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516: A Boomer and a Millennial on the Future of the Church with Nancy Beach & Samantha Beach Kiley


Although the Religious Right is on a winning streak at the Supreme Court, data shows it’s losing in the court of public opinion. Gallop reports more Americans than ever no longer believe in God, and only a minority of Americans share the political and cultural beliefs of conservative evangelicals. The Holy Post crew responds to a Jesuit priest’s article wondering if overturning Roe was worth the costs, and congresswoman Lauren Boebert says the church should be running the government. But which church does she have in mind? Then Skye talks to mother and daughter, Nancy Beach and Samantha Beach Kiley, about their book “Next Sunday: An Honest Dialogue About the Future of the Church.” Nancy pioneered the seeker-driven megachurch movement at Willow Creek, but also experienced its toxicity and collapse. Her daughter, Samantha, is now a pastor seeking to apply the lessons—both positive and negative—from her megachurch upbringing to a new generation. Plus, the New York Supreme Court makes a jumbo ruling.


Patreon Bonus: Christian Asks... Angry mobs and the end times - https://www.patreon.com/posts/68708383

News Segment

0:00 - Intro

2:21 - Christian’s travelogue and other updates

5:45 - Happy the Elephant

14:03 - More SCOTUS rulings

23:27 - Christian Right losing in public opinion

30:38 - Costs of overturning Roe

46:07 - Americans’ belief in God is dropping


Sponsor

52:19 - Faithful Counseling


Interview with Nancy Beach and Samantha Beach Kiley


“Next Sunday: An Honest Dialogue About the Future of the Church” - https://amzn.to/3nHnA68


Samantha Beach Kiley - www.samanthabeach.work


56:04 - Relevance and trust

1:03:24 - Beyond content delivery

1:08:02 - Experiencing other traditions

1:10:59 - Blind spots and overcorrecting

1:18:00 - Church leadership culture

1:27:42 - Credits


Articles referenced in news segment:


“Happy the elephant is not a person, New York’s highest court rules” - https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/happy-the-elephant-is-not-a-person-new-yorks-highest-court-rules


“The Christian Right is winning in court while losing in public opinion” (NPR) - https://www.npr.org/2022/07/01/1109141110/the-christian-right-is-winning-cultural-battles-while-public-opinion-disagrees


“What has the demise of Roe v. Wade cost the Catholic Church?” by Thomas Reese (Religion News Service) - https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/what-has-demise-roe-v-wade-cost-catholic-church


“Poll: Americans’ belief in God is dropping” - https://religionnews.com/2022/06/21/poll-americans-belief-in-god-is-dropping/


Resource mentioned in interview:

“The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters” by Priya Parker - https://amzn.to/3akrxui The Holy Post is supported by our listeners. We may earn affiliate commissions through links listed here. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.




28 Comments


Joe Harrison
Joe Harrison
Jul 09, 2022

Just wanted to chime in, I heard you mention Tim Whittaker and "The New Evangelicals"? I was actually part of that group for a while — it's specifically a Facebook Group (that's how it started) and it's basically rehab for deconstructing Christians and folks who have going through Church-related trauma. It's honestly a really beautiful group — though you will sometimes have arguments erupt because members will often deconstruct themselves into different place that clash with other members, but generally speaking it's a typically safe place for hurting Christians or Ex-Christians to talk about their pain and express their anger without judgment. There are a lot of members that we would consider to be "unorthodox" theologically, but the members just…


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bfgaylord
Jul 09, 2022

I have your next edition of 'News of the Butt' covered for you. While Phil was blowing up things in Michigan, we were in Crivitz Wisconsin which is a great little town west of Green Bay. They had a fund raiser for their Fire Department and Rescue Squad. One of the attractions was a game called 'Chicken (Poop) Bingo'. They used the other 4 letter word that starts with an 's', but I won't here. They had a cage with 36 numbered squares in the bottom and threw some chicken feed in it. Then they put 4-5 chickens in the cage. Everyone bought a square for $5, and whichever square got pooped in first was the winner. You ne…

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Lisa Crews
Lisa Crews
Jul 12, 2022
Replying to

When I was a kid back in the early 80s my hometown of Chandler, AZ had a fundraiser for the local high school. It was called Bovine Bingo. Same idea, just with cows on a football field with numbered squares on it.

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Yo Skye and Phil. Christian is smarter than you think she is. I think you guys are used to teasing her for not being as informed and it's just not good. Treat her more like you treat kaitlin. Or at least try to. I realize that you guys have been friends for a long time and it's hard to break old habits but I think sometimes you guys are sometimes condescending.

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Bonnie Toney
Bonnie Toney
Jul 10, 2022
Replying to

Frankly, they could stand to treat Kaitlin better sometimes, too, but I agree in general.

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Just wanna say I also live 10 min from Basel Switzerland and I have a spare room for the next time your here :)

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ansak
Jul 07, 2022

I am not an American, so I have no standing in comparing different voices on analyses of American politics... but I'm sure there's some minimizing both-sides-ism in today's discussion of right v. left politics in this session but I think the two guests are going to be fruitful enough to listen to that on balance, this won't be a loss.

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Bonnie Toney
Bonnie Toney
Jul 07, 2022
Replying to

You’re correct. The both-sides-ism is entirely misplaced here. Not that the Democrats or “the left” are perfect (far from it), but they are currently the only major political party/ideology in America interested in preserving democracy and freedom for everyone.

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