Nicholas Baines

LATEST ARTICLES ( 612 )

• The World is Going Mad

  How things have changed.It is a week ago that I headed off to Stuttgart for the Kirchentag – the amazing conference put on across a German city every two... Read more

  Posted on 11 June 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• First Speech in the House of Lords

  This is the text of my maiden speech – for better or worse – in the House of Lords this afternoon. It should be viewable here. Read more

  Posted on 01 June 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• When Things Go Wrong…

  This is the text of this morning’s Pause for Thought on BBC Radio 2’s Chris Evans Show – with Chris just having returned from the Monaco Grand Prix:Well, there ... Read more

  Posted on 27 May 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• The Best of Religious Broadcasting

  

  Tomorrow evening I will be chairing the 2015 Sandford St Martin Awards ceremony at Lambeth Palace. These annual awards are prestigious and pull in some amazing... Read more

  Posted on 26 May 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Grief and Forgiveness

  This is the text of this morning's Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4's Today programme:Prince Charles in IrelandPrince Charles's speeches in Ireland this week... Read more

  Posted on 21 May 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Post-election Blues

  

  Well, if we had any suspicion about polls before, we certainly do now. And, if we needed any confirmation that politicians should tell us the truth and not... Read more

  Posted on 10 May 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• General Election 2015

  I led a clergy study day in Leeds this week on the theme 'Theology of Hope'. I wanted to help us think about our ministry in terms opened up by the theologians... Read more

  Posted on 26 April 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• First Birthday

  

  Today the Diocese of West Yorkshire & the Dales (Leeds) is one year old. The three historic dioceses of Bradford, Ripon & Leeds and Wakefield were dissolved on... Read more

  Posted on 20 April 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Where the Sun (still) Don’t Shine

  A couple of days ago Katie Hopkins wrote a piece in the Sun newspaper in which she called migrants on the Mediterranean “cockroaches”. The Sun saw fit to publis... Read more

  Posted on 19 April 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• The Real Church of England

  The Church of England is investing a huge amount of time and energy into re-shaping its agenda. Not in order to bolster the institution, but in order to get us... Read more

  Posted on 19 April 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Good Friday?

  This is the script of this morning’s Pause for Thought on BBC Radio 2’s Chris Evans Show with Sara Cox. Guests included UB40 and there are four of their song... Read more

  Posted on 03 April 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Five Words

  It is an interesting week for words. Try these:1. CLEAR: When will politicians realise that repeatedly using the word ‘clear’ does not actually make their view... Read more

  Posted on 02 April 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Hypocrisy

  This is the script for this morning's Pause for Thought on BBC Radio 4's Today programme:Yesterday I went to a church near Huddersfield to dedicate a new font. Read more

  Posted on 30 March 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• The Reputation of Richard III

  This is the text of this morning's Thought for the Day on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme:Having lived for nine years in Leicestershire and now living in... Read more

  Posted on 23 March 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Building Blocks

  This is the text of my Presidential Address yesterday to the second Diocesan Synod of the infant Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales:Several years ago I... Read more

  Posted on 22 March 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• The Living Wage

  As always these days, I am slightly behind on the news response front.It seems that the Church of England is apologising for having urged – in the recent... Read more

  Posted on 25 February 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Bishops and Politics

  How extraordinary?This morning the BBC Today programme brought together a bishop and a politician to discuss the pastoral letter to be published later today by... Read more

  Posted on 17 February 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Dresden

  

  I know Dresden well. I know people in Dresden well. The devastation visited by Allied bombing on 13/14 February 1945 was horrendous. That is a phenomenological... Read more

  Posted on 15 February 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• A Bigger Message

  The key to surviving the General Synod of the Church of England is to have a book on the go that has nothing to do with church business. Or church. Read more

  Posted on 11 February 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• The Imitation Game

  There’s a lot of talk around these days about role models. I was at Anfield last Saturday watching Liverpool offer a model of how other football teams should... Read more

  Posted on 06 February 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY