in central Douglas on 16 December.
Listen to the full story here - and get your free tickets via the website - christmaslive.im
Plus there's an exceptiona...
A nostalgia podcast to celebrate the start of the season of Advent - the four weeks of preparation for the great feast of Christmas.
We go back to the year 2006 when Oliver King and Nigel Pemberton led the music in the Cathedral in Peel - as Musical Director and Organist respectively, and Canon Brian Kelly was at the helm!
There's a lovely piece by the Manx Children's Choir, directed by Adele Parsons, and Bible readings from members of the Cathedral and wider community, including Dr Fenella Bazin, Mrs Betty Deans and Mrs Helen Parry.
There's also a Manx carval from Sarah Hewson and J...
It's an Inter Faith Special on At Your Service this week, as we explore the Baha'i Faith in conversation with Dr Tim Anglin and David Joughin.
Deborah Taubman, of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, has composed a prayer specially for Her Majesty the Queen, our Lord of Mann, and in our second feature today, I'm starting my Christmas shopping - in Churches Bookshop in its new home, in one of the rooms that form part of St Thomas's Church in Finch Road, Douglas. The Bookshop is open Monday - Saturday from 11am to 5pm with limited-time parking in the lane immediately outside the shop d...
A special programme for this Remembrance Sunday - words and music for reflection and for hope - hope for better, peaceful world.
Singer/songwriter Ralph McTell (of Streets of London fame) has always been interested in the First World War but it was a visit to the Menin Gate that compelled him to write his latest song - Unknown Soldier. On today's programme he not only sings the song, but talks in detail about his inspiration for it, and is moved to tears at the thought of the 50,000+ men who could never be identified, or went missing in action.
Reverend Eddie Cubbon will long be rememb...
On the programme this week ..... the similarities between Southwark Cathedral on the South Bank of the Thames and Cathedral Isle of Man in Peel might not seem instantly apparent - but they're there - and we explore them this morning in conversation with the Dean of Southwark Cathedral, the Very Reverend Andrew Nunn.
We'll also discover why he and two colleagues are here on the Island for a few days, and discover the powerful lessons to be learned from two cats, playing an important part in the ministry of Southwark Cathedral!
World Alzheimer's Month seeks to raise awareness and dispel t...
Chine McDonald is Christian Aid's Head of Community Fundraising and Public Engagement. Ahead of the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow, she spent a day on the Island, meeting Government officials and fulfilling speaking engagements - she also recorded today's conversation about her own faith journey that led from her home in Lagos, Nigeria to London in the UK - where she found inspiration for her newly-published book - God Is Not A White Man, and Other Revelations.
We might want to think that slavery belongs to the Victorian era - but Dan's story is a chilling reminder that it is still ...
Author, broadcaster and Head of Community Fundraising and Public Engagement at Christian Aid, Chine McDonald will be visiting the Island on Tuesday 26 October to host an evening at the Manx Museum talking about COP26 and the impact of our changing climate, and after a networking break, an 'in conversation' session will explore Chine's own experiences of racial injustice and inequality. The evening - at the Manx Museum in Kingswood Grove, Douglas - is on Tuesday 26 October, starting at 7pm - to get your FREE tickets, register with Eventbrite using this link https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/......
Manx-born Baptist minister Ruth Rice knows at first-hand how it feels to completely burn out.
But from a personal crisis came a formula for wellbeing that's spread all over the UK.
On this week's AT YOUR SERVICE Ruth tells her inspirational and searingly honest story - including the birth of Renew Wellbeing - quiet shared spaces where its okay not to be okay.
There are two Renew Spaces developing on the Island, in Peel Methodist Church and at The Well at Broadway Baptist Church in Douglas. If you'd like more information or to contact Ruth herself, you can do so via the main websit...