Guardians Of The Flame Podcast

Robert Enright Ph.D. is the author of 120 publications and seven books. He is one of the world’s foremost scholars in the field of forgiveness. Not only has he studied forgiveness exhaustively, he has developed a curriculum that has been used in prisons and schools in some of the most conflicted parts of the world. We have worked with him in Belfast, Northern Ireland since 2002 in his phenomenal effort to deliver forgiveness education to many hundreds of primary school children every year. 

An introduction to season 2 of the Guardians Of The Flame podcast, coming soon...

Jonny joined well known American writer, preacher and pastor Jonathan Martin at the Open Skies festival for a conversation on navigating this polarised time in history. It’s a conversation where we try to answer the question of how and when we are called to speak out about the issues of the day such as nationalism, populism, injustice and white supremacy.

Jamie Arpin-Ricci is an author and community activist, living at the intersection of faith, sexuality, and imagination. He has served with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) for 25 years and has authored several books on faith, justice, & missional living.

Dr. Samuel Sarpiya is a fascinating man with a unique perspective on race in America. Samuel has over 20-years’ experience as a businessman, educator, social worker, community developer, Christian leader, and expert in Kingian nonviolence. 

Samuel is Nigerian but lived in South Africa before moving to Rockford, Illinois in 2009 to pastor a church. In 2012 he co-founded the Center for Nonviolence and Conflict Transformation, which educates and trains organizations including police departments and schools in nonviolent conflict resolution and reconciliation. 

Peter Rollins is an internationally recognised thinker, speaker and academic, as well as an old friend of Jonny's. This is a conversation where they not only reminisce on the past but also look at what faith looks like today. Peter has made a profession out of breaking people’s religious boxes and slaying their holy cows. This interview is no different.

In this episode Jonny is being interviewed by Australian activist and advocate for refugees and asylum seekers, Jarrod McKenna. This is a shared podcast so Jarrod will also be releasing it on his Inverse podcast. The interview was recorded in Rostrevor and covers Jonny’s personal background, some stories of his work and the theology of reconciliation that underpins it.

René August is an activist, theologian and Anglican priest, she grew up under apartheid in the Mitchell's Plain coloured township in Cape Town. For René, theology is about finding a Jesus who is not some pet toy of western consumerism but the incarnated embodied Christ who was born into poverty, grew up under foreign occupation and lived a generous life of selfless compassion to all he met. René also speaks about growing up under apartheid, working with and being a friend of Archbishop Desmond Tutu as well as her work in South Africa with the organisation 'Warehouse'.

Br Thierry is a Benedictine monk and is part of the community of the Holy Cross monastery in Rostrevor. Jonny speaks with him about prayer, the life of a Benedictine monk and the Benedictine spirituality, and reconciliation. Br Thierry is a wonderful man with a profound and yet gracious insight into human existence and the life of faith. 

In this episode Jonny talks with Antoinette Mushimiyimana as she shares her story of surviving the Rwandan genocide after losing her family, and how she began her own journey of forgiveness years later.