Westminster Abbey Podcasts

The 33rd Eric Symes Abbott Memorial Lecture - Beating the Bounds: Parish Ministry and Spirituality Today, delivered by The Reverend Richard Coles at Westminster Abbey on 24th May 2018. In ‘Beating the Bounds: Parish Ministry and Spirituality Today’, The Reverend Richard Coles explores the shape of parish priesthood today from the perspective of an incumbent of a small semi-rural parish with a much larger emerging digital and broadcasting ministry; and asks how spirituality sustains that ministry, and is, in return, shaped by it. Read a transcript of this talk on the Westminster Abbey website. #westminsterabbey #lecture #religion #christianity #revrichardcoles

Sermon given at the Sung Eucharist on the Day of Pentecost 2018 by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster, on 20th May 2018 in Westminster Abbey. #westminsterabbey #sermon #pentecost #christianity

Sermon given at a Sung Eucharist on Ascension Day 2018 by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. #ascensionday #westminsterabbey

Address given by Sister Frances Dominica ASSP DL at a Service to Commemorate the Life of Florence Nightingale at Westminster Abbey on 9th May 2018\. #florencenightingale #westminsterabbey

The Address given by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, on ANZAC Day 2018\. #ANZACDay #westminsterabbey

Sermon given by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Evensong marking the 25th Meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government at Westminster Abbey at 3.00pm on Sunday 15th April 2018 #CHOGM2018 #westminsterabbey

Address given by The Right Reverend Dr Karowei Dorgu, Bishop of Woolwich, at Rediscovering Justice: A Service of Hope on the 50th anniversary of the death of the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Westminster Abbey, 4th April 2018\. #martinlutherkingjr #westminsterabbey #mlk50

Sermon given at Westminster Abbey on Easter Day by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. #easter #easterday #westminsterabbey

However difficult, truth should be the lodestar by which we choose our words and fashion our political and journalistic language, including the use of rhetoric. We all share responsibility for this. If politicians and journalists lie, it is because we want them to. Speaker: Claire Foster-Gilbert ; Chair: Lord Judge, former Lord Chief Justice Recorded in the Lady Chapel, Westminster Abbey, on Tuesday 20th March, 6.30pm . #westminsterabbey

Speaker: Sir Stephen Lamport ; Chair: Lord Saatchi The importance of truth cannot be underestimated. It is at the heart of those things which sustain a civilised society: trustworthiness, dependability, wise decisionmaking and solid relationships. This lecture was part of the Westminster Abbey Institute's Truth season, recorded Tuesday 13th March, 6.30pm in the Lady Chapel, Westminster Abbey

The truth of a situation is often genuinely hard to pin down. But, argues the Reverend Professor Vernon White, that provides no cover or excuse for giving up the pursuit of truth, which remains vital, and believing that finding it is possible. Chair: Mark Easton, BBC Home Editor Recorded in The Lady Chapel, Westminster Abbey, 6th March 2018 Part of the Truth season, from the [Westminster Abbey Institute](http://www.westminster-abbey.org/institute "Westminster Abbey Institute")

Speakers: The Reverend Professor Michael Banner; John Raine; Rt Hon Jack Straw ; Chair: The Reverend Jane Sinclair, Canon of Westminster and Rector of St Margaret’s Church  Is the use of 'diplomatic truth' by officials both with their own governments and foreign governments an outmoded and possibly damaging convention? Does a tweet do more good than a 'demarche'? If in this complex and disordered environment, it all goes horribly wrong, who is to blame? Is it those who assessed, took or managed the risk? If the world is getting more risky should be take more or fewer initiatives overseas?

Speaker: Professor Janet Soskice ; Chair: The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster  In classical Christian teaching God is not only beautiful but Beauty itself, not only truthful but Truth itself, not only good but Goodness itself. What can this mean in a consumerist world where ‘truth’ is contested, ‘goodness’ deemed prissy, and ‘beauty’ discussed mainly in terms of revolutionary new beauty products? Do we, in the age of Instagram, hear the adage ‘beauty is only skin deep’ not as a warning but as a stipulation - beauty is only appearance and appearance is all there is? If so, what can any of this have to do with truth’ or for that matter with God, and how do we avoid swindling ourselves out of that conviction that we are made to seek the truth, to behold beauty and to become beautiful - made to be, not only loved, but lovely? #westminsterabbey #janetsoskice

Sermon given by The Dean of Westminster, The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, at a Sung Eucharist with the Imposition of Ashes on 14th February 2018 at Westminster Abbey. #westminsterabby #ashwednesday

Sermon given by The Dean of Westminster, The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, at a Sung Eucharist on The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, 2nd February 2018 #candlemas #westminsterabbey

The Coarsening of Political Language Speaker: Rt Hon Nick Clegg Interlocutor and Chair: Mark Easton Monday 13th November at 6.30pm in The Lady Chapel, Westminster Abbey This event was part of the Westminster Abbey Institute's Democracy season. The Rt Hon Nick Clegg was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007-2015, and Deputy Prime Minister in the coalition government from 2010-2015. Mark Easton is the BBC’s Home Editor. His first book, Britain etc., was published in 2012. #westminsterabbey #westminsterabbeyinstitute #nickclegg #markeaston

The One People Oration 2017 Sir John Major: The Responsibilities of Democracy Part of Westminster Abbey Institute's Democracy season Recorded Monday 6th November at 6.30pm in Westminster Abbey Chaired by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster Read a transcript of this lecture on Westminster Abbey's website. #johnmajor #westminsterabbey #democracy

Sermon given at Evensong on All Souls' Day 2017 by The Dean of Westminster, The Very Reverend Dr John Hall #allsoulsday #westminsterabbey

Sermon hive by the Archbishop of Canterbury at A Service to Mark the 500th Anniversary of the 95 Theses and the Start of the Reformation, held at Westminster Abbey at Noon on Tuesday 31st October 2017

Professor Alec Ryrie, a historian of Protestant Christianity and Professor at Durham University, on the Protestant Reformation and democracy. #westminsterabbey #reformation500