A complete listing of audio compact disc recordings available featuring various speakers and conferences arranged by the Progressive Christianity Network – Britain, Free To Believe and others during recent years. All discs are attractively cased, tracked and labelled for easy access to any section.
Prices include postage and packing, with discounts for larger simultaneous purchases (any mix) as follows:
Two items - deduct 10%; three items - deduct 15%; four items or more - deduct 20%

Please print your name and address clearly, make cheques payable to C. Avis
and post to 37 Clifton Road, Exeter, Devon EX1 2BN

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For your convenience you can download a printable pdf of this list here

An April 2013 PCN day conference at The Lumen Church in London featuring presentations from three 'progressive' churches, all trying to make Christianity relevant and appealing to contemporary society.

Speakers were from Carrs Lane, Birmingham; Southernhay, Exeter; and St Mark's, Sheffield. Lots of encouraging ideas, help and discussion tracked and packed into 80 minutes.

Two separate talks given at Exeter PCN meetings by Southernhay Church minister Iain McDonald and his partner Ken Thomas. In 'Life and Church – a personal journey', Iain gives a revealing, often amusing account of his life including some 'you couldn't make it up' bizarre encounters en route.

In 'Christian Atheism', Ken describes this contentious subject and his present views on it, with reference to a recent book by Richard Mountford, the Vicar of the Oxford University Church of St Mary the Virgin – intriguing!

Both discs include the ensuing discussions, each is tracked, indexed, labelled and plays for an hour.

In November 2012 the Exeter Progressive Christianity Network group was privileged to receive a visit from the Revd Dave Tomlinson of St Luke’s Church, Holloway. Dave was a house church leader for many years before founding Holy Joe's, a church in a pub in Clapham for disaffected churchgoers. This talk, based on his latest book How to be a Bad Christian (and a Better Human Being), generated lots of discussion among the 75 who attended, which was continued two months later at the next meeting (disc 2). Plenty of mixed reactions!

Featuring Bishop Gene Robinson, Revd Dr David Peel and Revd Elizabeth Gray-King this remarkable Free To Believe conference broke new ground in several ways: the highest ever attendance (120); an ‘artist in residence’; themed, reflective worship led by Kate Compston; and some video recording in addition to the usual audio. The result is a total of 6 discs presented in two cases of 3, complete with the usual labelling etc. 5 of the discs are audio CDs containing all the talks and Q&A sessions, except for artist Elizabeth Gray-King's very visual presentations. These are included among the contents of the 6th disc which is a 48 minute DVD, 'A Taste of FTB 2012' - you get the picture! As always, all discs are 'tidy-up edited' and tracked for easy access to any part.

This is the most comprehensive recording I have made of any event to date; also the most modestly priced:

This excellent Sea of Faith 24th Annual Conference at Leicester University in July 2011 featured three well qualified speakers on a fascinating subject. Gwen Griffith-Dickson is Director of the Lokahi Foundation and Gresham College Professor Emeritus of Divinity; Colin Blakemore is Professor of Neuroscience at the Universities of Oxford and Warwick; and Alan Allport is Emeritus Professor of Experimental Psychology and Senior Research Fellow at St Anne’s College, Oxford. Don Cupitt also spoke about his book, The Fountain, contributing to lots of great communication and entertainment on 4 CDs.

This is the first Sea of Faith (Website here) conference I have recorded and features contributions from writers David Bolton and Julian Baggini; plus writer/broadcasters Mark Vernon and Kenan Malik. Under the headings ‘God, Science and the Quest for Moral Certainty’, ‘The Death of God and the Triumph of Uncertainty’, ‘As Much Precision as the Subject Allows’ and ‘Uncertainty’s Promise’, the speakers presented knowledgeable and compelling insights into the title topic. Disc 4 concludes with a comprehensive plenary session.

Dr. Adrian Thatcher M.A. (Oxon.), D.Phil. (Oxon.) came to Exeter University in 2004 as a Professorial Research Fellow in Applied Theology, and gave this talk at St Michael and All Angels Church, Exeter in February 2011. The title of Dr Thatcher’s presentation was actually “Towards a Gay-Friendly Church: New Arguments for Inclusion” but my title is designed to catch the eye!

How many sexes were there in the time of Jesus? How were babies made? Why were same-sex relationships so abhorred? The answers are probably not what you think. This is sex as (mis)understood in biblical times, knowledge of which must lead to informed Christian approaches to gender orientation issues today.

Join with the Exeter PCN local group as they explore the edge of philosophical approaches to ‘God’. Is seeing believing? Is being wrong more productive for a church than being right? Gareth Dyer is a sociology/philosophy lecturer and part-time Baptist minister whose open discomfort with the traditional church has encouraged him down paths of thought that many will find challenging but ultimately productive.

Recorded at St John’s Church Edinburgh in September 2010, here is another engaging and compelling series of talks by this ‘gentle-man’ of contemporary Christianity. Marcus spoke of the need to ‘redeem’ the present barriers of Christian language and literalism, urging with his own quiet passion the need for a faith that realises the earthly Kingdom of God through distributive justice and compassion. I was commissioned by PCN Britain to record this weekend, including Marcus’ sermon on Sunday, and now by special arrangement can offer the set of 4 edited/tracked CDs at a very attractive cost.

Yet another excellent FTB conference held in May 2010 featuring speakers on the future of interfaith dialogue, including Rabbi Tony Bayfield, the Revd Dr David Cornick, Alan Race, Raficq Abdulla and the Revd Ian Bradley. Wide-ranging approaches and topics plus a 60th birthday celebration made this a conference to remember! A 4CD set of edited audio recordings is now available at the cheapest-ever cost.

A series of talks traversing the ‘8 Points of Progressive Christianity’ on 6 CDs, recorded at PCN Exeter meetings between 2008-2010 led by the Revd Iain McDonald, minister of Southernhay URC in Exeter. At each meeting a brief talk is followed by comprehensive discussion, with each disc divided into titled tracks for speedy reference and access. Discs are attractively cased pairs in three consecutive boxes. These recordings are a rich resource for personal listening, or equally suitable for stimulating and aiding local group discussions.

1. God and Jesus; 2. God Paths; 3. God’s Banquet; 4. Abandoning Certainty; 5. A Spiritual Community; 6. Privilege

As with most advertising, all is not necessarily what it seems, though this is still quite a bargain!

The Exeter recording during Bishop ‘Jack’ Spong’s lecture tour last October, when he spoke about his latest book ‘Eternal Life – a New Vision’, is now available on an audio CD. Included is a second disc containing a total of 13 questions and answers from sessions at the Exeter and Colchester venues. The discs are packaged in a single case with an attractive cover including photographs and a detailed track index.

As someone remarked after Jack’s visit to our church, “That was classic Spong!” and I look forward to receiving your eager order!

This was a Saturday seminar at St Luke’s Church in London N7 with David Felten and Jeff Proctor-Murphy, the originators of the ‘Living the Questions’ DVDs. This was a rare chance to meet these innovators face to face and the result was a memorable day, including input from the vicar of St Luke’s, Dave Tomlinson. This 79 minute disc includes some sound tasters from LtQ version 2, plus lots of helpful advice on promoting open Christianity.

Studying the Bible is not usually considered the best way into a fun Saturday, but the time spent with Janet Tollington (Westminster College) in Yeovil on July 25th 2009 at her ‘Vision4Life Bible Study Day’ was, in biblical terms, a revelation. In a relaxed and conversational manner the Bible’s protracted, tortuous genesis and compilation was revealed, including many little known and surprising facts. Morning and afternoon sessions sped by, but not before they were captured on a pair of CDs available now for a mere fiver. Hear some fascinating gems and learn what most churches still prefer their flocks not to know!

World Justice and the Environment is a talk given by Ann Pettifor in June 2009 at Southernhay URC in Exeter on the environmental challenges that must be met now if life on earth is to survive. Ann is a compelling and highly informed communicator who advocates a much stronger lead from the churches in combating climate change. She is a fellow of The New Economics Foundation, London, and author of books on debt and international finance. She is best known for her leadership of Jubilee 2000, and in 2003 she correctly predicted the bursting of the credit bubble in a book she edited: The Real World Economic Outlook (Palgrave, 2003) Ann is now the executive director of Advocacy International which undertakes research and advises governments and organisations on matters relating to international finance and sustainable development. She is currently engaged with a group of British churches on their climate change campaign, Operation Noah.

Whatever Next? This is the title of a series of three talks about life after death given to the Exeter PCN group early in 2009 by the Revd Anthony Freeman, a priest and author whose books include 'The Emergence of Consciousness' and 'God In Us', the latter causing him to be dismissed from his parish in 1993 for ‘contravening church teaching’. Under the three headings of 'The Bible Witness', 'Mediaeval Developments' and 'The Modern Age', Anthony presents a comprehensive and fascinating history of Christian attitudes to life after death right up to the present day. A set of three audio CDs of these talks is now available. Each disc provides just over an hour of presentation and discussion, tracked and labelled as usual for easy access to any part.

The October 2008 Free To Believe conference ‘Liberal Voices!’ with Brian Wren and Ian Bradley (in the moving presence of Fred Kaan) was an intoxicating mix of knowledge, discussion, humour and emotion, blended with great music and singing. Brian Wren is a familiar contemporary hymn writer, while Ian Bradley is an author, chaplain, pastor and reader in Practical Theology and Church History at St Andrew’s University. Both combined brilliantly to make this one of the best FTB conferences ever. More than six hours of this memorable occasion are now preserved on a set of five audio CDs, each tracked and attractively packaged as usual.

In April 2008 Marcus Borg travelled to the UK from Oregon to speak at St Mark’s Church, Sheffield on ‘Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary’. The result was a memorable weekend from this world-renowned teacher whose considered, thoughtful style well leavened with humour captivated his 300+ audience. The talks, Q&A sessions and Marcus’ Sunday sermon are now available on a 4 CD set, including the original supporting notes. This was one of the best conferences I have ever been privileged to record and edit on to discs. In our present troubled churches and a divided, violent world there is a crying need for the Borg ‘gospel’, so spread the (recorded) word!

Diarmuid O’Murchύ is an excellent speaker who breathes contemporary new life into the Christian faith. In May 2008 he spoke to the Exeter Progressive Christianity Network group on ‘Understanding Jesus in the Light of Modern Scholarship’ – similar theme to Borg, different approaches – and a single CD of this with support notes is available.

So began John Dominic Crossan’s wonderful series of three talks on ‘Paul and the Justice of Equality’ in November 2007 at the Centre for Radical Christianity in Sheffield. Dominic is a world-renowned authority on Paul, with the ability to communicate his subject in an accessible, absorbing and entertaining way. A 4-CD set of the talks, including Q&A sessions and Dominic’s sermon at the Remembrance Day service, is available. As always, the discs are fully tracked, cased and labelled for easy access to any section. There is a wealth of fascinating and informative material on the enigmatic Paul in these talks and an enriching, sometimes surprising experience is guaranteed!

4-CD set £11.00

‘A Progressive Agenda for the World Faiths’
A conference recorded at Westminster College Cambridge in April 2007 featuring three speakers of different faiths: Ajmal Masroor – Muslim; Jonathan Romain – Rabbi; John Parry – Christian.
A revealing experience of the many shared beliefs within pluralism, well laced with plenty of lively debate and humour!

4-CD set £11.00

What is Religion?
Karen Armstrong speaking at Exeter University in February 2007. A wide-ranging, compelling presentation from this popular lady, including questions and answers.

Single CD £3.50

In November 2006 Jim Adams, the founder and original president of The Centre for Progressive Christianity in N. America, spoke in Exeter and London during a UK tour. His topics were ‘Troublesome Words in the Bible’ and ‘The Future of Progressive Christianity’, both of which are on a 2 CD set. Two excellent and informative talks.

2-CD set £5.00

And for Jack Spong fans -

‘Jesus for the Non-Religious’ – a conference in June 2006 recorded at The Hayes Swanwick featuring Bishop John Shelby Spong. These recordings have proved the most popular of all and are still in demand.

4-CD set £11.00

For an encore, listen to Jack Spong giving a talk in Exeter later the same month entitled ‘The Challenge of Christianity in the 21st Century’. More words of compassionate wisdom from this master of appealing Bible scholarship.

Single CD £3.50

How can we be the Church of the 21st Century?
A St Marks Sheffield conference in 2005 with Janet Morley, Jack Spong and Andrew Furlong (who previously was threatened with a trial for heresy by the Church of Ireland).

3-CD set £8.00