In this hard-hitting episode of Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs, Revs Jamie Franklin and Tom Pelham tackle the escalating crisis on Britain's streets.

A brutal knife attack in North Belfast by a Sudanese migrant — with apparent attempts to behead his victim — has triggered major riots, burning houses, and intense public anger. Jamie and Tom break down the incident, the shocking police response, and draw uncomfortable parallels with the murder of Henry Novak and growing accusations of two-tier policing.

Tom delivers a timely Bible reflection on Matthew 9:37-38 — "The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few" — challenging the Church to rise to the moment with hope and action. The conversation covers:

• The failures of mass immigration and integration
• Legacy media spin and gaslighting
• Kier Starmer’s plans to restrict social media for under-18s
• The Church of England’s response to the unrest
• Why civic nationalism may be the only alternative to rising tensions

Plus: Listener emails, the Hymn of the Week ("The Church’s One Foundation") and much more.

Raw, honest, and unfiltered Christian commentary on faith and current affairs in a nation under strain. If you’re tired of the mainstream narrative, this episode is essential listening.

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The BBC’s new docudrama Dear England is meant to celebrate Gareth Southgate’s England team but it’s actually infuriating propaganda that puts race, kneeling, and virtue signalling front and centre while ignoring real football.
In this no-holds-barred review, Reverend Dr Jamie Franklin explains why he loved the original stage play but couldn’t stand the TV version. From the cringeworthy dressing room lectures to Harry Kane’s moralising and the obsession with George Floyd, taking the knee and Black Lives Matter, this drama turns England’s football story into a condescending sermon on racism that England fans never asked for.
Franklin argues that England got so close to winning major trophies not because of systemic racism but because the team spent more energy on political gestures than on the fine margins that win tournaments.
If you’re sick of football being politicised, this is the rant you’ve been waiting for.

JOIN US FOR IRREVEREND LIVE!
🎟️ Tuesday 23rd June, 7pm – Holy Trinity Church, Winchester
Link: Tickets here

Email the Show: irreverendpod@gmail.com

Support the Podcast & Get Perks
Your support keeps Irreverend going and gets you early episodes, bonus Uncollared podcasts, monthly chats with Jamie & Nick Dixon, and more:

• Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/irreverend
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Reverend Dr Jamie Franklin responds to the shocking murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak in Southampton. He examines the brutal knife attack, the police response that left Henry handcuffed and dying whilst they attended to his attacker, and what this case reveals about two-tier policing, institutional failures, and growing societal division in Britain.

Jamie reflects on Nigel Farage’s powerful statement, Henry’s father’s moving words outside court, the glaring contrast with the George Floyd response, and the Church of England’s silence. He addresses the protests that followed, the deeper issues of multiculturalism, and calls the Church and nation to repentance and a renewed commitment to justice and truth.

A raw, heartfelt, and unflinching look at a tragic case that has become symbolic of much that is wrong in contemporary Britain.

JOIN US FOR IRREVEREND LIVE! - Holy Trinity Church Winchester, Tuesday 23rd June, 7pm: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/irreverend-live-with-tom-daniel-and-jamie-tickets-1990101934458?aff=oddtdtcreator

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You make this podcast possible. Support us and get episodes early, bonus Uncollared audio podcasts, monthly epic chats between Jamie and Nick Dixon and more!

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Why do so many churches feel spiritually thin, aesthetically bland, and disconnected from the deep longings of modern people?

In this lecture, the Rev’d Dr Jamie Franklin argues that the crisis of the modern West is not merely theological or moral but rather aesthetic in nature. Drawing on Alexander Schmemann, David Bentley Hart, Iain McGilchrist, St Anselm, and the Christian tradition, he explores a striking idea: that Original Sin was, at its heart, a refusal to receive creation as a gift and offer it back to God in thanksgiving.

This talk traces how Christianity once understood the world as sacramentally charged with divine meaning and how that vision was gradually eclipsed by modern secular assumptions.

Topics include:

• Original Sin as a failure of “original blessing”
• The sacramental vision of creation
• The Reformation, iconoclasm, and the loss of symbolic thinking
• Beauty, liturgy, and the recovery of the sacred
• Why the Eucharist stands at the centre of a truly Christian vision of the world
• What parish churches can teach a disenchanted culture

If you’ve ever wondered why beauty matters, why ancient liturgy continues to attract people in a secular age, or how Christianity can recover a sense of the sacred, then this conversation is for you.

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JOIN US FOR IRREVEREND LIVE! - Holy Trinity Church Winchester, Tuesday 23rd June, 7pm: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/irreverend-live-with-tom-daniel-and-jamie-tickets-1990101934458?aff=oddtdtcreator

Email the Show with comments and questions! irreverendpod@gmail.com

You make this podcast possible. Support us and get episodes early, bonus Uncollared audio podcasts, monthly epic chats between Jamie and Nick Dixon and more!

On Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/irreverend

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To make a direct donation or to get in touch with questions or comments please email irreverendpod@gmail.com!

Notices:

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Church of England revs with a difference Tom Pelham and Jamie Franklin sit down to talk about the big stories in this week's news of church and state. This time talking about the Bishop of Oxford teaming up with an Imam to cancel Tommy Robison's appearance at the Oxford Union. And we return to Makerfield, where plumber and Reform candidate Robert Kenyon has been convicted by the offence archaeologists as offending social posts about Carol Vorderman are discovered.

All that, your questions answered, Hymn of the Week, and more as ever.

JOIN US FOR IRREVEREND LIVE! - Holy Trinity Church Winchester, Tuesday 23rd June, 7pm: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/irreverend-live-with-tom-daniel-and-jamie-tickets-1990101934458?aff=oddtdtcreator

Email the Show with comments and questions! irreverendpod@gmail.com

You make this podcast possible. Support us and get episodes early, bonus Uncollared audio podcasts, monthly epic chats between Jamie and Nick Dixon and more!

On Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/irreverend

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To make a direct donation or to get in touch with questions or comments please email irreverendpod@gmail.com!

Notices:

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Daniel French Substack: https://undergroundchurch.substack.com/

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Church of England revs with a difference Jamie Franklin and Daniel French sit down to talk about the biggest issues in Church and State. This time:

- The battle of no ideas at the top of the Labour Party, as we ask, "Has Andy Burnham ever had a proper job?"

- We look at the fallout from the most recent Unite the Kingdom rally and ask if perhaps "Christian Nationalism" is more widespread than the lanyard elite think.

- And we review a recent speech given by the Archbishop of Canterbury which appeared to be aimed at Tommy Robinson and at all the enemies of progressive multiculturalism.

All that, Hymn of the Week, and much much more!

JOIN US FOR IRREVEREND LIVE - Tuesday, 23rd June, 7pm!

Email the Show with comments and questions! irreverendpod@gmail.com

You make this podcast possible. Support us and get episodes early, bonus Uncollared audio podcasts, monthly epic chats between Jamie and Nick Dixon and more!

On Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/irreverend

On Substack - https://irreverendpod.substack.com/

Buy Me a Coffee - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/irreverend

To make a direct donation or to get in touch with questions or comments please email irreverendpod@gmail.com!

Notices:

Join our Irreverend Telegram group: https://t.me/irreverendpod

Follow us on Twitter: https://x.com/IrreverendPod

Buy Jamie's Book THE GREAT RETURN!: https://amzn.to/4pwAH8R

Daniel French Substack: https://undergroundchurch.substack.com/

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Rev with a difference Jamie Franklin sits down to talk about the big stories in Church and state and to offer a Christian perspective. This time:

• The last days of Keir Starmer's dark and dismal premiership. What, if anything, can we learn from the catastrophic failure of the PM and the Labour Party since coming into power?
• Rowan Williams says we should talk about the devil and stick to the supernatural, but is he entirely consistent about that?
• And Zack Polanski says that no nation has the right to exist. What is a Christian view on nationhood and sovereignty?

All that and a little bit more as ever!

Email the Show with comments and questions! irreverendpod@gmail.com

You make this podcast possible. Support us and get episodes early, bonus Uncollared audio podcasts, monthly epic chats between Jamie and Nick Dixon and more!

On Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/irreverend

On Substack - https://irreverendpod.substack.com/

Buy Me a Coffee - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/irreverend

To make a direct donation or to get in touch with questions or comments please email irreverendpod@gmail.com!

Notices:

Join our Irreverend Telegram group: https://t.me/irreverendpod

Follow us on Twitter: https://x.com/IrreverendPod

Buy Jamie's Book THE GREAT RETURN!: https://amzn.to/4pwAH8R

Daniel French Substack: https://undergroundchurch.substack.com/

Jamie Franklin's "Good Things" Substack: https://jamiefranklin.substack.com

Irreverend Substack: https://irreverendpod.substack.com

Find me a church: https://irreverendpod.com/church-finder/

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Church of England revs with a difference Thomas Pelham and Jamie Franklin sit down to talk about the big stories in church and state this week. On this episode:

• The savage Golders Green attack and Starmer/Polanski political fallout.
• Our predictions for the Local Elections
• A 21 church benefice in Truro!
• German bishops clash with the Pope over same-sex blessings
• Propagandistic GCSE “Citizenship” revision notes
• And the ongoing question of the sincerity of Russell Brand

All that, your correspondence, hymn of the week, and a little more as ever.

Email the Show with comments and questions! irreverendpod@gmail.com

You make this podcast possible. Support us and get episodes early, bonus Uncollared audio podcasts, monthly epic chats between Jamie and Nick Dixon and more!

On Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/irreverend

On Substack - https://irreverendpod.substack.com/

Buy Me a Coffee - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/irreverend

To make a direct donation or to get in touch with questions or comments please email irreverendpod@gmail.com!

Notices:

Join our Irreverend Telegram group: https://t.me/irreverendpod

Follow us on Twitter: https://x.com/IrreverendPod

Buy Jamie's Book THE GREAT RETURN!: https://amzn.to/4pwAH8R

Daniel French Substack: https://undergroundchurch.substack.com/

Jamie Franklin's "Good Things" Substack: https://jamiefranklin.substack.com

Irreverend Substack: https://irreverendpod.substack.com

Find me a church: https://irreverendpod.com/church-finder/

Support the show