Restless Sanctuary Episode 4: So what is Communion?

Listen to our new podcast about faith, restlessness and the search for meaning! In each episode James Cathcart and Albert Bogle from Sanctuary First share what it’s like to be restless Christians, wrestling with the Bible and spirituality as they try and live it out today.

This week they ask: So what is Communion? Why do we do it? And how can it shape how we see the world? On the way they discuss cheering from the terraces, Tunnocks Teacakes, and banana molecules!

Right now our world is very restless — politically, economically, culturally, technologically and environmentally. We are living through an age of disruption and upheaval. Many of us are longing for a sense of sanctuary, for belonging, and direction to help us face new and unprecedented challenges.

At the root of Christianity James and Albert uncover a restlessness in God’s heart that mirrors our own. A deep longing and restless love that searches out for each one of us. We glimpse God in the faces of one another in need and in God we glimpse our own human yearning for wholeness and love.

James and Albert reckon Jesus offers sanctuary and respite for our restless souls, but that it is often a restless sanctuary, a temporary makeshift shelter in a world that we are called in turn to go out and love. The ship in their logo, designed by Jack Steel, is itself a restless sanctuary on the open water — not a shelter from the storm but a shelter through the storm.

Join them every fortnight for fascinating discussions about being restless Christians in a restless world!

The series is a collaboration between James Cathcart and Albert Bogle and features the track ‘Symphony of Lies’ by The Bogle Band.

In this episode you will also hear a clip of Maggie Lane introducing the Advent Labyrinth and the Bogle Band performing ‘Room at the table.’

The book James quotes from is ‘Being Consumed, Economics and Christian Desire’ by William T. Cavanaugh. Read Albert writing about online communion and ‘the internet as a parable’ on this post from 2020 on our blog.

Find the podcast here on Sanctuary First, in our Sanctuary First App, and on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and most other podcasting platforms!