Church & Culture Podcast

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they reflect on all that the year 2025 brought our way through the lens of the biggest trends in culture. These trends from across our nation and our globe provide a good picture of all that's happening culturally—where we've been and perhaps even where we're headed. Episode Links Today's conversation was spar...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a topic that is near and dear to Dr. White's heart - the relational dynamic between parents and grandparents. As a father of four children and a grandfather to 16 grandchildren, this is a topic where he is very well versed. Marriage and family are foundational institutions in God's created order of our...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss how for many people, Advent is simply a countdown to Christmas. Few seem to truly know the rich Christian tradition of Advent as it falls on the liturgical calendar. The word “advent” means “coming,” and the season of Advent within the Church is to be a time when we are preparing...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the use of AI within the Church, and when and how it might be used. There's no question that AI has become ubiquitous in our world. And while it might not bother you to know that your grocery store, for example, uses AI to generate suggestions to improve your shopping experience, how would you feel know...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the results of a multi-year study of about 24,000 church attenders that was conducted by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. The goal was to examine their church engagement. A particular finding stood out, which was that 46% of those 24,000 churchgoers reported active engagement with more than...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss how when someone dies, those who call themselves Christ followers often find comfort in the thought that we'll see them again in Heaven (assuming, of course, that our loved one had a relationship with Jesus). But can we say the same thing about our beloved pets? Will we see them in Heaven? Episode Links...

This week (And a day early, too!), we thought that we'd re-release last year's episode "On Halloween" for those who are new to the podcast and may have missed the discussion. In this conversation, Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye discuss how misunderstood the cultural history tied to Halloween really is. For many people, Halloween offers an excuse to dress up in a costume, for kids to...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the results of a recent study from Pew Research, summarized in an article titled, “ 10 facts about teens and social media .” Pew conducted a survey of teens between the ages of 13 and 17, as well as their parents. The goal was to discover teens' perspective on their experience with social me...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the 50th anniversary of Willow Creek Community Church. In 1975, a young leader named Bill Hybels founded this suburban church in South Barrington, just outside of Chicago. What made it such an outlier were really two things: it had a strong entrepreneurial, outside-of-the-box mentality, and it had a pas...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss an announcement made by the IRS back in July that churches and other houses of worship are now allowed to endorse political candidates directly to their congregations. This type of political activity had previously been barred by the IRS because of the tax-exempt status of nonprofits, but that's no long...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss another significant anniversary happening this year. We recently aired CCP165: On the Nicene Creed as 2025 marks the 1700th anniversary of the creed. This year also marks the 100th anniversary of what's known as the Scopes Trial (or the “Monkey Trial”) - a sensational trial in American histo...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a recent article in the New York Times written by Claire Kane Miller titled, “ What Happens When Most of the Adults in Boys' Lives Are Women .” Studies show that children struggle acutely from the lack of a father figure in their lives and, according to the US Census Bureau, nearly one in fo...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they dive into the Nicene Creed, as this year marks its 1700th anniversary. As the early church absolutely exploded in growth - from about 7,500 followers in A.D. 100 to around 30 million by A.D. 310 - the challenge and question facing them was this: How would they stay united? How would this fast-growing, quickly e...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the state of what's happening in our culture this year. For listeners who may be new to the ministry of Church & Culture, it seeks to explore contemporary culture and to resource the local church and its leaders in light of the church's mission to impact our culture and those who live within it. It'...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the new animated film on Netflix that has everyone talking. It's called “KPop Demon Hunters,” and was an instant success when it was released back in June. It's gained so much momentum that it was shown in a limited release on the big screen - just for two days and in only 1,700 theaters - i...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the recent controversy surrounding former HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines who rose to fame from their home renovation show called Fixer Upper , which aired back in 2013. In 2019, they announced their departure from HGTV and the launch of a new network called the Magnolia Network, which finally debuted...

This summer, we're taking a short break from our regular podcast format, and instead have selected various installments from past message series given by James Emery White at Mecklenburg Community Church where he serves as the Senior Pastor. In a world where streaming media often dominates cultural conversation, certain shows stand out - not only for their entertainment value but also for the deep...

This summer, we're taking a short break from our regular podcast format, and instead have selected various installments from past message series given by James Emery White at Mecklenburg Community Church where he serves as the Senior Pastor. There are several critical areas of our spiritual life and our relationship with God that have both “good” and “bad” dynamics. When we...

This summer, we're taking a short break from our regular podcast format, and instead have selected various installments from past message series given by James Emery White at Mecklenburg Community Church where he serves as the Senior Pastor. There are so many questions that people have about the Christian faith - both from people who would consider themselves Christ followers as well as those outs...

This summer, we're taking a short break from our regular podcast format, and instead have selected various installments from past message series given by James Emery White at Mecklenburg Community Church where he serves as the Senior Pastor. "The Tower of Babel" was the sixth installment of a series titled, " Primordial: Genesis and the World's Primeval History ." Primordial is defined as that whi...

This summer, we're taking a short break from our regular podcast format, and instead have selected various installments from past message series given by James Emery White at Mecklenburg Community Church where he serves as the Senior Pastor. While topics related to marriage have been the focus of previous Church & Culture podcast episodes, we've never engaged this particular aspect of marriage...

This summer, we're taking a short break from our regular podcast format, and instead have selected various installments from past message series given by James Emery White at Mecklenburg Community Church where he serves as the Senior Pastor. All things gender continues to be a hot-button issue in today's culture, making headlines around the globe for various reasons. We thought that sharing this i...

This summer, we're taking a short break from our regular podcast format, and instead have selected various installments from past message series given by James Emery White at Mecklenburg Community Church where he serves as the Senior Pastor. Today's episode comes from a series we called " The Science of God " with this installment focusing on "The Science of Faith." You see, there are many deal-br...

Today's episode of the Church & Culture Podcast is quite different from the norm. This summer, we're taking a short break from our regular podcast format, and instead have selected various installments from past message series given by James Emery White at Mecklenburg Community Church where he serves as the Senior Pastor. There is no doubt that today's culture has become incredibly polarized -...

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the rising popularity of “pickleball.” Invented in 1965, this sport combines tennis, table tennis and badminton and is attracting people of all ages and backgrounds. Capitalizing on its popularity are plenty of businesses, athletic associations and even churches. This discussion delves into...