The overall theme of this blog is ‘Light in Public Life‘ (see about) – seeking to bring Christianity into meaningful contact with contemporary public life – and in a sense, I follow in the recent wake of people like the Theos think tank which was launched out of the Bible Society in November 2006 in Westminster. One of the catalysts for the birth of Theos was the need to combat the idea that it was no longer possible to ‘Do God’ in the UK public square, a response borne out in the title of their inaugural publication.
In the ensuing decade, many things have moved on in the cultural conversation surrounding public faith in the UK, and Theos have moved with the times admirably. One of their most intriguing and accessible recent developments has been The Sacred podcast which, although only several episodes old at the time of writing, seems to have tapped into a very contemporary mood of cultural re-enchantment. Interviewees from a variety of backgrounds are drawn out on issues of meaning and transcendence in a way that few others are attempting and this makes for compulsive and provocative listening.