The Diocese of Sheffield podcast, hosted by Ben Fearn and Paul Sheridan. Each episode will feature a guest from the diocese sharing their faith stories.
From clergy to lay people across a broad range of traditions, we'll ask what drew people to the diocese and delve deeper into questions of faith.
Hosted on Acast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Diocese of Sheffield podcast, hosted by Ben Fearn and Paul Sheridan. Each episode will feature a guest from the diocese sharing their faith stories.
From clergy to lay people across a broad range of traditions, we'll ask what drew people to the diocese and delve deeper into questions of faith.
Hosted on Acast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sian Checkley, Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor, and Claire Sayce, Safeguarding Training Officer, join Paul and Ben for a special Safeguarding episode.
Sian and Claire talk about:
✝️ Their roles in the Diocese
✝️ How they came to faith
✝️ Improvements made to safeguarding
✝️ Why it’s important to affirm the work of safeguarding officers
✝️ The upcoming Safeguarding Sunday (16 November)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Revd Tom Finnemore, Rector and Oversight Minister at St Thomas Crookes, joins Ben and Paul on the podcast today.
Tom talks about:
✝️ His working-class background and how it’s shaped him
✝️ Being given bad advice at school
✝️ How faith has transformed him
✝️ The importance of being authentic and speaking directly
✝️ Moving to Sheffield three times
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Lizzie Ilsley, Assistant Curate at Rotherham Minster, is on the podcast today.
Lizzie talks about:
✝️ Growing up in a mixed Catholic and Anglican household
✝️ Working as a Speech and Language Therapist for 20 years
✝️ Her experience of living with depression as a person of faith
✝️ Rotherham Minster’s welcome to the community
✝️ How a silent retreat helped to guide her path to ordination
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‘Jesus provides this hope. I realised there’s more to life than getting a degree, getting a job, getting married – I found that in the person of Jesus’.
Revd Jon Hidden, Oversight Minister and Priest in Charge of St Chad’s Woodseats and St Paul’s Norton Lees, is on the podcast today.
Jon discusses:
✝️ His family coming to faith at the same time
✝️ Working in banking after studying marine biology
✝️ When he first asked someone to pray for him
✝️ The warm welcome at Anston, Woodseats and Norton Lees
✝️ The three methods for making tea in Yorkshire
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Revd Vicky Camber, Priest in Charge at St Peter’s and St Paul’s Todwick, is today’s Words of Grace guest.
Vicky talks about:
✝️ Her faith evolving in her late twenties
✝️ The importance of conversations about Jesus
✝️ How she feels rooted here in the Diocese
✝️ Encouraging others in their faith
✝️ The communities in Laughton, Todwick and Ulley
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‘The fundamental reality of Christ is that he is there reaching out to us.’
John Davis, former Ministry Experience Scheme student in Sheffield, joins Paul and Ben via Zoom from his New Mexico home.
John talks about:
✝️ Generations of his family working on a ranch
✝️ Swapping the American West for Sheffield
✝️ What attracted him to the UK
✝️ His hopes for ordination
✝️ His placement at All Saints Ecclesall and the Derbyshire Rural Chaplaincy
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‘Every step I’ve taken, God has been incredibly faithful. I love doing all the work I’m doing and being able to speak about God all day.’
Revd Rachel Crossley, Curate at St Chad’s Woodseats and St Paul’s Norton Lees, is today’s guest on the podcast.
Rachel talks about:
✝️ Growing up in a Methodist household
✝️ Spending her childhood telling people she’d never become a minister
✝️ Receiving her calling to ordination during bereavement
✝️ Finding new ways to connect with God – particularly outdoors
✝️ Metal Methodist services and what they entail
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John Ray, author and former mountaineer and teacher, is on the Words of Grace podcast today.
John talks about:
✝️ Watching the Battle of Britain as a 12-year-old from a Surrey field
✝️ Working at Gordonstoun School
✝️ Being inspired by Lesslie Newbigin
✝️ Working in Pakistan for 25 years
✝️ Moving to Hook in his eighties for a new challenge
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Revd Canon Karen Cribb, Associate Vicar at St Mary’s Bramall Lane, is on the podcast today.
Karen discusses:
✝️ Growing up in North London
✝️ Being part of a brethren church background in her youth
✝️ Her passion for social activism
✝️ The diversity of the congregation at St Mary’s
✝️ Busting Self-Supporting Ministry myths
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‘It was my faith that saved me, and believing that God can – and will – restore.’
Faye Smith, pilgrim guide, speaker and writer, joins Paul and Ben on the podcast today.
Faye talks about:
✝️ Leading walking pilgrimages in Derbyshire
✝️ Losing her husband and daughter in the space of two years
✝️ Doing a 700km solo trek across two countries following a bad car accident
✝️ Finding fellowship with others to boost mental health – including former Diocese of Sheffield Vicar Fiona Kouble
✝️ The importance of not suppressing grief
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‘A tangible voice which I can only describe as the Holy Spirit said quite clearly, “I will never leave you. I will hold your hand and will take you where you need to go”’.
Revd Carol Rashid, Curate at St John’s Goole, is on the podcast today.
Carol talks about:
✝️ Coming to faith around the St Lawrence Hatfield church environment
✝️ Leaving an abusive relationship and finding God through difficult times
✝️ Her deep-rooted calling to serve others
✝️ How she felt presiding over her first communion
✝️ Her spiritual moment climbing to the top of Mount Sinai
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‘I got the confidence to talk about my faith after I came to the UK.’
Shumaya Stephen, member of the St James Doncaster congregation and Diocesan Synod, is on the podcast today.
Shumaya talks about:
✝️ Growing up in Lahore
✝️ The challenges she faced as part of a minority Christian group
✝️ Growing more confident in her faith
✝️ The importance of worshipping in Urdu at St James
✝️ The biggest cultural differences between Pakistan and England
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‘I had this overwhelming moment where I felt Jesus was stood next to me, calling me to ministry’.
Mussarat Iqbal, Churchwarden at St James Doncaster, is on the podcast today.
Mussarat discusses:
✝️ Growing up as a Christian in Pakistan
✝️ The difficulties Christians face worshipping in Lahore
✝️ Taking a pay cut to follow a calling to England
✝️ The Doncaster Urdu congregation
✝️ Her near-30 year calling to ordained ministry
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‘My relationship with the Lord has grown through music and through taking little steps outside of my comfort zone. I’m trying to lead worship in other areas, and I’ve seen God’s faithfulness there’.
Estella Kirk, Christian songwriter in Nashville, joins Paul and Ben for a special international episode of Words of Grace.
Estella talks about:
✝️ Moving from her home state of Oklahoma to Nashville in Tennessee
✝️ Her love of music in a non-musical family
✝️ Leading worship from a young age
✝️ Express her faith through music
✝️ Being a US listener to Words of Grace!
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‘That’s when I was first presented with the idea of the Holy Spirit being tangibly present and accessible, and the fact that Jesus calls people to follow him – and that was a decision I needed to make for myself’.
Revd Eddie Short, Curate at The Rivers Team, joins Paul and Ben on the podcast today.
Eddie reflects on:
✝️ When his faith was reignited in his 20s
✝️ The importance of balancing faith, family and work
✝️ Misconceptions about self-supporting ministry
✝️ Positive signs of church growth in The Rivers Team
✝️ Being a DJ in his youth
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‘During a difficult period, a friend of mine asked me, “do you think you’re trying to fill God-shaped holes in your life with things that aren’t God?” An enormous sense of longing filled me, and I felt a calling’.
Revd Sami Ellmore, Priest-in-Charge of St Mary’s Rawmarsh and St Mary’s Greasbrough, is on the podcast today.
Sami talks about:
✝️ Growing up in North Wales and attending an Anglo-Catholic church
✝️ Fellowship at St John’s Park in Sheffield during their time as a student
✝️ Leading a music worship group for the first time
✝️ Discernment on an inclusive journey during ministry
✝️ Which Doctor Who is the best
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Revd Chris Herbert and Revd Christine Herbert are both guests on today’s Words of Grace episode.
They talk to Ben and Paul about:
✝️ Christine growing up in a Christian household and Chris not doing so
✝️ Chris overcoming barriers with dyslexia
✝️ Christine’s work for people with learning disabilities
✝️ Music helping to bring Chris to faith
✝️ Both serving as ordained ministers
✝️ Where they see hope in the church
✝️ Interviewing Bono!
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Revd Alison Cook, Associate Minister at Christ Church Stannington, joins Paul and Ben on the podcast today.
Alison discusses:
✝️ When she came to understand God’s love
✝️ Being a secondary school teacher in Jamaica and surviving a hurricane
✝️ Overcoming difficulties with undiagnosed dyslexia
✝️ Proving the doubters wrong on her journey to ordination
✝️ Christmas Live in Stannington
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"The Church at its best isn’t a place that ignores pain, because Jesus didn’t ignore pain. It’s a place that facilitates the transformation of pain, because Jesus on the cross turned our mourning into dancing and our pain into joy".
Fr David D’Silva SSC is today’s guest on Words of Grace, talking about:
✝️ Being Priest-in-Charge of St Leonard's Scawsby with St Luke's Scawthorpe; St Philip and St James New Bentley with All Saints Arksey
✝️ The moment he knew he wanted to be a priest
✝️ The communities he serves in Doncaster
✝️ Serving in his home diocese
✝️ The Bible passage that brings him to tears
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What does the Lord's Prayer mean to you?
In June we showed a video of testimonies from voices across the Diocese, sharing what the Lord's Prayer means to them:
· Revd Chrissy Moorey, Lights for Christ Enabler
· Mussarat Iqbal, member of the Doncaster Urdu congregation
· Charlene Satumba, member of The Rivers Team congregation
· Revd Dr Bill Goodman, Director of Ongoing Ministerial Development
· Revd Justine Smith, Associate Vicar at Rotherham Minster
· Laura Passo, Centenary Project Worker at Heeley Parish Church
In this minisode we’re featuring the testimonies in this extended version of the video, featuring additional reflections.
You can also watch the video here: sheffdio.org/LordsPrayer
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