The Decline in Church Attendance and the Need for Renewal

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, Dr. White gives an overview of what will likely dominate life and culture in 2024. The headline? Christians are needed more than ever to be salt and light to cut through the turmoil and chaos.

Episode Links

First up in the conversation were politics and the political turmoil that seems to be dominating the headlines as we have entered into an election year. It's important to know how, as Christians, we are called to engage the world of government and politics. Want to know how best to do that? Check out these two C&C Podcast episodes in case you missed them or want to go back and listen to them again: CCP82: On Christians and Politics and CCP83: On Christians and Government.

They also discussed a recent article by David Brooks in The Atlantic titled “How America Got Mean.” The division in our country, much of which is sparked by fear, is leading to a mean-spirited culture. We've touched on this topic a couple of times on the podcast, so if you missed those episodes be sure to check out CCP63: On Why Christians Are So Mean and CCP6: On Anger.

There has been a shift in our culture that will intensify in the coming year - a rejection of morality and transcendent truth. We allow ourselves to serve as our own moral compass, telling us what is right and wrong. This plays out in both the impact of social media and what it's doing to our mental health (see CCP70: On Social Media and Mental Health) as well as the way we've allowed psychology to drive how we're parenting the next generation (see CCP60: On Gentle Parenting).

The conversation turned toward the state of the Church for 2024. A recent article from Christianity Today titled “United Methodists Down 7,659 Churches As Exit Window Ends” focused on the largest denominational schism in the U.S. since the civil war. Dr. White and Alexis discussed this problem plaguing several U.S. denominations in CCP15: On Denominational Decline. When you couple denominational decline with the continued rise of the “nones” (see The Rise of the Nones written by Dr. White), you find the church in a state of crisis and needing to make a significant change. Dr. White would argue that the solution is to go “hybrid.” You can read more about this topic in his book Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age, which you can find on Amazon HERE.

Finally, the conversation turned to the future of A.I. and all of the implications this will have on our society. Be sure to check out a past podcast on this topic: CCP44: On Artificial Intelligence. The prevalence of A.I. is fueling the crisis of truth that we face in our culture. Check out a recent article in the New York Times titled “The Problem of Misinformation in an Era Without Trust.”

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