The Orchard Podcast

Be Transformed 01: The Battle for Your Mind | Amy Hughes You’re not enough. You’re too much. Nothing is ever going to change. What if the thoughts you can’t shake aren’t telling you the truth at all? Amy Hughes starts with the Trojan horse and asks a confronting question: how often do we let the enemy in without realising it? She unpacks how fear and isolation take hold, and why Jesus sends us out not as warriors but as lambs, completely dependent on the Shepherd. If you’ve ever felt stuck in your own head, worn down by the same thoughts, or quietly believing things about yourself that God never said, this one is for you. And listen to the end for what Amy told her daughter at bedtime: “Your job is to receive perfect love.” Before you press play, watch the five-minute short film that opened the day, set to Sound Mind: https://youtu.be/aUVvkJwYl-8 Recorded live in London at The Orchard Conference 2026, Be Transformed, built around Romans 12:2. The first of several sessions we’ll be sharing. Find out more at theorchardwomen.com. Sound Mind written by Bryan Torwalt, Katie Torwalt, Jonathan David Helser and Melissa Helser. Stay Connected Conference Tickets: theorchardwomen.com Give to the Orchard: theorchardwomen.com/give Instagram: @theorchardwomen Website: theorchardwomen.com

A live recording from The Orchard gathering at Focus, with guest host Sarah Wynter. "Did you ask it to go, or did you tell it to go?" That was the question an older woman put to Emily after she'd spent months praying for breakthrough in her church. Most of us read Acts 3, where Peter tells a man to get up and walk, and can't quite relate it to our own lives. Emily Lazell, senior pastor at City Rise St Mark's in Battersea, and Chloe Swart, who heads up the Alpha UK team, are honest about that gap. Why authority is a position rather than a feeling, and why it rarely sounds like the loudest voice in the room. Plus what happened when Chloe, who was genuinely afraid of dogs, met her future in-laws' German Shepherd. Honest, warm and rooted in scripture. Stay Connected Conference Tickets: theorchardwomen.com Give to the Orchard: theorchardwomen.com/give Instagram: @theorchardwomen Website: theorchardwomen.com

Tim Mackie unpacks Exodus 1 and 2 in this special episode of The Orchard Podcast, recorded live at the Leadership Conference. The BibleProject co-founder asks what a few overlooked women can teach us about leadership. Pharaoh has all the power, but when he sees God's people flourishing, he feels threatened. The midwives and Pharaoh's daughter have no power at all, yet they fear God, see a crying baby rather than a threat, and take huge risks to protect life. It's a conversation full of fresh ways of seeing a familiar story, and it leaves you with a question to carry into your week: when something good happens that you didn't plan for, what's your first reaction? Honest, warm and rooted in scripture. Stay Connected Conference Tickets: theorchardwomen.com Give to the Orchard: theorchardwomen.com/give Instagram: @theorchardwomen Website: theorchardwomen.com

When the pain got too bad to think, let alone pray, Renee Bridger found another way. She picked up a set of prayer beads and said, "Let my pain be my intercession." In this episode, Rachel is joined by Bishop Esther Prior, to talk about her hero, Reverend Renee Bridger. Renee and her husband Francis adopted three Black children in the 1970s, long before that was common. She was in the first group of women ordained in the Church of England in 1994. And for years, in chronic pain, she prayed nine to five, Monday to Friday, as her life's work. Bishop Esther shares what it meant to be mentored by a woman who was steeped in scripture, open to the Holy Spirit, and shaped by the church mothers and fathers, and how Renee's understanding of suffering as a gift transformed the way she thinks about pain, purpose and intercession. Honest, warm and rooted in scripture. Conference Tickets — theorchardwomen.com Give to the Orchard — theorchardwomen.com/give Instagram — /theorchardwomen Website — theorchardwomen.com

They called her the Mother of the Salvation Army. She also wrote its theology and drew crowds that lined up around the block just to hear her preach. In this brand-new episode of The Orchard Podcast, Rachel is joined by Danielle Strickland to explore the life of Catherine Booth, co-founder of The Salvation Army, for Heroes of the Faith. Danielle shares stories that reveal a woman who was deeply loved by her nine children, who refused to marry William until he agreed to treat her as an equal, and who was never afraid to challenge the Church or disrupt the status quo. From the moment she stood up during William's preaching because she felt the Holy Spirit saying, "Tell them now," to the time she threw herself in front of a man beating a horse, her courage and conviction are hard to forget. Why does this hero still matter so much to Danielle, and what might she have to say to the Church today? Honest, warm and rooted in scripture. Follow The Orchard Podcast for more conversations like this one.

From the Archive: Fruit of the Spirit Equipping and encouraging you this summer Rach and Amy wrap up our Fruits of the Spirit series with a raw, inspiring conversation on SELF-CONTROL! How can we cultivate inner strength? What gets in the way? Join in on the final conversation of this series! Honest, warm and rooted in scripture. Sign up for our free summer journalling prompts - https://wispy-band-10288.myflodesk.com/fruit Conference Tickets — theorchardwomen.com Give to the Orchard — theorchardwomen.com/give Instagram — /theorchardwomen Website — theorchardwomen.com

From the Archive: Fruit of the Spirit Equipping and encouraging you this summer What does it look like to cultivate LOVE in our everyday lives? What's the Jesus way? What gets in the way? What's the way forward? Join the conversation as Amy & Rach unpack this Fruit of the Spirit together. Honest, warm and rooted in scripture. Sign up for our free summer journalling prompts - https://wispy-band-10288.myflodesk.com/fruit Conference Tickets — theorchardwomen.com Give to the Orchard — theorchardwomen.com/give Instagram — /theorchardwomen Website — theorchardwomen.com

From the Archive: Fruit of the Spirit Equipping and encouraging you this summer How can we cultivate KINDNESS in our everyday lives? Why is being kind so powerful? Join in on the discussion as Rach & Amy unpack the fifth Fruit of the Spirit! Honest, warm and rooted in scripture. Sign up for our free summer journalling prompts - https://wispy-band-10288.myflodesk.com/fruit Conference Tickets — theorchardwomen.com Give to the Orchard — theorchardwomen.com/give Instagram — /theorchardwomen Website — theorchardwomen.com

From the Archive: Fruit of the Spirit Equipping and encouraging you this summer How do we cultivate patience in a culture than trains us in impatience? How can we be quick to listen and slow to anger? Join in as Rach and Amy have an honest discussion on all things PATIENCE! Honest, warm and rooted in scripture. Sign up for our free summer journalling prompts - https://wispy-band-10288.myflodesk.com/fruit Conference Tickets — theorchardwomen.com Give to the Orchard — theorchardwomen.com/give Instagram — /theorchardwomen Website — theorchardwomen.com

From the Archive: Fruit of the Spirit Equipping and encouraging you this summer Join us for a dive back into our first series of the podcast from 2021. Rach and Amy discuss all things JOY! What challenges our capacity to choose joy? Is there a link between joy and gratitude? Join in on the conversation now! Honest, warm and rooted in scripture. Sign up for our free summer journalling prompts - https://wispy-band-10288.myflodesk.com/fruit Conference Tickets — theorchardwomen.com Give to the Orchard — theorchardwomen.com/give Instagram — /theorchardwomen Website — theorchardwomen.com

Warm, honest, rooted in scripture, new episodes every Thursday.

From the Archive: Fruit of the Spirit Equipping and encouraging you this summer Join us for a dive back into our first series of the podcast from 2021. In this episode Rach and Amy ask what does cultivating peace look like? How can we live free of anxiety, comparison and unforgiveness? Honest, warm and rooted in scripture. Sign up for our free summer journalling prompts - https://wispy-band-10288.myflodesk.com/fruit Conference Tickets — theorchardwomen.com Give to the Orchard — theorchardwomen.com/give Instagram — /theorchardwomen Website — theorchardwomen.com

Praying in the Spirit: What It Is, How to Start and Why It Matters | Ephesians 6:18 What does it actually mean to pray in the Spirit? In the final episode of their Ephesians series, Rachel and Amy land on Ephesians 6:18 and ask the question most of us have wondered: how do you know you're praying in the Spirit and not just saying stuff? They talk honestly and practically about the gift of tongues. What it feels like. How you start. Why it can seem strange at first and why that shouldn't put you off. Rachel shares what happened when her son was born and the room suddenly went from serene to panic, and Amy describes reaching for tongues like a machine gun every time fear comes knocking. They also explore what it looks like to shift from praying your will to praying God's will, and why letting go of your own agenda in prayer is more powerful than you'd think. Honest, warm and rooted in scripture. → Stay Connected Conference Tickets — theorchardwomen.com Give to the Orchard — theorchardwomen.com/give Instagram — /theorchardwomen Website — theorchardwomen.com

We're in the final section of Ephesians. Sit, walk, stand. This is the stand. In part 21 of their Ephesians series, Rachel and Amy work through the armour of God in Ephesians 6:10-17, asking what it actually means to put it on. Not as a metaphor to admire, but as a daily reality to live in. They talk about why the battle is never with flesh and blood, what it looks like to recognise spiritual attack in ordinary life, and why every single piece of armour points back to the same thing: not try harder, but surrender. Dependence. Letting God be God. Honest, warm and rooted in scripture. → Stay Connected Conference Tickets — theorchardwomen.com Give to the Orchard — theorchardwomen.com/give Instagram — /theorchardwomen Website — theorchardwomen.com

Episode 20

What does it actually mean to walk as children of light? Rachel and Amy unpack what it means to imitate God, not as a rulebook, but as a family resemblance. They talk honestly about goodness, righteousness, and truth: what each one looks like lived out, why goodness can feel like an offence to people stuck in darkness, and why letting God's light expose what's hidden is harder than it sounds. Rachel shares a personal moment of bringing an unfinished struggle into the light rather than pretending she'd arrived. It's a vulnerable, grounded conversation about what it costs, and what it gives back, to actually live like you belong to the light. New episodes every week. Follow so you never miss one. → Stay Connected Conference Tickets – theorchardwomen.com Give to the Orchard - https://theorchardwomen.com/give Instagram – / theorchardwomen Website – https://theorchardwomen.com/ #women #conference #church

Heroes of the Faith - Corrie Ten Boom with Rachael Wooldridge In this episode Amy is joined by Rachael Wooldridge, the associate pastor or St Pauls’ Hammersmith. Together they explore the driving faith of Corrie Ten-Boom and consider what made her so faithful in such challenging circumstances. Rachael helps us think about the impact Corrie’s faith can have on our own and leaves us with the question ‘am I living in a way that only makes sense because of the power of the spirit at work in me"?’ ———— Orchard Conference Tickets - available at www.theorchardwomen.com Instagram – @theorchardwomen Give to the work of the Orchard - www.theorchardwomen.com/give #women #conference #church

In this episode Rachel and Amy sit with two questions from Ephesians 4:25–32: how do we stop giving the enemy a foothold, and what does it mean to grieve the Holy Spirit? They start with anger. Why does Paul go there first? What is a foothold, and why does anger open the door more than most emotions? They explore the deeper needs that anger can mask and what it looks like to process it honestly rather than shove it down. They also touch on taking responsibility, guarding your words, and getting rid of bitterness and malice. And they close with the question people are often afraid to ask: can you grieve the Holy Spirit, and what does that actually look like? → Stay Connected Conference Tickets – [theorchardwomen.com](http://theorchardwomen.com/) Give to the Orchard - https://theorchardwomen.com/give Instagram – / theorchardwomen Website – https://theorchardwomen.com/ #women #conference #church

What does it actually mean to put off the old self and put on the new? In Ephesians 4:17–24, Paul makes it clear the change starts in the mind, not just behaviour. Rachel and Amy unpack why the mind is the major battlefield of the Christian walk, how deep-seated narratives get reinforced by culture and exploited by the enemy, and what it looks like in practice to take thoughts captive and replace them with what God says. They also get into guarding the heart, why "the heart wants what it wants" isn't a biblical argument, and close with an illustration about telling the old landlord to take his demands elsewhere. Practical, honest, and rooted in Scripture. → Stay Connected Conference Tickets – [theorchardwomen.com](http://theorchardwomen.com/) Give to the Orchard - https://theorchardwomen.com/give Instagram – / theorchardwomen Website – https://theorchardwomen.com/

What does it actually mean to grow up in faith? Not the theory. The real question of whether your roots go deep enough to hold when the waves come. Rachel and Amy sit with Ephesians 4:14–16 and explore three things Paul says mark a mature disciple: resilience under pressure, discernment against teaching that looks Christian but isn't, and speaking the truth in love in a way that actually lands. They also name something that feels urgent right now. Ideology masquerading as theology around the role of women, and why it needs calling out. And they get personal. Amy on the moment a pastor called her out across a kitchen. Rachel on dating a non-Christian and being chronically late to leadership meetings. Honest, warm, and rooted in Scripture. → Stay Connected Conference Tickets – [theorchardwomen.com](http://theorchardwomen.com/) Give to the Orchard - https://theorchardwomen.com/give Instagram – / theorchardwomen Website – https://theorchardwomen.com/ #women #conference #church