Maidenhead's Questions

In this bonus episode of Maidenhead’s Questions, Adam and Ian are joined by Jason Roach from London City Mission to respond to some of the hardest questions raised by listeners: Why has so much harm been done in the name of Christianity? What should we make of hypocrisy, bigotry and abuse in the church? And who is the church really for? 

With honesty and care, the conversation acknowledges the real pain many people have experienced, insists that abuse and cover-up are evil and must be brought into the light, and explores how Jesus calls Christians not merely to use his name, but to follow his way. The episode also considers why the church is meant to be a “hospital for sinners” rather than a theatre for pretending, and why St Mary’s Maidenhead wants to be a place where people from every background are welcome to explore Jesus. 

If you have been affected by abuse, especially within a church setting, please consider speaking to the police if you are in immediate danger or reporting a crime. You can also seek support from ⁠Safe Spaces⁠, a free and independent support service for anyone who has experienced abuse in relation to the Church of England, the Church in Wales, or the Catholic Church of England and Wales. You can contact the Safe Spaces team through their helpline (⁠0300 303 1056⁠), their live chat facility or by emailing ⁠safespaces@firstlight.org.uk⁠

Why are there so many different religions? Do they all essentially lead to the same God? And is your faith just an accident of geography?

In this episode of Maidenhead’s Questions, Adam and Ian dive into the fifth most popular topic submitted by our community: religious diversity. To help unpack these deep truth claims, they are joined by author, speaker, and Christian philosopher Dr. Andy Bannister from Solas. Holding a PhD in Islamic studies , Andy brings 30 years of experience to a fascinating conversation comparing the foundational claims of world religions.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

• The Chosen (Available on Netflix and free online)
• The Greatest Story Ever Told by Bear Grylls
• Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabil Qureshi
• Whose Religion is Christianity? by Lamin Sana
• Jesus and the Eyewitnesses by Richard Baucom

Does God Even Exist?

On this episode of Maidenhead’s Questions, Adam and Ian sit down with Esther Chidlow from OCCA (The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics) to tackle the ultimate starting point for faith: Does God actually exist?

Moving past simple “blind faith,” Esther draws on her background in mathematics and philosophy to look at the rational, historical, and personal evidence for God. Together, the team explores:

• The Big Picture: Digging into philosophical pointers like the cosmological argument and the mind-boggling numbers behind the fine-tuning of our universe.
• Science vs. Faith: Why pitting them against each other is a major category error, and how they actually answer different “maps of meaning”.
• The Silence & The Doubt: How to navigate the seasons when God feels quiet, why the Bible gives us full permission to ask hard questions, and how Jesus responds to our skepticism.

Whether you are wrestling with doubt, wondering if faith is just wishful thinking, or looking for solid intellectual anchors in a messy world, this deeply encouraging conversation is for you.

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On this episode of Maidenhead’s Questions, Adam and Ian sit down with Niv Lobo from Christ Church, Cambridge to tackle the third most requested topic from the people of Maidenhead: death, heaven, hell, and the afterlife.

Niv opens up about his personal journey from aggressive scepticism to finding an intellectually and emotionally satisfying faith in Jesus. Together, the team dives into the heavy questions:

• Why is there death at all?
• How do we know heaven and hell are real?
• How can I worship a God who will send my family to hell if they don’t believe in him?
• Who goes to heaven?
• Eternity sounds terrifying, why do Christians want that?

If you’ve ever stood at a graveside feeling like death just isn’t right, or wondered if any traveller has ever truly returned from the undiscovered country, this episode is for you.

Enjoying the show? Don’t forget to leave us a rating and review us. Please do like, share and subscribe.

The people of Maidenhead had lots of questions for us on the person and work of Jesus Christ. Join Adam, Ian and our guest Glen Scrivener from Speak Life, delve into some of them:

• How can God be three and one at the same time?
• Is Jesus the same as God?
• How does Jesus’ divinity work together with his humanity?
• Why did Jesus come to earth?
• Why did Jesus have to die, couldn’t God just forgive sins?

Maidenhead’s Questions is run by ⁠St Mary’s Maidenhead ⁠(the Church behind the Bear Pub). Everyone is welcome to join us on a Sunday. We meet at 8am, 9:15am, 11am, 4pm, and 6:30pm.

About Glen Scrivener

Glen Scrivener is a speaker, writer and ordained minister. He serves as the Director of ⁠Speak Life⁠ while in the UK, an evangelistic ministry that seeks, through preaching and media, to captivate both church and world with the love of Jesus. He is a YouTuber, podcaster, the author of ten books including the award-winning ⁠The Air We Breathe⁠, and he is the creator and presenter of the digital evangelism course ⁠321⁠.

Join Ian, Adam and guest Naomi Brehm from Speak Life  as we wrestle with the Maidenhead’s Questions on:

• Why is life so hard?

• Why did my family have to be disabled?

• Why does God keep punishing me by making bad things happen in my life?

• Do you actually care about us?

• You created Satan, are you actually a sadist?

• How do you know God isn’t the evil one and that explains suffering?

• Why does God allow people to suffer from a cancer that is so hard to treat?

• Why does God allow newborn babies to suffer?

• Why does God allow people to suffer from mental health problems?

• The world is so messed up. Can you fix it?

About Naomi Brehm

From dancing to coding, belaying to poetry writing, Naomi’s found life in all kinds of places but the best kind of life in knowing Jesus. She studied a Masters in Physics, trained in Apologetics, and now spends her time speaking, writing and having conversations to help others engage creatively with his compelling character and story. She works as an Evangelist for Speak Life, co-hosting the  Speak Life Podcast working towards a Graduate Diploma with Union School of Theology. Naomi lives in East Sussex, where you’ll mostly find her swimming in the sea or getting lost in a forest.

In this introductory episode of Maidenhead’s Questions, host Adam Curtis sits down with local author and speaker Mark Meynell to pull back the curtain on a new town-wide initiative: “God my question is…”

Maidenhead is a town full of people with big, important questions—about life, faith, and God. Rather than assuming we have all the answers, St. Mary’s Church is launching a survey to find out what the people of Maidenhead are actually asking. Adam and Mark discuss the “why” behind the project, the value of honest questions, and how we plan to bring in respected Christian thinkers to address the top questions you’ve raised.

In this episode we look at the inspiration behind the Maidenhead town wide survey, why St Mary’s Church wants to listen before we speak, and we address the initial scepticism people might have about a project like this. Why are you God bothers bothering me? Are there even answers? Should people even care what God has to say?

About Our Guest: Mark Meynell

Mark Meynell is an author, traveling speaker, and ordained minister who has called Maidenhead home for nearly a decade. He has a diverse background in ministry. He has taught at seminary in Uganda, been a vicar in central London and worked with Christian leaders across Europe and the Caribbean.

A prolific writer, Mark has authored several books, including  and . He is deeply interested in the intersection of faith, the arts, and cultural apologetics, and blogs regularly on these topics at .

If you are listening to this before the 3rd May 2026 then and would like to participate in Maidenhead’s Questions then please head over to  and let us know what your question is!