‘The one solid rock is Christ’: The Christian faith of the Crystal Palace football team

Source: Reuters

At the beginning of this season’s Premier League, a group of Crystal Palace players began gathering before games to pray. Would they have had any idea what might happen nine months later – and did their prayers even help fuel it?

This article appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in May 2025. To read the full piece, please click here.

Gareth Southgate’s lecture had echoes of a sermon. Here’s what Christians can learn from it

The joke was always made that Gareth Southgate would make a better Prime Minister than football manager. A recent talk for the BBC’s annual Richard Dimbleby Lecture only confirms this – and might even suggest a career as a preacher. Okay, that last bit is perhaps a tad far-fetched (Southgate is not known to be religious), but as I watched snippets of the speech and read its transcript, I said to my wife (a vicar) that it has echoes of a sermon…

This article appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in March 2025. To read the full piece, please click here.

‘I couldn’t resist the ringing intensity of Christ’ The Christian faith of Nick Cave

Source: The Times/Facebook

Occasionally an interview or article in a national newspaper will do the rounds among Christians on social media – perhaps because it says something controversial, provocative or insightful about faith, or because someone famous unexpectedly opens up about their own relationship with God…

This article appeared on the Premier Christianity Blog in March 2023. To read the full piece please click here.

‘Life is about to get harder…but God will send renewal’ Mark Sayers on Covid, war and politics

Can we really think about the renewal of the Church in the midst of a chaotic world? What if in the midst of political instability and rising living costs, God is up to something exciting? That’s the belief of Mark Sayers. Tim Bechervaise caught up with the Aussie church leader, podcaster and writer to find out more…

This interview appeared on the Premier Christianity website in August 2022. To read the full piece please click here.

Here’s the lowdown on Justin Bieber’s 5 celebrity pastors

To the uninitiated the above photo may look like an album cover for a singing quintet. Five handsome chaps looking rather dapper. All that’s missing are a few vintage mics.

But alas they are not. Instead they are five pastors who have more than Jesus in common. They’re all friends with Justin Bieber.

The above photo was taken at a private celebration last Monday to mark the singer’s marriage to Hailey Baldwin. 

Here’s the lowdown on the each of them…

This article appeared on the Premier Christianity Blog in October 2019. To read the full piece please click here.