In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the recent release of Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Study. Last conducted in 2014, the 2023-24 study surveyed more than 35,000 Americans concerning their religious affiliations, their beliefs, and their practices. It is simply the largest and most significant study of its kind in terms of getting a snapshot of where our country is on all things spirituality and religion, and the current health of the American Church. The findings go far beyond what some of the headlines from this study would suggest.

Dr. White released a recent blog on this topic titled “The Stall of the Nones” - the “nones” being the group who identifies as having no religious affiliation. Their numbers have been rising for decades, yet seem to have reached a leveling-off point. (We'd encourage you to check out his book on this subject that was discussed in today's episode titled The Rise of the Nones.) Dr. White mentioned a recent New York Times article titled “Christianity's Decline in U.S. Appears to Have Halted, Major Study Shows” which latches onto that finding from the study. The more notable takeaway from the study that seems to have been overlooked is the fact that the number of people who would identify as Christian continues to decline - from 78% in 2007 to 62% in 2024. That decline is stunning.

As Dr. White noted from the Christianity Today article titled “Pew: America Is Spiritual but Not Religious,” six people have left Christianity for every one who has joined. That is certainly not sustainable. Dr. White stressed the importance of reaching the younger generations for Jesus, and the fact that a solid children's ministry is a vitally important component. He wrote a blog on this topic titled “The Most Important Sub-Ministry In Your Church” that would be worth reading if you missed it.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a recent TikTok trend that involves the promotion of intergenerational estrangement. The buzz language tied to this trend is “going no contact” - when young adult children (specifically Millennials and Gen Z) attempt to solve family issues by essentially ending the relationship and cutting ties with their parents. What many don't think about is how this is in direct violation of one of God's Ten Commandments.

Dr. White is in the midst of a series on the Ten Commandments at Mecklenburg Community Church (Meck) called “Ten,” and the installment on the fifth commandment is particularly relevant to today's conversation - the command to honor your parents. There are sadly so many who struggle following through with this commandment, feeling that their parents are deserving of anything but honor. But so often it's because people misunderstand the deeper significance of what it means to follow through with this command. You can find all the installments of this series at Church & Culture HERE.

There are two other series that Dr. White delivered at Meck that are also very helpful if this is something that you are struggling with. The first is called “Father Figure” and explores the importance of fathers in our lives and in our world, how to fill father-shaped holes in your life, how to find healing from a dysfunctional father, and the real nature and dynamic of God as Father. The second is called “The Sins of the Fathers: Breaking Generational Patterns of Dysfunction,” with installments designed to help you process this pivotal dynamic that is so decisive to a healthy, whole life.

What sparked this episode is an article written by Theara Coleman in The Week titled “'No contact': Family estrangement is on the rise for young people choosing peace.” She writes how people who would advocate for family estrangement are attempting to normalize this behavior in today's culture, hoping that "eliminating the stigma would allow ‘more people to get out of unhealthy family relationships without shame.'" In reality, this is merely an excuse to avoid the hard work of fighting to protect familial bonds. Clinical psychologist Joshua Coleman conducted a study on this in his book Rules of Estrangement: Why Adult Children Cut Ties and How to Heal the Conflict. He believes that a lot of the issues stem from changed notions about what constitutes traumatic experiences. And David Brooks wrote an article in The New York Times titled “What's Ripping American Families Apart?” that is worth the time to read. His research shows how this trend of estrangement is much more pervasive in the United States than other countries around the world.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the human desire to live forever. Earlier this year, Netflix released a documentary called “Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever” about a 47-year-old man named Bryan Johnson, who is on a mission to extend his life beyond all known limits in order to have more time with his son. He is so passionate about this, he invests more than $2 million annually to continue to drop his biological age. He's not alone in this endeavor.

As Dr. White mentioned, for people who have a naturalistic worldview, this life is everything. It's the only life. For the Christian, we know that there is so much more to this life. Kara Bettis Carvalho wrote an article in Christianity Today titled “Bryan Johnson Is Going to Die,” which prompted today's conversation. You can read her article HERE. While focusing on health and wellness is important, people often take it to extremes like Johnson. What's most important is that we treat our body well as it was entrusted to us by God. Therefore, we must not fall into the traps of fixating on our bodies nor desecrating them; rather, we are called to consecrate them.

Christianity is more than a worldview or a philosophy. It promises an actual relationship with the living God, allowing the power and presence of God to course through our veins - bringing us back from the living dead. The truth is that the same power that raised Jesus can raise us now. This is something that Dr. White explored in a series given at Mecklenburg Community Church called “The Waking Dead.” You can find that at Church & Culture HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.