Episode 98

Forgive Us Our Debts with Rachel Taber-Hamilton, Todd Hunter, and Nigel Biggar

Published on: 23rd March, 2023

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Welcome to the final episode of Lent in 2023. We are going to hear from 7 guests about their take on some aspect of the words of Our Lord's prayer: forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. The forgiveness of debts -- especially as it applies to the lives of Christian leaders -- how do we make forgiveness a habit? Call for forgiveness in communities after atrocity and hurt? Cultivate forgiveness from the heart? Know when we need to offer it, especially among the daily slings and arrows of church administration, expectations, and daily drama. We'll talk about the forgiveness of ancestral wrongs, and how forgiveness is possible in the midst of social injustice. And how about forgiving literal debt? Anyone up for that? How might Jesus' shepherding of us, his gentle call to forgiveness, pervade all these areas of our lives, and gain ground for grace, and for his glory?

I had the joy of speaking to each of these guests:


  • Dr. Nigel Biggar, theologian, ethicist, and author of Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning; regius professor of moral and pastoral theology at the University of Oxford; and director of the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Life. 
  • The Rev. Dr. Cheryl Bridges Johns, visiting professor at United Theological Seminary and director of their global Pentecostal House of Studies.
  • The Rt. Rev. Dhiloraj Canagasabey, Bishop of Colombo in Sri Lanka and former Presiding Bishop of the Church of Ceylon.
  • The Rev. Stephen Crawford, rector of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Franklin, Louisiana.
  • The Rt. Rev. Todd Hunter, church planter and Bishop of the Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others in the Anglican Church in North America.
  • The Rev. David Sibley, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Walla Walla, Washington, and -- I'm sorry David I had to add -- four-time Jeopardy champion.
  • And the Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Everett, Washington, and Vice President of the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church.

Hold on tight to your purple stoles. Forgiveness can be a bumpy ride. But it's one the Lord promises to bless us and help us on.




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About the Podcast

The Living Church Podcast
The Living Church Podcast explores ecumenical topics in theology, the arts, ethics, pastoral care, and spiritual growth — all to equip and encourage leaders in the Episcopal Church, Anglican Communion, and beyond. A ministry of the Living Church Institute.