The Profile

Andy Peck talks to the church and community consultant about his work bringing reconciliation for people devastated by human conflict, including the people of Ukraine. What does it mean to be ‘messengers of reconciliation’? Why is a disposition of peace to be the pervasive stance of the Christian and how can we work towards this in our relationship with other churches? The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Check out the latest offers at premierchristianity.com

Phil Knox is best known for his work with the Evangelical Alliance - an organisation which represents and connects evangelical churches and people across the UK and where he serves as evangelism and missiology senior specialist. Knox grew up in a Christian household and attended church regularly. Home was a place where Scripture was regularly referenced. On car journeys he describes his parents teaching him to memorise Bible verses before he was allowed to discuss football. His father was a lawyer and specialised in social housing. For a time, Knox also believed he would follow in his footsteps but a stint working at Youth for Christ got him hooked on mission and on seeing "young people become Christians." Working with his friend and colleague Gavin Calvert, CEO of the Alliance, he has written: Good News People: Hopeful evangelicals yesterday, today and tomorrow. which he describes as celebration of the UK evangelical Church. During his research he says he discovered a Church which was 'rich', 'diverse' and full of 'life' and that any decline in nominalism - the idea that people attend church because of mindless duty - has been replaced by a people that are alive for Jesus fronted by some extraordinary Church leaders. On this edition of The Profile he talks to Premier Christianity Editor Sam Hailes about the vital element friendship plays when sharing faith, particularly between men, a subject he has already written about in his book The Best Friends and how we need to be both braver and kinder. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity Magazine, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Through our publication, you’ll access thought-provoking Christian content, including the latest news, inspiring interviews, and exclusive commentary. Take advantage of our special offer - just £6 for 3 issues plus full digital access to our website and back issues. Enrich your faith journey and subscribe today at premierchristianity.com/subscribe.

Andy Peck talks with two men involved in Wellbeing Church, a new style of church in Hertfordshire which creates opportunities for young people to engage with Christian faith. Jim Thornton is one of the pioneer leaders and Reiss Gillingwater on the team that develops connection with Gen Z through online gaming and Football. They discuss how this fresh expressions approach came about and the leadership challenges that have arisen. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Check out the latest offers at premierchristianity.com

Andy Flannagan has an irrepressible energy. The Northern Irishman, who is now based in Luton, began his adult life as a medical doctor before quickly deciding that singing and song writing was a passion he had to explore. His albums include Advertising the Invisible, Son, Drowning in the Shallow, with his music often addressing social injustice, global poverty, environmental concerns, and human suffering His love of music lead him to writing about political issues and soon he was knee-deep in political activism heading up Christians on the Left for ten years and is now Executive Director of Christians in Politics making regular contributions to national debates on Premier Christian Radio. He's a strident social activist who believes God's people need to take part in politics at every level, whether it's a parish council or supporting (or grilling) a member of parliament. In this interview with Premier Christianity Magazine Editor Sam Hailes he talks about his involvement with politics and how he sees his armchair peers getting more and more radicalised plus his new links with the homeless social enterprise Green Pastures. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity Magazine, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Through our publication, you’ll access thought-provoking Christian content, including the latest news, inspiring interviews, and exclusive commentary. Take advantage of our special offer - just £6 for 3 issues plus full digital access to our website and back issues. Enrich your faith journey and subscribe today at premierchristianity.com/subscribe.

Andy Peck talks with the founder of Christians for Impact about their ministry helping Christians to invest their time in work that best serves God’s kingdom. They look at their selection of the key evidence-based areas of impact and look ahead to their conference in the UK on November 22nd and 23rd. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Check out the latest offers at premierchristianity.com

Australian high jumper Nicola Olyslagers has achieved a lot in her life already. Aged just 28 she is the newly crowned World Champion, winning the gold at the recent World Athletics Championships in Japan. She has won silver medals at the Paris 2024 & Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She is the Australian and Oceania high jump record holder (2.04m). She is also the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion and will be looking to defend her title next year at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Olyslagers has always been very open about her faith, often speaking about how it motivates her both on and off the track. In this episode of The Profile she talks to Victoire Eyoum about how her career was completely transformed from the moment her faith was an integral part of it, how she met other Christians through the sport and the way they encourage one another to be all that they feel God has called them to be, and how love should be at the start of everything we do in life. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity Magazine, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Through our publication, you’ll access thought-provoking Christian content, including the latest news, inspiring interviews, and exclusive commentary. Take advantage of our special offer - just £6 for 3 issues plus full digital access to our website and back issues. Enrich your faith journey and subscribe today at premierchristianity.com/subscribe.

Andy Pecks talks with the pastor and director of The Steps course, which is based on 12 steps use with AA, but within an overtly Christian framework. They discuss why he felt the need to develop the course, the similarities and contrasts between his homeland of Denmark and the UK and how his training as a psychotherapist informs his ministry. The Steps Course is available at https://stepscourse.org The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Check out the latest offers at premierchristianity.com

Academic Beth Allison Barr grew up in a Christian home a never really questioning the reality of God and was formally baptised aged 11. Not that there weren't a few theological question marks along the way. She became an academic historian specialising in medieval history while her husband became a Baptist minister. And it was only when they began to challenge their own church concerning the role of women in leadership that her writing and research took a sightly new focus. Barr is a Professor of History at Baylor University in Texas studying women’s history, medieval and early modern England as well as church history and her work explores how perceptions of women’s roles in Christian thought have evolved. Her writings have featured in The Washington Post, Christianity Today, NPR and The New Yorker. In this episode of The Profile she speaks to Premier Christianity Magazine's Deputy Editor Emma Fowle about her latest book: Becoming the Pastor’s Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman’s Path to Ministry and how women's positions within The Church have been framed throughout history. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity Magazine, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Through our publication, you’ll access thought-provoking Christian content, including the latest news, inspiring interviews, and exclusive commentary. Take advantage of our special offer - just £6 for 3 issues plus full digital access to our website and back issues. Enrich your faith journey and subscribe today at premierchristianity.com/subscribe.

Andy Peck chats with the CEO of UCCF: the Christian Unions, about his leadership as a junior doctor, as a pastor and now of a student charity. They look at why limits may actually be a blessing for the Christian leader and why students reaching students remains the best model for campus ministry. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Check out the latest offers at premierchristianity.com

24-year-old Harry Clark shot to fame on BBC One's hit reality show The Traitors. He won the second series last year bagging £95,000 which he says he used to pay off family debt and make a small investment - nothing too flash. Despite the high profile treachery and deceit it took to win, what many people might not know is that Clark's Christian faith is the thing that keeps him grounded. Clark was born in Nottinghamshire into an Irish Roman Catholic family, now living in Slough. He describes his confirmation as a pivotal moment that caused him to question and accept his faith as something he wanted to know more about and not just continuation of his upbringing. At 16 he joined the army as a helicopter engineer but took the plunge to join a TV show he knew little about but hasn't looked back. His new book Staying Faithful is published by SPCK and charts his life and faith. In this episode of The Profile he talks to Premier Christianity Editor Sam Hailes about his childhood, what his faith means to him and his experiences in the media appearing on shows such as Pilgrimage and Celebrity SAS. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity Magazine, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Through our publication, you’ll access thought-provoking Christian content, including the latest news, inspiring interviews, and exclusive commentary. Take advantage of our special offer - just £6 for 3 issues plus full digital access to our website and back issues. Enrich your faith journey and subscribe today at premierchristianity.com/subscribe.

Andy Peck chats with the founders of Altitude Mission, which develops teams of ‘Ski Angels’ to serve skiers and residents of Méribel in the Fresh Alps. They discuss God’s clear hand in the development of the Mission, what they have learned about leadership along the way and what the local population make of their work. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Check out the latest offers at premierchristianity.com

Dr Selina Stone is a theologian who has written on topics as diverse as class, race within Pentecostal theology as well as racial inequality in the church and black spirituality. Stone grew up in a working class family in Birmingham attending a Pentecostal church with her family. Her parents were teachers 'always reading' and from an early age she says she was steeped in church 'through and through.' She says she was taught from quite a young age to be open to the spiritual gifts of God as a way that he would speak and that this was a way for God to speak even to children. She studied theology in her home town which, she says, taught her to think crucially about God. As an academic she has written widely about Pentecostalism, as well as racial and social justice. In her latest book A Heavy Yoke: Theology, Power and Abuse in the Church is out now. In this edition of The Profile she talks to Premier Christianity Editor Sam Hailes about her upbringing, black spirituality and how Christ's suffering on the cross has been manipulated by people in authority. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity Magazine, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Through our publication, you’ll access thought-provoking Christian content, including the latest news, inspiring interviews, and exclusive commentary. Take advantage of our special offer - just £6 for 3 issues plus full digital access to our website and back issues. Enrich your faith journey and subscribe today at premierchristianity.com/subscribe.

Andy Peck chats with the author of ‘Life in the Last Lane’ about his clarion call for older people not to be written off, nor write themselves off when they reach retirement years. They discuss why the elderly are so often undervalued, how to value every day and why you really shouldn’t get your dead dog stuffed. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Check out the latest offers at premierchristianity.com

Artist Kirk Franklin is known to millions and has amassed a staggering 20 grammys since he first started making music in the early nineties. He was born in Texas and from very early on, aged just four, Franklin began playing the piano; by 11 he was directing his church choir. Despite a sold grounding in Gospel music his own musical influences came from Hip Hop which meant when he came to make music of his own - founding Kirk Franklin and The Family - it became a mixture of the two which others labelled 'urban Gospel'. Franklin has had huge success releasing chart-toppers such as God’s Property (1997), The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin (2002), and Hello Fear (2011) as well as songs such as “Stomp,” “Imagine Me,” and “Wanna Be Happy?" He has won 20 Grammy awards and as both an artist and a producer he's worked with the likes of Mary Mary, CeCe Winans and Toby Mac. Franklin often speaks candidly about his own imperfections and struggles with pride as well as his own deep faith and in this interview with Premier Gospel's Muyiwa Olarewaju he discussing his music, youth ministry and how he deals with bad press. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity Magazine, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Through our publication, you’ll access thought-provoking Christian content, including the latest news, inspiring interviews, and exclusive commentary. Take advantage of our special offer - just £6 for 3 issues plus full digital access to our website and back issues. Enrich your faith journey and subscribe today at premierchristianity.com/subscribe.

As The Jesus Film is translated into its 2,200th spoken language, Andy Peck chats with the executive director about the success of a film first released in 1979 and now believed to have been seen by 11 billion people. What are the leadership challenges of finding actors and translators and how might UK leaders use it for outreach to ethnic communities in their neighbourhood? The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Check out the latest offers at premierchristianity.com

Investment banker and philanthropist John Studzinski began his charitable life at the tender age of six when he opened a soup kitchen with his Catholic mother. She had been a nurse during WW2 and as he says in this interview it is sometimes easier to meet Christ 'in service', especially as a child. He went on to work in banking, becoming one of the first practising Catholics to enter Morgan Stanley. He is now vice-chairman of global investment firm PIMCO as well as founder and chairman of the Genesis Foundation, supporting artists in their careers. His charitable work has led him to work with the last four Popes. He's a firm believer that time and not money is the greatest gift we have and his new book A Talent for Giving about entrepreneurial philanthropy is available this September. In this episode of The Profile he talks to Premier Christianity Editor Sam Hailes about his early life, his near death experience aged just 31 and how we can use money to bless other people. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity Magazine, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Through our publication, you’ll access thought-provoking Christian content, including the latest news, inspiring interviews, and exclusive commentary. Take advantage of our special offer - just £6 for 3 issues plus full digital access to our website and back issues. Enrich your faith journey and subscribe today at premierchristianity.com/subscribe.

Andy Peck chats with the programme leader of London School of Theology’s, Music and Worship Studies about contemporary worship leading. What might a worship leader aim to do? How helpful are repeated lyrics? How do we embrace ethnic groups styles? How gifted do vocalists and musicians need to be? And what about when ‘worship wars’ break out in a local church? The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Check out the latest offers at premierchristianity.com

When Jeremy Stalnecker fulfilled his childhood dream of joining the Marines he thought he had it made. He had grown up in southern California into a Christian family and his father was a pastor. Despite an early biblical grounding he did not see ministry as part of his future. After he joined the Marines Corps he served in the first invasion of Iraq - Operation Iraqi Freedom - first as a rifle platoon commander in a helicopter company and then as the platoon commander. But when he returned home he became aware he was suffering from trauma and was diagnosed with PTSD. He soon realised he wasn't the only one. He felt a call to the ministry and like his father he went on to become a pastor. He now runs the Mighty Oaks Foundation which help men and women who have served in the military deal and ultimately recover from experiences that have led them to suffer with PTSD themselves. In this episode of The Profile he talks to Premier Christianity Magazine Editor Sam Hailes about trauma and what it can do to the body as well as the mind, whether, even in war, it's ever ok to take a life if you're a Christian and the healing that can come from having a life tied to Jesus no matter what you've been through. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity Magazine, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Through our publication, you’ll access thought-provoking Christian content, including the latest news, inspiring interviews, and exclusive commentary. Take advantage of our special offer - just £6 for 3 issues plus full digital access to our website and back issues. Enrich your faith journey and subscribe today at premierchristianity.com/subscribe.

Andy Peck speaks to the founder of Join the Dots Solutions about her work helping churches and Christian organisations become better informed about trauma With studies suggesting over half of us will experience trauma at some point in our lives, how might we better serve those we lead and ensure our past experiences don’t adversely impact our leadership of others? The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Check out the latest offers at premierchristianity.com

85-year-old Alexander 'Sandy' Millar is best known as co-founder of the worldwide introduction course to Christianity known as 'Alpha'. Though thoughts of being a clergyman were far from his mind when he was child. GHe grew up in Scotland during the second world war with a father who was a Major General. He went to boarding school and onto Cambridge eventually fulfilling his dream of becoming a criminal barrister. He says he was brought up Christian and prayed everyday though it was later at the age of 27 during a weekend away with his soon-to-be-wife that he experienced the Holy Spirit and the 'assurance' of God's presence. He says this is the time he really became a Christian. Despite a successful career in law he felt a pull towards the ministry and went onto play a pivotal role in the influential evangelical church Holy Trinity Brompton in Kensington, London where he became vicar in 1985. The church became a hub in the 90s for evangelical Christianity. Later with Nicky Gumbel he co-founded Alpha which is now in 100 countries, including prisons and has reached 24 million people with the story of Jesus Christ to people who have no faith or those who are just curious, though originally, it started as a course for young Christians. In this episode of The Profile he talks to Premier Christianity Magazine's Tony Wilson about his early life, the beginnings of Alpha and the plan that God has had for him. The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity Magazine, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Through our publication, you’ll access thought-provoking Christian content, including the latest news, inspiring interviews, and exclusive commentary. Take advantage of our special offer - just £6 for 3 issues plus full digital access to our website and back issues. Enrich your faith journey and subscribe today at premierchristianity.com/subscribe.