MTV New series for Autumn 2023

Suffering: What to do about disasters

This week the news has been filled with human suffering on a mass scale; the death toll from floods in Derna stands at nearly 4000 and Morocco’s earthquake has so far claimed 3000 lives. How can we understand who God is and what He is like in a world where things go wrong?

Suffering is topical but it is a personal issue too because it can be a barrier to understanding who God is. What can we make of disasters like those in Libya and Morocco and how do we reconcile this with God.

When ITV announced on May 20, that Phillip Schofield would be leaving flagship daytime show, This Morning, after more than 20 years, it lifted the lid on a supposedly “toxic” culture and sparked the spectacle of a chain of celebrities “cancelling” the former presenter and the story exploding daily with revelations.

We've recorded an MTV special all about our upcoming move! This week we take our discussion right into the heart of the Bristol communities where we live and work. As a church we're about to move buildings and we wanted to share the extraordinary story of how we came to our new home through God's grace.

This week we discussed Matt Hancock’s leaked WhatsApp messages and why in culture and in life this happens again and again - our pasts always seem to catch up with us. We asked the question how does post-Christian culture handle the past and how do we, as followers of Jesus, see it differently?

We're in the middle of a series seeking to understand the issues and controversy surrounding human sexuality and same-sex marriage going on in Church and culture at the moment.

This week we read an article in the Guardian arguing that those who are pro same-sex marriage think that God's love and grace is for everyone and that those who are against same-sex marriage believe that God's love is restricted. We wanted to unpick this idea and explore what living in God's love and grace looks like.

This week we’re talking about Identity. One of the questions that often comes up when we talk about sexuality is that if your identity is that you’re same-sex attracted, are you inherently sinful in a way that someone who is heterosexual isn’t? We discuss the turn inward since the enlightenment, the history of desire, what sin actually is and where we find our true identity.

This week we’re talking about inclusion and welcome, two words that come up again and again in debates and discussion around the church and human sexuality. Both are expected of the church by culture and society but can we actually offer both and do they mean the same thing?

In our last episode of 2022 we look back over the last few months and in particular at a subject that kept coming up again and again in the news: Integrity. The culture around us is looking for integrity in its leadership and we talked about why Jesus is the only one who can meet that longing.

This week we were inspired by Heidi Crowter, who brought her case against abortion laws to the Court of Appeal. We talked about ethics and how we can have conversations about things that really matter in a culture that lacks an ethical framework.

Wayne and James answer some brilliant questions from some of our current Alpha course guests. Why is Jesus always portrayed as a white man? Why is following Jesus so hard? What about dinosaurs? Loads to get you thinking on this week's MTV.

In this Episode of MTV we answer this week's big question: Who is and who isn't going to the COP27 Climate Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh next week? King Charles isn't, the new President of Brazil is, Rishi Sunak (at time of recording) is a maybe... We thought it would be a good opportunity to talk about the bigger question behind that - why we as followers of Jesus should care about climate change and how we can play our part in stewarding our wonderful planet.

After an extended summer break MTV is back! In the aftermath of last week's state funeral James and Wayne reflect on why the Queen's character was so attractive and the values and beliefs that inspired her life of service. What does it mean to live in a culture which thinks it can hold to Christian values without sharing those beliefs? And what are the core values in our own lives that stem from our deepest held convictions?

This week James is away on retreat and Wayne invited special guest Wendy Massey to join him on MTV to talk about the news of the recent Supreme Court ruling on abortion in the US. They discuss US politics, divided worldviews, the biblical texts which shape Christian views on life and freedom, and how we can love one another and have helpful discussions (even when we disagree!) on ethics in a world East of Eden.

James & Wayne reflect on the Platinum Jubilee celebrations this weekend, the joyful outpouring of thanks and honour to the Queen for her life of service that we all witnessed, why it's so unique and how it points us to Jesus.

This week we talk tiredness: why no one is talking about it, why we’re all feeling it and how we can live life under the yolk of Jesus. Should tired be a banned word? Did Jesus ever get tired? And why do some of us get bored watching Lawrence of Arabia? It’s all up for discussion on this week’s More Tea, Vicar?

How do you make decisions? Living through a global pandemic has caused many of us to rethink how we spend our time and has, for some of us, provoked some major life changes. Still, many of us have found ourselves in recent months drifting back into habits and life pre-pandemic. This week we’re talking about the nuclear family, church and what place the counsel of the saints has in our lives as followers of Jesus.

Have you ever thought you’d love to just go back to life pre March 2020? This week on MTV we’re talking about living life on the other side of seismic change - how trying to carry on as normal has left lots of us tired and disillusioned, who our anchor is and what we can do to align ourselves with what God's doing.

Instead of looking at the latest newspaper headlines as we usually do, this week on MTV we're talking about some B&A family news! A couple of weeks ago we announced that an amazing opportunity has come up to swap our building at 160a Gloucester Road with Horfield Baptist Church's building at 279 Gloucester Road.

Why are we afraid to say what we think? This week James & Wayne talk about how Boris Johnson addressed the transgender debate around sport and medical ethics last week and how fear affects our discussions with our friends.