Birds Who Pray - news from the flock


Celebrating the individuality of female clergy around the world through conversation and observation.


She's got a loud voice, good pitch and no shame and she's not afraid to use them. Reverend Elizabeth Smith's podcast is cosmic and offers more than a breath of fresh Aussie air.


Life, loss and learnings are on the agenda as Archbishop Kay Goldsworthy shares how the global pandemic has affected her family and community during 2020. In a sneak preview to her Christmas message she also reveals that presence rather than presents are key to Christmas this year.


From Islam to Christianity, Reverend Valentina Emmanuel grew up as a Muslim in Iran, now she's an Anglican Priest in Melbourne. Here, she tells why she risked everything to become a Christian and how she hopes freedom is something her children prize rather than take for granted. This recording was made in Melbourne, Australia in November 2019.



Harlow based pastor, Reverend Alison Taylor shares her experiences of the coronavirus pandemic. From the dark art of technology to the dark times that have challenged her community, she's remained "cup half full" as Covid-19 has taken hold. She's also doing her best to understand and respond to the Black Lives Matter campaign.


Music track provided by https://www.purple-planet.com thank you

If women are changing the narrative of the church, then Bishop Genieve Blackwell is at the centre of that change in Melbourne. She's a no-nonsense campaigner who respects and challenges in equal measure, in order to build a better future for the church and beyond. There are many causes on her list, amongst them, the prevention of violence against women.



Reverend Elizabeth Smith's a mine of information when it comes to theology, which is quite apt for a woman whose parish is in the heart of the Australian goldfields. Here she shares her thoughts on the coronavirus pandemic and how it affects her community in Kalgoorlie WA. Extracts of this appear in the Together In Isolation podcast.



Easter. It's the biggest weekend on the Christian calendar, but the church buildings are closed thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Clergy across the world are adapting and meeting their congregations online. But why's COVID-19 happening, or more specifically, why's God letting it happen? It's a question that all of the clergy in this podcast have addressed, along with others. Music tracks provided by https://www.purple-planet.com thank you.



Reverend, or Mama Frida has made a new home for herself and her family in Perth, Western Australia. It's far far away from her birthplace in South Sudan, a place she will always call home but was forced to leave.

Can you imagine, leaving everything you own and moving four children to a country you've never been to, with just your faith and the support of strangers to rely on? This former refugee has no idea how impressive she is. Respect.



Bishop Kate Prowd's whisky has been blended with tears over the last year as she's overcome the challenge of her new role. It's not that she's not capable, it's just that she never expected to be a bishop. Kate was ordained before becoming a clinical psychologist, a career that was jogging along quite nicely, thank you very much.

Then, one day, she went to a fateful meeting, where she was expecting one thing and came out with something entirely different. It happens and it's an appointment that's made her one half of the only brother-sister bishop combo in the world.



Reverend Yvonne Poon is full of surprises. She's made her home in Melbourne, where she wages war on zombies, while channelling her hero Lara Croft. It's a bit different to her childhood days in Hong Kong where she made paper planes from pages of the Bible.

Yvonne's superpower is making people laugh, she will do that for you, if you have the time to listen. It's poignant too, but I'm not going to spoil the surprise. As the first Chinese woman to become a vicar at an Anglican church in Melbourne, Yvonne's story is a good one.



Now, to one of a kind. She's a pioneer who's learned to be patient rather than perfect and the first woman in the world to be ordained as an Archbishop. As such, The Most Reverend Kay Goldsworthy navigates uncharted territories, while encouraging others to follow.

This recording was made at the inaugural Women in Leadership conference in Perth in November 2019.




Worlds collide and stars align in this latest podcast:
Reverend Vanessa Bennett's a squash playing cat mum, climatologist and cricket tragic who lets her ministry do the talking. She's the first woman to be appointed vicar at St Thomas' Church in Moonee Ponds, Victoria and has stories to tell of the ostracism she's encountered on the way, how she aligns her religious beliefs with science and the importance of a good pair of earrings.




This next offering is an ethically sourced podcast featuring New York Rabbi Stephanie Ruskay.
As a lifelong activist, Rabbi Stephanie's a force to be reckoned with. She's a mover and shaper of conversation at New York's Jewish Theological Seminary and executive director of the Hendel Center for Ethics and Justice. As such, she's bringing activists and academics together to explore how we know what's right is right. Justice isn't an optional add-on for Rabbi Ruskay. Her campaigns are many and be warned, her energy's infectious.



Previous episodes include (in no particular order), the theology of taint, tattoos, Trump, guns and dementia as well as a good old fashioned chat over tea and cake with Violet and Betty to whet your appetite.


With an introduction like that, you won't be surprised to hear that this podcast with the reverend, and irreverent, Alison Taylor is jam packed with miracles, vigilante tactics, dog funerals and a lot of straight talking.


Reverend Yamily Bass-Choate was a waitress in a Mississippi restaurant when she met her husband-to-be Horace. They trained at seminary together, became part of each other's ministries and now, after 35 years of marriage, they're battling his dementia together.

This, while Yamily continues her role as liaison for global mission at the Diocese of New York. It is perhaps the perfect job for a woman who started life in Colombia, before moving to Venezuela and finally settling in the USA.

Nobody said it would be easy but Yamily's natural optimism and faith see her through.



Teacher turned preacher, reverend Cheryl Kimble avoids politics in the pulpit, but opens up here, with her thoughts on faith in a time of fake news, what it takes to be a good leader and the importance of love and truth. This grandmother's holding her own as the only female Baptist Lead Pastor in Austin, Texas.



Reverend Lisa Jenkins is a native New Yorker who's all about social justice. As well as fighting for others, she's had her own battles to face, from being kicked out of church for being an unmarried mother, to fighting cancer and facing her own mortality. Reverend Lisa may have weathered some storms on her way to becoming senior pastor at St Matthew's Baptist Church in Harlem, but campaigning for others is still at the heart of everything she does.


She's not very good with germs but works as a hospital chaplain, she's more used to quoting Lord of the Rings than the Bible and Reverend Canon, Karen MacKinnon admits to being less tolerant now than she was 25 years ago. Then, on the 12 March 1994, Karen was the youngest of 32 women to be ordained as a priest by the Church of England for the first time. Here, she shares what it was like to be part of that change, the resistance she's encountered and admits there's "a bit of a way to go".


In this, the first audio offering in the Birds Who Pray series, 'ordinary' Reverend Elaine Wykes shares how an irresistible urge to become a vicar has steered her away from the family motorcycle business to a completely different vocation. She's more surprised than most that her dream job now is to become a prison chaplain.