The Christian Chronicle Podcast explores the news and stories shaping Church of Christ congregations and members around the world.
This Christmas special features a message of "good news of great joy for all the people" (Luke 2:10) by Lads to Leaders luminary Benjamin Adams ( College Avenue Church of Christ, DeFuniak Springs, Florida ) and vocal arrangments from Praise & Harmony .
In Episode 104 (Part One of this double feature), Jerri Anne Blankenship and Mindy Lancaster ( Whites Ferry Road Church of Christ , West Monroe, Louisiana ) tell the story of how God rescued them from darkness and the downward spiral that happened after their father went to prison for the murder of their mother. In this episode, Jerri Anne and Mindy describe how they accepted an invitation to tell their story to the women on the inside at a Louisiana state prison. Unsure at first, they found the...
When Jerri Anne Blankenship and Mindy Lancaster ( Whites Ferry Road Church of Christ , West Monroe, Louisiana ) were young teenagers, their father received a life sentence in prison for murdering their mother. The trauma of this event sentenced Jerri Anne and Mindy to their own kind of prison, as they struggled for years in bitterness, confusion, darkness and oppression. But in a turn of events that could only come from the eternal faith, hope, and love of God, they are their father were born ag...
Catechism is a word that Church of Christ folks may often associate with Catholicism, but its practice - which comes from the Greek catechesis (Greek for "instruction") - is happening all the time in Church of Christ congregations. Author Dr. Brad East (associate professor of theology at Abilene Christian University ) not only makes a case that catechism is part of every congregation's life, but that Church of Christ congregations and members might benefit from a fresh exploration and understand...
This is a long one, but the stories (and the voices who tell them) are important. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 and the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, The Christian Chronicle has been especially active reporting how Church of Christ congregations started and grew in Ukraine. Over the last 30 years, many friendships formed and many stories (both good news and hard news) have come to The Christian Chronicle audience through Ukraine. Beginning with Russia's invasion and annexatio...
John Dobbs ( Forsythe Church of Christ , Monroe, Louisiana) suffered the sudden and tragic loss of his 18-year old son, John Robert, in 2008. After that terrible event, John had to learn to live with his grief--and go on being a follower of Jesus Christ and a minister to his church. From his experience of living with grief, John wrote two books to help fellow Christians who are also suffering through the loss of people they love. In this episode, John talks about the extraordinary difficulty of ...
It's our 100th episode! To help us celebrate (and get in the mood for a holiday season worthy of its name), Keith Lancaster and Anthony Lancaster of Acappella Ministries are here to talk about the state of a cappella worship among Church of Christ congregations and what they are doing to restore and revive "the best part of our heritage." That includes traveling the world to teach Christians and congregations how to sing together in harmony. They also announce two opportunities for Christians to...
Most Christians in the United States know the saying that Sunday morning is the most segregated time in the country on any given week. Though they often think of segregation as segregation by culture, language, skin color or tax bracket, perhaps the most accepted , encouraged and practiced form of segregation is segregation by age . During the 20th century, changes in developmental theory led congregations to sort themselves by age group or "life stage" (children, youth, college, young adult, yo...
Former Christian Chronicle intern (2021) Makyra Williamson (Tigard, Oregon) is a twentysomething-year old Christian professional who is open to marriage someday. In this episode, she talks about being single in the church in the U.S. in the 21st century. She also talks about dating, how to set her up on a date and how not to set her up on a date. And she reflects on how to be complete and full as a single person in a church culture that often presumes that marriage and parenthood are the fullest...
Coach Garth Pleasant ( Horton Road Church of Christ, Jackson, Michigan ) is one of the winningest college basketball coaches of all time (720 wins, 19 national tournament appearances and four national championships at Rochester Christian University, Rochester Hills, Michigan , over 38 years). In all that time, Coach Pleasant and his teams never played a single home game ... because they didn't have a home court. In this episode, Coach Pleasant, who is also a veteran Church of Christ preacher for...
Note: We had some issues with the audio and recording on this one. We apologize for the "glitches." Recorded immediately before the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Christian Chronicle editorial board member Trindi Mitchell opens up about what Kamala Harris' run for president means to her (and many others). Mitchell expands on the theme on why representation matters, not only in national politics, but in the church. Link to Trindi Mitchell's Christian Chronicle guest op-ed on why representation ...
In this episode recorded before a live audience at the Church of Christ in Falls Church , Virginia , The Christian Chronicle's Erik Tryggestad interviews C.W. Goodyear , author of President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier (Simon & Schuster). Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, served in office for only 200 days before he died from an assassin's bullet (he was only the second U.S. president to be a victim of assassination). Before becoming president, Garfield gained notoriety...
From the Norton Colloquium at the 101st Harding University Lectureship , The Christian Chronicle's editor-in-chief Bobby Ross Jr. leads a panel of preachers as they discuss how (and whether) to talk about politics in the local church. Dr. Jeremie Beller is The Christian Chronicle's opinions editor. He serves as dean of the College of Bible at Oklahoma Christian University and minister with the Wilshire Church of Christ in in Oklahoma City. Dr. Nathan Guy is associate professor of philosophy, the...
Liza Corso is a two-time Team U.S.A. Paralympic medalist in the women's 1500m (Silver, Tokyo, 2020 and Bronze, Paris, 2024). She is also a senior psychology and nutrition major at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. In this episode, Liza talks about what it is like run at a world-class level while seeing through her vision impairment. She also talks about how her faith and her running developed and formed together. Link to The Christian Chronicle's report on Liza Corso's Bronze Medal ra...
From the Norton Colloquium at Harding University's 101st lectureship , members of The Christian Chronicle news team bring stories of what God is doing around, and through, God's people...in some of the hardest and scariest circumstances. Audrey Jackson , Bobby Ross Jr. , Sawmi Sektak and Erik Tryggestad give eyewitness reports of what they've seen as they cover the news among Christians and congregations in every part of the world. Links to the stories from this panel discussion: War in Ukraine:...
From the Norton Colloquium at Harding University's 101st Lectureship , Heritage 21 Foundation 's Stan Granberg , 21st Century Christian 's Carl Royster and The Christian Chronicle 's Erik Tryggestad discuss what current trends portend for the future of Churches of Christ. They also reveal plans for the Church Research Council , a new joint venture of The Christian Chronicle , Heritage 21 Foundation , Siburt Institute and 21st Century Christian . Link to The Christian Chronicle's report on the fo...
Almost half of the world's migrants claim Christianity according to new research from Pew Research Center . In this episode, we hear from two Christian immigrants, Eduardo and Odalis Vasquez , Church of Christ members who are part of the 7.7 million people who fled Venezuela over the last few years. The Vasquezes talk about why and how they left their home behind and what it is like to try to make their new home in Montevideo, Uruguay . They also share the story of how immigrants (from Cuba, the...
According to Pew Research Center , immigration is the second-most important issue to White evangelical Protestants who plan to vote in the November 2024 U.S. presidential election. Note: Pew places White Church of Christ members (7 out of 10 Church of Christ members nationwide) in the "White evangelical Protestant" research cohort. So, then, immigration may be one of the top issues for Church of Christ members in the United States today. In this episode, Dr. Stephanie Kramer (Pew Research Center...
The recent emergence of in vitro fertilization (IVF) as a legal and political issue is raising new ethical and moral questions among Christians. If life begins at conception, when is conception? What is a soul and when does a human being have one? Advances in science and technology mean that Christians know more about the human body than ever before, but those same advances sometimes lead to questions for which the Bible may seem to have no clear, definitive answers. So what are Christians to do...
LIVE from the campus of Great Lakes Christian College in Lansing, Michigan , we bring you Dr. John Nugent , author of Priestly Presence: A Church for the World's Sake (Fortress Press) . Nugent draws from the levitical priesthood as a pattern for what God calls the church to be and do in the world, most of all during a time when the struggle for power in the world is growing acute. Link to Priestly Presence: A Church for the World's Sake Link to Dr. John Nugent's other titles Link to 'The After C...
Almost one year before he recorded this episode, Rubel Shelly appeared on Episode 39 of The Christian Chronicle Podcast to talk about his book, Male and Female God Created Them: A Biblical Review of LGBTQ+ Claims . That remains the most popular episode of this show. Shelly returns to talk about his follow-up work, The Ink is Dry: God's Distinctive Word on Marriage, Family and Sexual Responsibility . Framing human relationships and sexuality as aspects of Christian discipleship, Shelly explains h...
Church of Christ kid and small-town high school athlete Colt McCoy grew up to be one of the greatest college football players of all time before going on to play 13 seasons in the National Football League . Just a few weeks before recording this conversation with The Christian Chronicle , McCoy announced his retirement from playing the sport that made him famous. In this episode, he opens up about what it is like to do something at such a high level for so long, only to wake up one day and recog...
Darcy Todd ( Woodland West Church of Christ , Arlington, Texas ) is the 2024 Starbucks North America Barista Champion . She recently beat out 17,000 Starbucks baristas for the title. In this episode, she'll not only tell the story of how she did it, she'll explain how working in a Starbucks is not so different from working in a church (one with exceptional coffee!). She'll even throw in a few suggestions for special (non-menu) drinks you should try next time you're at Starbucks. Link to The Chri...
In 2010, Ose Ehimare and her four(!) unborn children faced poor chances of survival unless they could get special medical care not available where they lived in Abuja, Nigeria . God made a way for Ose to come to the U.S. to get the care she needed for herself and her children at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta . But she was 6,000 miles from home and all alone in a strange land. That's when the Northlake Church of Christ in nearby Tucker, Ga. , gave her and her children a home and surrounded...
How much should you trust the people in your own congregation to not steal money? This may seem like an almost offensive question, but in this episode we explore the astonishing increase in embezzlement in congregations and ministries around the world. According to data from our guest, 1 in 3 churches will become victims of embezzlement at some point and 6 percent of all Christian giving worldwide is lost to internal theft. Churches of Christ are not immune. In the last few years, several truste...
S.J. Dahlstrom is one of the most award-winning and critically-acclaimed authors of youth fiction. He is the creator of the " Wilder Good " series of nine books that follow the adventures of a 12-year old boy growing up in the American West. Dahlstrom is a four-time winner of the Wrangler Western Heritage Award , five-time winner of the Will Rogers Medallion , four-time finalist for the Lamplighter Award, and two-time finalist and one-time winner of the Spur Award from the Western Writers of Ame...
Rochester Christian University , founded in 1959 as North Central Christian Junior College, has deep roots and strong ties to Churches of Christ. Like other colleges and universities in this tradition, Rochester Christian built itself around its school of ministry and theology so that its graduates would become leaders and ministers in churches around the world. In June 2024, Rochester Christian made history as the first university associated with Churches of Christ to appoint two women, Dr. Nao...
In front of a live audience at Sycamore View Church of Christ in Memphis, Tennessee, we interview Josh Ross, author of Coreology: Six Principles for Navigating an Election Season Without Losing Our Witness . So many things that Christians hear, read and talk about these days have to do with how they get along with political opponents or how they use their political power. In this conversation, however, we focus on how the church of Christ protects and upholds its unique witness in times of polit...
These days, politics in the United States seems to be a dividing force even among Christians. Over the last few years, how many Christians changed congregations or cut off relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ over politics? How many Christians feel, and sometimes give into, the temptation to attack other Christians because they identify with a different political figure or party? In this episode, two Church of Christ members who are leaders in opposing political parties come to the ...
After years of decline, Hermitage Church of Christ maintain its facility at a cost of $3,000 per week while its ministry languished. So the congregation sold its building and became New Garden Church . In this episode we explore how becoming a guest in its own community changed how New Garden Church discerns God at work in Hermitage and how it ministers with its neighbors. What lessons could other congregations, struggling with similar low membership and high operating costs, learn from New Gard...
