Ryan Burge: What it's like to close a Church

Homebrewed Christianity

Dr. Tripp Fuller | Theologian, Philosopher, Minister

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.6 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 6 August 2024

⏱️ 111 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dr. Ryan Burge is back to unpack closing the church he pastors and put it in the changing context of institutional religion in America. This is a candid discussion on the personal and societal impacts of church closures in America, illustrated by Ryan's own experience of closing his long-term church. The conversation explores theological diversity, the digital evolution of faith awareness, and the shifting landscape of religiosity in America. With anecdotes about conference speaking, humorous takes on 90s Christian rock, and reflections on pop culture influences like South Park, this episode is both thought-provoking and entertaining. Perfect for anyone grappling with similar challenges or curious about the state of American Christianity. WATCH the conversation on YouTube Ryan P. Burge is an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. Author of numerous journal articles, he is the co-founder of and a frequent contributor to Religion in Public, a forum for scholars of religion and politics to make their work accessible to a general audience. Burge is a pastor in the American Baptist Church. Previous Visits from Ryan Burge The Future of Christian Education & Ministry in Charts The Sky is Falling & the Charts are Popping! Graphs about Religion & Politics w/ Spicy Banter a Year in Religion (in Graphs) Evangelical Jews, Educated Church-Goers, & other bits of dizzying data 5 Religion Graphs w/ a side of Hot Takes Myths about Religion & Politics Join my Substack - Process This! Join our upcoming class - THE GOD OF THE BIBLE: An Absolutely Clear and Final Guide to Ultimate Mystery ;) Come to THEOLOGY BEER CAMP. Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What is up theology nerds?
0:05.5	This is Tripp.
0:06.9	And you're listening to Homebrewed Christianity and today on the podcast.
0:12.5	Returned guests.
0:13.4	The man who grafts about religion.
0:16.0	Political scientist, Ryan Burge.
0:18.8	And this episode is a little different than our normal jaunt through charts about and graphs,
0:26.5	about religion and politics in the public square.
0:29.7	It's a personal one.
0:31.0	He recently closed the church he's been a minister at for quite a while.
0:36.6	And the story went viral all online, all sorts of
0:40.3	places. And so we were texting about it. And I said, hey, let's spend some time and let you tell
0:48.0	your story. What did you learn? What was the experience like? And so we do. He shares a story.
0:53.8	And then at the end, we get out the graphs about
0:55.9	religion and talk about how this experience of his is not a fluke it's not too unique and it's
1:03.8	going to be a part of the ongoing future of the church in the united states it I hope you enjoy it. It was quite honor personally
1:14.3	to have a friend like Ryan decide to share not just his graphs, but his own experience,
1:20.9	closing a congregation that he served for quite a while. Now, before we jump in, I want to let you all
1:26.6	know this October 17th and 19th,
1:30.2	it's Theology Beer Camp. You can come on out. It's going to be in Denver, Colorado, TheologyBeer.
1:34.6	Camp. It's quite exciting. Over 30 scholars. Over 30 God pods. And we got live music and lots of craft
1:43.8	beverages. Tons of enjoyment and fun.
	...

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