By Andy Hale
This week on the CBF Podcast Conversation, we welcome Dr. Robert P. Jones, founder and president of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and author of The End of White Christian America and White Too Long. In this timely and sobering conversation, Robert helps us navigate the rapidly shifting religious landscape in the United States—from the continued decline of white Christian affiliation to the rise of the religiously unaffiliated—and what those changes mean for the church’s public witness.
Together, we explore hard but necessary questions about history, theology and power. Robert speaks candidly about Christian nationalism, the spiritual cost of merging faith with political identity and how churches can distinguish faithful civic engagement from idolatry of the nation. At the same time, this episode is not a lament—it’s an invitation. Robert offers concrete hope, naming the practices of empathy, solidarity and truth-telling as pathways toward a healthier democracy and a more faithful church.
If you care about the future of the American church, the integrity of public faith and the work of repair in divided times, this conversation will challenge and encourage you. Listen now and consider what bold step your congregation might take toward justice, humility and hope.
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Sponsorship
This podcast is presented by:
- Baylor’s Garland School of Social Work: Social workers can be found addressing the full scope of the human experience in churches, schools, prisons, government agencies, senior living centers, nonprofits, and Fortune 500 companies.
- Baptist Seminary of Kentucky: BSK equips leaders through their Homegrown Initiative, offering ministry leaders training and growth that fits into their busy schedules.
- The Gardner-Webb School of Divinity: The Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity aims to equip, nurture, encourage, and support men and women for their very best service in the Kingdom of God.
- The Center for Congregational Health: Strengthening congregations through consulting, leadership coaching, and intentional ministry.
- The Baptist House of Studies at Union Presbyterian Seminary: Exists by God’s grace to educate, inspire, and support generations of bold, faithful servant leaders as they seek actively to participate in God’s mission in the world.
- Community Transformation Center: Through educational opportunities, community conversations, and research initiatives in collaboration with universities and local leaders, PBACTC is at the forefront of integrating spiritual care into holistic community development.
- Creation Justice Ministries: Creation Justice Ministries equips churches to turn conviction into faithful action with Scripture-based resources, worship guides, and community support to pursue environmental justice and care for God’s creation.
- Dawnings: Through prayerful discernment, storytelling, and collaborative visioning, Dawnings helps churches rediscover their calling and imagine their next chapter—guided by trained facilitators and grounded in God’s ongoing story.
- Congregational Ministries Team of CBF Global: Through coaching, resources, and collaborative support, CBF’s Congregational Ministries Team helps churches and ministers cultivate the five traits of thriving—Rooted Relationships, Compelling Clarity, Holy Tenacity, Strategic Agility, and Dynamic Collaboration—for faithful and flourishing ministry.
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Andy Hale is the creator and host of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Podcast. Hale is the Associate Executive Coordinator of CBF North Carolina. He’s also served as CBF’s Church Start Specialist, the founding pastor of Mosaic Church of Clayton, and the senior pastor of University Baptist Church of Baton Rouge. Follow on Twitter @haleandy.