What does it take to be a church where people on the margins find welcome, care and belonging? In this episode of the Ragged Podcast, Ian and Mez talk with Jonathan Parkinson, CEO of Caring for Life and pastor of Grace Community Church Leeds North, about how churches can better reach and care for those society often overlooks. Together, they explore what it means to share the hope of the gospel through practical compassion, faithful friendship and a commitment to walking alongside people for the long haul.

Sign up for the Caring for Life Weekender here https://www.caringforlife.co.uk/events-1/caring-for-life-conference

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Tommy or Timmy?
Tim Farron’s article on patriotism and idolatry prompted Ian to write Before You Diagnose Idolatry, Listen to the Working Class. In this episode of The Ragged Podcast, Ian and Mez pick up that conversation.

Why do some working-class people feel that Tommy Robinson hears their concerns more readily than church leaders do? The conversation takes in flags, migration, cultural loss and the difference between challenging those who think differently to you and assuming you know what is in someone’s heart.

Ian and Mez ask whether Christians have spent enough time listening to the communities they hope to reach. If we want to speak faithfully about Jesus, we need to understand what people mean before we tell them what they’ve got wrong.

They also find time for Mez to compare Ian to comedian Jeff Innocent, and to remember the Tall, Skinny Christian politician whose name escaped them: Jonathan Aitken Jonathan Aitken’s story

Links mentioned: Tommy Robinson’s apology to and defence of Aisha Khan-Aziz

In this weeks episode, Mez and Ian introduce The Ragged Podcast — a collaboration between 20schemes and Medhurst Ministries, bringing honest, gospel-centred conversations about life and ministry in some of the UK’s poorest and most overlooked communities.

They explain why the podcast exists, what listeners can expect, and why reaching working-class and deprived communities with the gospel matters.