John Offord
speaker
127 appearances
2 recordings
1 series
first heard May 2026
last heard 4d ago
John Offord’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 2 in all, peaking in Sep 2026 with 1.
Appearances
For this week's Heart and Soul, I'm in South Africa hearing how setting up this new church has been far from easy for Jane.
Not only did it mean walking away from institution of religion, but also family, friends and left her questioning her Christian faith altogether.
Today I've come to see what she's built in its place.
Before this school hall, there was a Methodist church where Jane served as a pastor.
Back at the house, I asked Jane what it was that ultimately made her leave the institutional church.
I wanted to ask you if you can describe what it felt like emotionally to turn your back on your faith community.
Were there moments you doubted the decision you'd made?
Did leaving ever feel like a betrayal of your calling or your past self?
for this there was a sense of that and it was liberating a big part of we are church's ethos is the embrace of people from the lgbtqi plus community it's a stance that has cost jane family and friends so jane so some of your family don't speak to you anymore because of your decision to leave the institutional church how has that affected you
Jane's husband Graham has lived this story with her.
The hurt, the accusations and the determination not to give up on faith altogether.
In Jane's world, even a garage becomes a place of ministry.
But it also tells you something about how far she has moved from the institution she once belonged to.
And was that quite a moment for you when you went to Pride in Johannesburg representing the church?
How was that?
From spending the day with you, I know that obviously social activism and social justice is really important to you.
Is that what drives you?
Where's this coming from, this overwhelming sense of needing to support people from the LGBTQ plus community?
Inside the house, I meet Vincent, a graphic designer who has fled Uganda after being arrested for activism.
I'm John Offord and I'm in Johannesburg, South Africa, spending a day with Jane Codrington, a former Methodist pastor who walked away from institutional religion to build her own church for the people every other church had turned away.
Showing 81–100 of 127 · page 5 of 7
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