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Somewhere To Believe In

Somewhere To Believe In

Written by: Greenbelt Festivals
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About this listen

All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey... and we’re back for the second series of Somewhere To Believe In, a podcast by the people who bring you Greenbelt Festival.


Each week we’ll meet brilliant guests and chat to them about their life and work. We want to bring you timely, provocative and funny dollops of hopefulness, to keep us all going in these strange times. This time around we’re celebrating artists that we love and we know you’ll love them too.

We’ll also be digging into our love of fields, festivals and communal gatherings – remember those? – and sharing some of the behind-the-scenes Greenbelt stuff. Importantly, too, we want to hear from YOU, whether you’ve danced in a field with us or not.

Our plan is to release this second series of eight episodes in the run-up to Christmas – with a new episode coming out each Friday. We’ve called it ‘Somewhere to Believe in’, because maybe more than ever, we all need that right now. We really hope you like it.

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Greenbelt Festivals Art Entertainment & Performing Arts Music Spirituality
Episodes
  • In the Bleak Midwinter

    In the Bleak Midwinter
    Dec 16 2022

    This episode of Greenbelt’s ‘Somewhere To Believe In’ comes in the form of a one-off Christmas reflection; brought to you by our friend Beloved Sara Zaltash, a ‘non-denominational rabble-rouser and soul-soother for a world in crisis’.

     

    It was our pleasure to welcome Beloved Sara to Greenbelt for the first time this year, along with her heavenly spiritual chants and adaptation of the Islamic Call to Prayer. And now she’s back again, reflecting on Christmas, with personal stories of community, songs of hope and prayers of blessings.

     

    As Beloved Sara says, we hope ‘you gather around these sounds in warmth and with whatever is dear to you, and that these words shine a beacon of friendship into your Christmas season.’

     

    This episode features strong language and references to drugs.

    _


    Late this November, Greenbelt Festival’s Creative Director, Paul Northup, called me with a request to collaborate on something like a podcast, that wasn’t quite a podcast, to be shared with the Greenbelt community this Christmastime. 


    I wish I could say that the first emotion I experienced was humility. I wish I was that saint! In truth, I was overwhelmed with giddy delight. Was I really being asked to share my thoughts, stories and songs with the Greenbelt community, that vital and gorgeous and exceptionally kind bunch of people that had won my heart this summer when I performed at the festival? In truth, it took a whole afternoon of pinching myself before the thrill of Paul’s request subsided, before I could settle into what was being asked of me. Did Greenbelters really want to hear more from me? What can I give them, poor as I am? 


    As the start of Advent loomed, Paul and I realised that the task ahead was greater than the time available, and that we needed a different approach. Paul wondered about centering the not-exactly-a-podcast on my voice, seeing as it was my voice that had been received so kindly by Greenbelters at the festival. It was then that I remembered a piece of storytelling I had written for a guest slot at Sunday Assembly East End in December 2016 - a personal story, woven with song, that was Christmassy and yet not-exactly-Christmassy. This story is what we have chosen to share with you this year. 


    Funnily enough, Sunday Assembly thought that the story was actually too Christian for their congregation. For me, this story abridges my whole life’s experience of sincere acceptance, inclusion and welcome into Christian community, regardless of how I have shown up. This story does not promote any specific belief or doctrine, except perhaps the belief in the redemptive power of song. 


    That’s what we have to give you; we give our hearts. 


    Thank you for all of the support and willingness offered by the Greenbelt team and not-quite-podcast contributors. Thank you especially to Abigail Maxwell, a Greenbelter and Quaker who provides us with a sobering prayer of blessing that we can hold alongside the gladness of the season. I pray that our offering greets you in the finest health, that you gather around these sounds in warmth and with whatever is dear to you, and that these words shine a beacon of friendship into your Christmas season.


    Yours ever, 

    Your own, 

    Beloved Sara Zaltash

    _


    00:00 - Introduction

    01:45 - In the bleak midwinter

    07:33 - A Christmas song

    10:04 - Eric

    16:16 - School

    28:10 - Merry Christmas

    28:37 - A prayer of blessing

    31:04 - ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ song


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    35 mins
  • The Job of Paradise

    The Job of Paradise
    Aug 27 2021
    This episode of Greenbelt’s ‘Somewhere To Believe In’ podcast takes a different form. It’s a one-off.It knits together 45-minutes of reflection, conversation, music and prayer in the form of a listen-and-share service to mark the festival’s 2021 August Bank Holiday weekend incarnation (its 48th) – when only a fraction of the wider Greenbelt community could actually physically be together at the Prospect Farm pop-up camping gathering. The hope is that the audio form of the service will give everyone the chance to share and be connected in a unifying act of remembrance – wherever they are. Ideally, the audio is designed to be shared in and listened to at 11am on Sunday 29th August. But, of course, it can be listened to at any time. Again and again.The podcast takes its title from a wonderful poem by the poet Roger Robinson. It also features music from Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir and the Wild Goose Resources Group, conversations with activists from Christian Aid, Trussell Trust and Refuweegee and readings and prayers led by Greenbelt’s from all corners of the UK. It is lovingly curated and narrated by Pádraig Ó Tuama – poet, theologian, and conflict mediator. (Pádraig also presents 'Poetry Unbound', a podcast from On Being studios.)____ORDER OF SERVICEDownload the order of service here____SUPPORTLast year – despite our not being together – you gave an incredible £33,000 in response to our service appeal. This year, let’s see if we can top that generosity!This year, your generous giving will be split 50/50 once again.50% will go towards the vital work that our partners Christian Aid and Trussell Trust do to challenge, advocate, develop and support – globally and domestically.And 50% will stay with us here at Greenbelt as we work to make sure the festival remains sustainable in these most challenging of times. So we can be back in the fields at Boughton House for a fully-fledged festival in 2022 – and beyond.Give here____LINKS AND RESOURCESPádraig Ó TuamaRoger RobinsonSoul Sanctuary Gospel ChoirChristian Aid in South SudanTrussell TrustGlasgow protesters praised for blocking UK immigration officersRefuweegeeWild Goose Resource Group____FEATURED TRACKS‘Lenten Psalm Tone’ by Soul Sanctuary‘Heaven Shall Not Wait’ by WGRG, Iona Community‘People Get Ready’ by Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir____00:00 - Prayer for the earth00:35 - Welcome to ‘The Job of Paradise’01:49 - ‘The Job of Paradise’ read by Roger Robinson02:30 - Pádraig speaks to Roger Robinson10:33 - Prayer for the artists11:35 - ‘Psalm 27’ by Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir16:26 - Chine McDonald and James Wani on aid in South Sudan (Christian Aid)21:32 - Prayer for those affected by war22:34 - Pádraig and Jonathan Lees on food banks (Trussell Trust)27:19 - Scriptural reading28:31 - Confession29:50 - Prayer for those responsible for racism30:26 - ‘Heaven Shall Not Wait’ by Wild Goose Resource Group32:39 - Pádraig speaks to Selina Hales (Refuweegee) about Glasgow immigration standoff38:21 - ‘Heaven Shall Not Wait’ by Wild Goose Resource Group38:56 - Prayer for friendship39:40 - ‘People Get Ready’ by Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir42:34 - Prayer for our societies43:17 - A chance for conversation and response43:57 - Welcome back44:13 - Giving45:19 - Blessing46:15 - Thank you and credits____WITH HUGE THANKS TO ALL OF OUR CONTRIBUTORSSERVICE WRITER, NARRATOR AND HOSTPádraig Ó Tuama is a poet, theologian, and conflict mediator. He presents PoetryUnbound, a podcast from On Being studios.Website: padraigotuama.comTwitter: @duanallaGUEST ARTISTRoger Robinson is a writer, educator, and performer. His most recent collection ofpoems, A Portable Paradise, won the TS Eliot prize in 2020.Website: rogerrobinsononline.comTwitter: @rrobinson72GUEST ACTIVISTSSelina Hales is the Founder and Director of Refuweegee, a Glasgow-based charityequipping the local community to welcome and support refugees and asylumseekers making their homes in the city.Website: refuweegee.co.ukTwitter: @SelinaHalesGreenbelt Partner Christian Aid is a UK-based charity whose mission is thecreation of a world where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty.Chine McDonald is Christian Aid’s Head of Public Engagement. She was inconversation with James Wani, Christian Aid’s country director in South Sudan.Website: christianaid.org.ukTwitter: @ChineMcDonald @christian_aidGreenbelt Partner The Trussell Trust is a charity working to eliminate poverty andhunger in the UK. They support a nationwide network of Foodbanks.Jonathan Lees is manager at Epsom FoodbankWebsite: trusselltrust.orgTwitter: @jonathanlees55 @TrussellTrustMUSICSoul Sanctuary Gospel Choir is a London-based gospel choir committed to creatingand sharing gospel music of the highest standard, especially in the places wheregospel’s power to raise the human spirit is most needed. You can find more of theirmusic via their website.Website: ...
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    46 mins
  • Grace with Nadia Bolz-Weber

    Grace with Nadia Bolz-Weber
    Jul 23 2021
    It’s the final episode in series three of our podcast *cries*, and some might say we’ve saved the best ‘til last. We get to it with festival friend and everyone's favourite Lutheran minister, Nadia Bolz-Weber.With her usual candour, humour and joy Nadia talks about her experiences growing up within a very particular, conservative Christian tradition, her journey away from Christian faith as a young adult and into other spaces that helped her heal, and her return to the fold later on; building a church from the ground-up, based on all the ‘good bits’.Plus, we have a refreshingly honest chat about religion, sin, struggle and sex. And that time Nadia had a sculpture of a vagina made from melted down purity rings. (You can play along at home by having a drink of your choice every time Nadia says “vagina”.)Katherine and Paul reflect on a year of podcasting and lockdowns and we respond to some messages from you lovely lot.Links, resources and episode timestamps (for all you skippers out there) below.____ABOUT NADIA BOLZ-WEBERNadia Bolz-Weber is an ordained Lutheran Pastor, founder of House for All Sinners & Saints in Denver, Co, the creator and host of The Confessional Podcast and the author of three NYT bestselling memoirs: Pastrix; The Cranky, Beautiful Faith Of A Sinner & Saint (Re-released 2021), Accidental Saints; Finding God In All The Wrong People (2015) and SHAMELESS; A Sexual Reformation (2019). She writes and speaks about personal failings, recovery, grace, faith, and really whatever the hell else she wants to. She always sits in the corner with the other weirdos. Read more from Nadia in The Corners or connect with her and other spiritual misfits in a pop-up Chapel for conversation, daily prayer, and exclusive content by visiting thechapel.io.Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram____LINKS AND RESOURCESNadia’s talks at GreenbeltFresh ExpressionsHouse for All Sinners and SaintsConfessional podcastFeminist Pastor Unveils Vulva Sculpture Made Of Old Purity RingsMore Graves Found At New Site, Canadian Indigenous Group Says____00:00 - Welcome to Somewhere To Believe In00:47 - Katherine and Paul catch up05:58 - Introducing Nadia Bolz-Weber06:32 - Nadia joins the conversation07:10 - Nadia on Greenbelt Festival10:30 - Nadia on the Lutheran church20:40 - Nadia on founding House for All Sinners and Saints29:14 - Nadia on struggle and optimism33:00 - Nadia on sex36:54 - Nadia on negative feedback39:49 - Nadia on grace41:10 - Nadia on insults44:33 - Katherine and Paul reflect on the conversation with Nadia01:02:04 - How to get in touch with us01:02:39 - Thank you’s01:03:28 - Hidden tracks____A huge thanks to the Greenbelt Volunteer Talks Team for all their hard work on editing this episode. Our podcast music is ‘I Can Change’ by Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires.____https://www.greenbelt.org.uk/#SomewhereToBelieveIn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    1 hr and 5 mins
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