Baroness Stroud - speaking up for others

Baroness Philippa Stroud, conservative peer, church leader, founder of the Centre for Social Justice and currently the chief executive of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) spoke with Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron, for the ‘A Mucky Business’ podcast

Tim Farron (TF): Tell us how you came to call yourself a Christian? 

Philippa Stroud (PS): When I look back at my life and my faith journey, I think it’s true to say I always knew that there was a God, but I wasn’t in a family that went to church. That always puzzled me; I couldn’t quite understand why some people did, and some people didn’t. But I was fortunate enough to be at a school where my closest friend was a Christian. All the way through my teens, I watched how she lived. I couldn’t understand why she had this remarkable sense of peace. I would go off and have these wonderful summer holidays, but I would get back in September and look at her and she was just so peaceful, while I wasn’t. It really catalysed a genuine search for truth and faith, which led me to becoming a Christian when I was 17.