Sunday

Sunday hears the latest from China, on the region devastated by flooding, the attempts to get aid to remote areas and the religious landscape of this region, which features in Hindu scripture and is dotted with sacred lakes and sites of pilgrimage
US theology scholar L. Patrick Burrows on Dolly Parton and the influence her theme park, Dollywood had on him as a young gay Christian.
A BBC investigation reveals religious hate crime is rising faster than any other recognised form of hate crime in England and Wales -The rate of anti-Semitic hate crime rose by almost three fifths, while anti-Muslim hate crime increased by over a quarter.
Against the backdrop of hundreds of church closures in Scotland, we have some good news. Brechin Cathedral, a 800 year old building has been taken over by the community after closing down 5 years ago.
As the BBC Proms gets ready to celebrate the 90th birthday of composer Steve Reich, we talk to him about the inspiration he draws from his Jewish heritage
Presenter: Emily Buchanan
Producers: Catherine Murray & Rebecca Kelly
Studio Managers: Scott Henderson & Sharon Hughes
Editor: Tim Pemberton

The Chosen is the most successful crowdfunded drama in television history. It tells the story of Jesus of Nazareth through the eyes of his disciples, followers and opponents. Five series are now on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video, alongside a new spin off called The Chosen in the Wild. It's hosted by TV adventurer Bear Grylls and features the cast and crew taking on outdoor challenges.
Farming can be one of the loneliest jobs in Britain. Men who work the land are twice as likely to take their own lives as the national average, with rural suicide rates the highest of any community type, according to Farmers Weekly. The Methodist Church in west Devon has set up Rural Recharge, a men's support group which offers a place to talk.
Long before sponsorship deals and big money transfers, football grew up alongside the church. Victorian ministers believed sporting talent was God-given and saw the game as a way of drawing young men away from the pub. Clubs from Everton to Fulham trace their roots to a parish hall, and some of football's fiercest rivalries, Celtic and Rangers among them, are rooted in religion. As the new Premier League season kicked off this weekend, we explore this history.
Presenter: William Crawley
Producers: Katy Booth and James Leesley
Studio Managers: Jack Morris, Amy Brennan and Isabelle Whitehead
Editor: Tim Pemberton

William Crawley and guests reflect on the death of Jason Arday, the former University of Cambridge professor who had been the subject of an investigation into his qualifications amid intense media scrutiny over claims of plagiarism and misrepresentation.
The Catholic theologian and philosopher Dr Carmody Grey explains why she turned down an opportunity to discuss ethics with Anthropic, the AI giant behind the Claude chatbot.
And Father Bashar Fawadleh, a priest in the last entirely Christian town in the West Bank, speaks about living with settler violence.
Presenter: William Crawley
Producers: James Graham and Liberty Phelan
Studio Managers: Nat Stokes and Isabelle Whitehead
Editor: Dan Tierney

A follower of the Bahá'í faith who is being held by the Iranian regime has published a vivid and shocking memoir of her time in prison. Mahvash Sabet is an award-winning educator and poet. She has been in and out of detention since 2010, suffering solitary confinement and psychological torture. Bahá'ís are Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority and are regarded as a threat to the state. Alongside the harshness in jail, Mahvash writes about resilience and friendship. One of those she shared a prison ward with for almost a year is Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe - who was herself imprisoned and held hostage by the Iranian State for six years. Julie speaks to Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe and Bahiyyih Nakhjavani who translated the memoir Open Wide the Doors into English.
In the occupied West Bank, thousands of ancient sites remain unexcavated. Israel has recently expropriated Palestinian land to develop two of them. Palestinians say archaeology is being used to deepen Israeli control of the territory. Israel says it's protecting and preserving its heritage. But a UNESCO move to add Sebastia, near Nablus, to both its World Heritage List and its List of World Heritage in Danger, has brought the dispute into sharper focus. Palestinian officials have welcomed the decision. Israel's foreign minister has condemned it as an attempt to 'change history'. Our global affairs correspondent Sebastian Usher reports from Sebastia.
Until a couple of weeks ago, Emma Roberts was getting on with her life as a Quaker chaplain in Swansea. Then almost overnight, she became an internet sensation - due to her likeness to the new prime minister, Andy Burnham. She already had a social media presence on her YouTube channel Quakerology. Now she's viral on TikTok, with a new persona: 'Mandy Burnham'.
Presenter: Julie Etchingham
Producers: Katy Booth and James Leesley
Studio Managers: Nat Stokes and Matthew Dempsey
Editor: Tim Pemberton

US President Donald Trump says an agreement has been reached for the "complete disarmament" of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. The deal faces big obstacles, and behind the negotiations lies a deeper question - for a movement that has long-framed armed resistance as a religious duty, can Hamas actually disarm and survive ideologically intact?
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, has just completed a 10-day tour of West Africa, her first major trip abroad since taking up the role. It’s a region that’s also home to some of her fiercest critics, including some conservative Anglicans who oppose the appointment of a woman to the see of Canterbury. We assess how the archbishop had been received in West Africa.
Plus, we hear from two nuns behind a hit podcast which has taken off on TikTok, and an author whose novel A Short Stay in Hell is riding a wave of popularity.
Presenter: William Crawley
Producers: James Graham and James Leesley
Studio Managers: Isabelle Whitehead and Kelly Young
Editor: Catherine Murray