Church & Culture Podcast

In this week's summertime rerun, Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye discuss the importance of examining mental health as it relates to the church, as our nation continues to experience severe increases in depression, suicide and more. This is a topic where the church has typically been silent, leading to a great deal of private suffering. Now, more than ever, this needs to end. Episode...

In this week's summertime rerun, Dr. White and co-host Alexis Drye discuss the highly controversial idea of Christian Nationalism. With tomorrow marking the 250th birthday of the United States, we thought it fitting to share this episode with our listeners again. The original episode took place right after Election Day 2022. It was a day that proved exciting for some and disheartening for others....

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss masculinism - a topic prompted by a recent article written by Helen Lewis for The Atlantic titled “ The Men Who Want Women to Be Quiet .” The article explored the movement underway by Douglas Wilson, the co-founder of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, who has been working for h...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a recent lawsuit against the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A. Lauren Weber wrote an article in The Wall Street Journal that prompted today's conversation titled, “ Sundays Are Sacred at Chick-fil-A. The U.S. Says a Worker's Saturday Sabbath Is, Too. ” The restaurant is known for giving employees...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the newest parent in town - the “beta mom.” From tiger moms to helicopter moms to dolphin moms, as a culture we love to find labels for the myriad of ways to parent. As the title of the article in the Wall Street Journal (which prompted today's conversation) put it, “ The Era of the Ti...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the rise in popularity of a very unusual type of church in the U.S. - psychedelic churches. The largest church of this kind is Zide Door Church of Entheogenic Plants in Oakland, CA, which currently has about 130,000 members and “places psilocybin mushrooms at the center of their religious practice...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the recent findings of the “Toxic Boss” survey from Harris Poll's Thought Leadership Practice. As the title of the article in Fast Company summarized, “ 6 in 10 workers say they have a toxic boss .” While the survey defined a toxic boss as someone who “exhibits harmful work...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a phenomenon that has been with us since the beginning of human creation. It's impacted people in every country and every time period, young and old, male and female - it's our dreams. They can scare us, they can delight us, they can confuse us, they can inspire us. Although they are commonplace, there...

Once again, Alexis Drye is joined on the podcast by a guest - this time Pastor Zach White, Zach is the pastor of the creative arts ministry (known as Meck Creative ) at Mecklenburg Community Church. The topic for discussion for today's episode is on leading and equipping Gen Z in the workplace, and so we thought he would bring a unique perspective, as the majority of his team falls into this cohor...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the incredibly important role that money can play in a marriage. While many couples focus on the wedding and the checklist of what needs to get done before the wedding day, few realize the importance of discussing personal finances and how they view and value money. Episode Links At the top of the episo...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a topic that you might be wildly unfamiliar with - death doulas. Today's discussion was prompted by an article in The New York Times titled “ How Death Doulas Support the Living. ” It's about how actress Nicole Kidman is charting a new career path as a death doula after feeling a void in sup...

You probably noticed something quite different for today's conversation. Alexis Drye is joined by Pastor Jonathan Emery White, who serves children and families at Mecklenburg Community Church. Along with his pastoral role at Meck, he also teaches classes through the Meck Institute, instructing parents about the realities of the new digital world when it comes to their children. It's this backgroun...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the rapidly changing landscape of Christian wellness. The wellness industry is now a multi-trillion dollar global market, one that some within the Christian faith are aiming to capitalize on. They are taking culture's focus on prevention and lifestyle choices and washing all of it in faith - putting a C...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss how much things have changed culturally when it comes to reasons for belief (or unbelief) in God. The conversation was sparked by an article in The Atlantic written by Elizabeth Bruenig titled “ The Evidence That God Exists .” The article has a very interesting subtitle - “Searching fo...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss some recent major court decisions that put parental authority and responsibility in the spotlight. The first was a Supreme Court ruling that California schools must notify the parents if a student expresses their desire to change their gender. The second was a case in Georgia, where a father was found g...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the war with Iran, which the U.S. entered into on February 28. The attacks resulted in the assassination of Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and several other officials. And in response, Iran has launched missiles at various targets in Israel and US military bases. Today's conversation hopefully she...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a topic that is drifting away from its biblical moorings and increasingly misunderstood in culture: exorcism. Even individuals who would not consider themselves Christians are familiar with the Lord's Prayer, which includes the line, “deliver us from evil.” But what does that mean, and why t...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a topic that was prompted by a recent blog from Dr. White titled, “ From Bad Bunny to Buddhist Monks: Navigating the News Cycle .” Church leaders are often expected to speak to what's happening with the current news cycle. While many attenders realize it's unrealistic for their church to spe...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a difficult subject that has so many nuances - suicide. And they prayed that they'd handle today's conversation delicately. The previous podcast episode - CCP183: On Counseling and Therapy - provided a segue to this subject since, along with the rise in those seeking counseling, there has also been a na...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss recent findings from the CDC National Health Interview Survey which showed that approximately 14% (or 1 in 7) of adults in the U.S. received counseling or therapy from a mental health professional as of 2024. This is a significant increase from 2019 data, and behind the rise are mainly young adults, tho...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a topic that's gained traction in today's culture thanks, in large part, to the series Stranger Things . Telepathy is the alleged direct communication of thoughts, feelings and ideas between minds without using speech, without using writing, and without using any other normal physical signals. It's ofte...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a recent viral parody from comedian Druski taking a jab at prosperity gospel preachers and megachurch culture. While some took offense to the skit, others viewed it as a good wake-up call for pastors like the people parodied in the video. It begs the question, are all megachurches mishandling money? Epi...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the findings of a recent study from Baylor University reflecting an increased interest in magical thinking - acceptance of the world of the supernatural - even among people who do not hold to traditional religious beliefs. This was actually something that Dr. White forecasted in his book Meet Generation...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss what's left in the wake when a beloved leader - particularly one who works in the ministry of the Christian faith - falls. To be sure, there is heartbreak and disillusionment and confusion. And sadly, more and more frequently we're hearing about the moral failings of pastors or favorite authors - names...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the reasons that some people who are raised in the Christian faith choose to walk away from it, while others remain committed Christ followers. As you can imagine, the faith of the parents and how that's fleshed out in their lives is a huge factor. Episode Links At the top of the episode, Alexis noted t...