Episode 32 of Eternity‘s podcast With All Due Respect

We kick off by diving into a satire of the Church of England – the oldie but goodie BBC series The Barchester Chronicles. According to Megan: “The drama, humour and delight of the series is the church politics. For anyone who’s been in a church, it’s very familiar.”

Can you have a voice of influence without playing party politics? As a “reluctant participant” in church politics, Megan gives her reasons for being involved in the Baptist Assembly, while Michael gives a personal perspective on the Sydney Anglican Synod. Yes, the discussion turns to women’s ordination.

Links related to this episode: 

• Episode 1 of Barchester Chronicles, especially the conversation at 44:55 – 45:05:
  Dr Grantly: “My father in law can be a very difficult person.”
  Bishop Grantly: “He has persistent bouts of Christianity.”

• Episode 3 of Barchester Chronicles, especially the conversation at 7:31-7:34:
  Mrs Grantly: “We could pray.”
  Dr Grantly: “There are times when I’m ashamed of my prayers.”

• Article by Michael Jensen on Eternity: The art of godly church politics

• Book by Michael Jensen: Sydney Anglicanism: An Apology

About Barchester Chronicles

The Chronicles of Barsetshire is a series of six novels by Anthony Trollope, set in the fictitious English county of Barsetshire and its cathedral town of Barchester. The second in the series, Barchester Towers, is the most famous. The first two novels were adapted as a TV miniseries  – The Barchester Chronicles – by the BBC in 1982, in which Alan Rickman is the “odious evangelical” Obadiah Slope, Nigel Hawthorne plays Archdeacon Grantly and Donald Pleasence as the “naive but lovely” hero, Reverend Harding.

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Find out more about the hosts of With All Due Respect:

Rev Dr Michael Jensen, rector at St Mark’s Anglican Darling Point, author, public commentator.

Rev Megan Powell du Toit, ordained Baptist minister, Publishing Manager of the Australian College of Theology, editor of the journal Colloquium.

We got the idea of our two-header theology and culture podcast from this show: The Movie Show/At the Movies.