In this episode of Irreverend Faith and Current Affairs, Rev. Dr. Jamie Franklin follows up on the legal challenge to Project Spire — and delivers a proper good-news story at the end.

First: the BBC wanted Jamie in a pre-recorded debate with Professor Alan Lester. He declined and suggested credentialed historians instead. Robert Tombs took the slot. Then Lester delivered a lecture from a church pulpit in Sussex, linking opponents of Project Spire to Edward Long, the so-called “founding father of English racism,” and accusing them of “misinformation.” When Bijan Omrani asked him to name names, Lester denied the charge, refused to specify, and blocked him. Jamie lays out the sequence, rejects the smear, and issues a direct invitation: come on Irreverend and make the case properly.

Then the good news: Harry Kane wins the Ballon d’Or. Rejected by Arsenal at eight for being “too chubby,” years without a trophy, no campaigning, no preening — just relentless work, team play, humility, and fidelity to his wife and children. “Work hard in silence, let success be your noise.” Jamie argues Kane is the perfect antidote to football’s narcissists and a model worth holding up for parents and the next generation.

Support Irreverend:

🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend

🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com

📧 Email / donations → irreverendpod@gmail.com

Like, subscribe, comment and share if you want more fearless commentary on church, culture and current affairs.

#ProjectSpire #AlanLester #HarryKane #BallonDor #Irreverend

Support the show

In this special episode of Irreverend, Rev'd Dr Jamie Franklin explains why he and author Dr Bijan Omrani decided to take the Church of England's Church Commissioners to court over their proposed plans to spend £100 million on slavery reparations from a fund that exists to help struggling parishes churches.

If you support Jamie and want to see the Church of England fulfilling its Christian mission in England, please like, subscribe and share!

Support Irreverend:
🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend
🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com
📧 Email / donations → irreverendpod@gmail.com

#ProjectSpire #CulturalChristianity #Irreverend #Slavery #Racism #Reparations

Support the show

Live from the University of Greenwich: Rev. Dr. Jamie Franklin and Rev. Daniel French on The God Solution.

For a generation the Church felt like a lost cause under new atheism and The God Delusion. Now the mood has shifted. People step toward the vicar. Interest in real Christianity is rising. But can the Church meet the moment?

Jamie lays out the thesis of his book The Great Return: Western values — human dignity, equality, liberty, the intellectual conditions for science — are Christian capital, not Enlightenment inventions. The Greco-Roman world had no such vision of humanity. Strip out Christ and the borrowed capital runs out. We already see the collision in debates over abortion and assisted dying.

Cultural Christianity is not enough. Preference for the Christian story without genuine belief has no binding authority. Real renewal means prayer, holiness, parish life, and a recovered confidence in the Church’s historic identity — not more fashionable politics.

Jamie also discusses his high-profile involvement in the legal challenge, brought with Dr Bijan Omrani, against the Church Commissioners’ £100 million Project Spire slavery-reparations fund — including the media coverage it has attracted and why the use of Section 106 is being contested.

Support Irreverend:
🔥 Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend
🔥 Substack → https://irreverendpod.substack.com
📧 Email / donations → irreverendpod@gmail.com

Like, subscribe, comment and share if you want more fearless commentary on church, culture and current affairs.

#TheGodSolution #TheGreatReturn #ProjectSpire #CulturalChristianity #Irreverend

Support the show