Standing in Westminster Abbey's Pyx Chamber, Mark Easton and Rosanna Barry, Clerk in the House of Lords, discuss the purpose of democracy. What can one of the oldest surviving parts of Westminster Abbey teach us today about the past, present and future of democracy?

Westminster in conversation is a new podcast with Mark Easton, as he walks through the monumental surroundings of Westminster Abbey with those who serve at the heart of public life. This podcast is part of Westminster Abbey Institute's 2026 Autumn season - The Long Story of Democracy. As the UK’s democracy continues to evolve, Westminster Abbey Institute invites you to the place where it began with this programme of events: Public Programmes | Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey Institute aims to nurture and revitalise moral and spiritual values in public life and service. It seeks to replenish and sustain public servants of all faiths and none, and to celebrate and animate public service as a force for good. The Institute draws on Westminster Abbey’s resources of spirituality and theological learning, rooted in its daily worshipping life and broader Christian tradition, to convene discussion, nourish reflection and inspire regeneration: The Institute | Westminster Abbey

In each episode, a different guest working in public service will take Mark Easton to a historic space, memorial or object in the Abbey, reflecting on what the past can teach us about the present state of democracy. 

Join Mark Easton in Westminster Abbey's Chapter House in conversation with Ed Humpherson, Director General of the Office for Statistics Regulation. Discover hidden stories within Westminster Abbey while exploring what it means to have faith in democracy and discussing the past, present and future of democracy.
 
Westminster in conversation is a new podcast with Mark Easton, as he walks through the monumental surroundings of Westminster Abbey with those who serve at the heart of public life. This podcast is part of Westminster Abbey Institute's 2026 Autumn season - The Long Story of Democracy. As the UK’s democracy continues to evolve, Westminster Abbey Institute invites you to the place where it began with this programme of events: Public Programmes | Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey Institute aims to nurture and revitalise moral and spiritual values in public life and service. It seeks to replenish and sustain public servants of all faiths and none, and to celebrate and animate public service as a force for good. The Institute draws on Westminster Abbey’s resources of spirituality and theological learning, rooted in its daily worshipping life and broader Christian tradition, to convene discussion, nourish reflection and inspire regeneration: The Institute | Westminster Abbey

'Turn to the back of the book, read the last sentence too soon, and you spoil the story.  It is a mistake we can make at Easter. ‘The day of resurrection, earth tell it out abroad’.  That’s a marvellous beginning. Easter Day is a great proclamation, but then we’re tempted to rush headlong, up from earth into the sky. It’s Easter and we are all going to heaven. ‘from earth unto the sky, our Christ has brought us over’ we sing in that famous Easter hymn. We have turned to the last page. Our telling of the story ends too soon.'

Listen to a reflection for Easter Sunday by the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster. 

After spending Lent exploring the life and work of Jesus through the 'I Am' statements in John's gospel, we now move to the events of Holy Week. From Palm Sunday to Easter Day, our reflections now focus on the meaning behind each significant day of Holy Week. Thank you for joining us as we've followed the story of Jesus – from triumph to tragedy, from the cross to the empty tomb. We wish you a very Happy Easter.

'To talk of ‘descent’ is, of course, a metaphor – the closest we can get to understanding what is going on.  But Holy Saturday is when this metaphor must yield to another; of rising, of being raised.  The descent into the human condition; into suffering and death and into the furthest alienation from love and life, reaches its limit today.'

Listen to a reflection for Holy Saturday by the Reverend Mark Birch, Canon Rector at the Abbey. 

After spending Lent exploring the life and work of Jesus through the 'I Am' statements in John's gospel, we now move to the events of Holy Week. From Palm Sunday to Easter Day, our reflections now focus on the meaning behind each significant day of Holy Week. Join us as we follow the story of Jesus – from triumph to tragedy, from the cross to the empty tomb. 

'Throughout Lent we have considered Jesus through his own statements of who he is: the I Am statements that fill us with metaphor and meaning as we contemplate Christ. But here, on Good Friday, we seem to gaze upon a frightening emptiness made more excruciatingly obvious by Pilate’s perhaps-ironic inscription: the King of the Jews. There are no loaves nor fishes here, no vine nor sheep, just a broken body nailed to a cross.'

Listen to a reflection for Good Friday by the Reverend Helena Bickley-Percival, Sacrist at the Abbey. 

After spending Lent exploring the life and work of Jesus through the 'I Am' statements in John's gospel, we now move to the events of Holy Week. From Palm Sunday to Easter Day, our reflections now focus on the meaning behind each significant day of Holy Week. Join us as we follow the story of Jesus – from triumph to tragedy, from the cross to the empty tomb. 

'Jesus kneels in front of them. This is the posture of an incarnate God; Jesus does not seek to control or coerce, there is no manipulation here. Simply the demonstration of loving, tender service, and a command to do as he does. That is the heart of the new commandment – the mandatum from which we get our word Maundy – to love one another, as Christ has loved us.'

Listen to a reflection for Maundy Thursday by the Reverend Dr James Hawkey, Canon Theologian and Almoner at the Abbey. 

After spending Lent exploring the life and work of Jesus through the 'I Am' statements in John's gospel, we now move to the events of Holy Week. From Palm Sunday to Easter Day, our reflections now focus on the meaning behind each significant day of Holy Week. Join us as we follow the story of Jesus – from triumph to tragedy, from the cross to the empty tomb. 

'It is often said, but if we just skip from Palm Sunday to Easter Day, we will have missed all the important bits.  We might be more inclined to think that this is some magical happily-ever-after story, rather than the deep Divine engagement in rejection and suffering and death that we discover through Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.   These are the days that explore why the resurrection of Jesus might be good news for all of us, not just good news for him.'

Listen to a reflection for Palm Sunday by the Reverend Mark Birch, Canon Rector at the Abbey. 

After spending Lent exploring the life and work of Jesus through the 'I Am' statements in John's gospel, we now move to the events of Holy Week. From Palm Sunday to Easter Day, our reflections now focus on the meaning behind each significant day of Holy Week. Join us as we follow the story of Jesus – from triumph to tragedy, from the cross to the empty tomb. 

'The keeping of passiontide, which we begin today, is a kind of spiritual marathon. And as with any marathon, we need to hold the end in our mind’s eye. It is not just that we will remember the events of Jesus’s passion, death and resurrection, over these next weeks. It is also that we will be re-membered by them. Our fragile humanity has been put back together by the death and resurrection of Jesus, so that we need no longer fear death.'

Listen to a reflection for the Fifth Sunday of Lent by the Reverend Dr Jamie Hawkey, Canon Theologian and Almoner at the Abbey. 

Each week during Lent, the lectionary explores the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth from the perspective of the Gospel of John. One of the ways that John’s gospel identifies what Jesus is like is through his ‘I Am’ statements. From ‘I am the bread of life’ to ‘I am the Good Shepherd’, these seven statements help us learn who Jesus is, and what it means to follow Him as disciples. Our reflections will explore these statements throughout the forty days of this season.

'Jesus said: “I am the light of the world.” Sometimes, that light is pretty literal. At the Transfiguration, Jesus shone so brightly that the disciples had to look away. But Jesus is never just something to look at - to observe. Jesus is also the light by which we see. The light that shines in the darkness, so that we might see all that he has made. And that light is not always as flattering as we might want it to be...'

Listen to a reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Lent by the Reverend Helena Bickley-Percival, Sacrist at the Abbey. 

Each week during Lent, the lectionary explores the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth from the perspective of the Gospel of John. One of the ways that John’s gospel identifies what Jesus is like is through his ‘I Am’ statements. From ‘I am the bread of life’ to ‘I am the Good Shepherd’, these seven statements help us learn who Jesus is, and what it means to follow Him as disciples. Our reflections will explore these statements throughout the forty days of this season.

'Of course, ‘body ‘and ‘vine’ are both metaphors, used to help us imagine a truth, the depth of dependency on each other in Christ, that we would otherwise find impossible to grasp.  Precisely how we are one body, branches of the one true vine, is deeply mysterious to us, but it is like this; like a body, like a vine.  Baptism and Holy Communion enact this spiritual truth, not just as an idea, but as something practical, physical; to do with bodies and not just our minds.'

Listen to a reflection for the Third Sunday of Lent by the Reverend Mark Birch, Canon Rector at the Abbey. 

Each week during Lent, the lectionary explores the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth from the perspective of the Gospel of John. One of the ways that John’s gospel identifies what Jesus is like is through his ‘I Am’ statements. From ‘I am the bread of life’ to ‘I am the Good Shepherd’, these seven statements help us learn who Jesus is, and what it means to follow Him as disciples. Our reflections will explore these statements throughout the forty days of this season.