Politics and the Lords Spiritual; The Venerable Bede; Spirituality of Sycamore Gap

Sunday

Prayers are being said at church services today for the family of 15 year old Elianne Andam, who was stabbed to death while on her way to school in Croydon. A 17 year old man has been charged with murder. William Crawley speaks to local Anglican bishop, Rosemarie Mallett who has been working to tackle knife crime and supporting Elianne's family.

It's called the holy grail of medieval history; the search to find the actual handwriting of the Venerable Bede, a monk from the north east of England. He was a man obsessed with learning who became the only English Doctor of the Catholic Church. Professor Michelle Brown has writen a new book, "Bede and the Theory of Everything". She explains what we owe to this saint from the 700s.

Hare Krishna rapper Jake Emlyn tells us why he gave up music for his faith and why he's now considering a return to the record industry.

There was shock over the felling of the 300 year old tree at Sycamore Gap, a place where people scattered ashes, made marriage proposals and contemplated nature. William hears from the Bishop of Newcastle, Rt Rev Helen-Ann Hartley and asks if you have a spiritual or a strong connection to a particular tree.

PRESENTER: WILLIAM CRAWLEY PRODUCERS: BARA'ATU IBRAHIM & LINDA WALKER EDITOR: HELEN GRADY STUDIO MANAGERS: CHRIS HARDMAN & NAT STOKES PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR: DAVID BAGULEY