Between 1972 and 2018, the percentage of Americans who identify as Christian declined, while the percentage who claim no religious affiliation increased by nearly 500%. This growing segment of “nones” is younger than the general population, but Ryan Burge writes that “no segment of American society that has been immune to the rise of religious disaffiliation.”
In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Burge about everything church leaders need to know about the rise of the nones. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.
Ryan Burge is an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University and an American Baptist Church pastor. His most recent book is The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going, just published by Fortress Press..
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.
Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.
Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.
“Young people are experiencing record loneliness,” notes The State of Religion and Young People 2020, a report from Springtide Research Institute. “They have low levels of trust in most traditional institutions, and they are likely not responding to the efforts these institutions are making to connect with them. But they are — amid all these realities — seeking meaning, navigating questions of identity, and pursuing community.”
In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Dr. Josh Packard about Springtide’s report and its implications for the ministries of the local church. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.
Dr. Packard is executive director of Springtide Research Institute, whose mission is to listen to the distinct ways youth (ages 13–25) experience and express community, identity, and meaning. An accomplished researcher with an expertise in the sociology of religion and new forms of religious expression, he has been published widely in both academic and popular outlets. He earned his Ph.D. in sociology from Vanderbilt University.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.
Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.
Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.
According to Pew Research Center, the Assemblies of God is one of the most diverse Protestant denominations in the United States. AG statistics show that 56% of AG adherents are white and 44% ethnic minority. However, statistics also show that two-thirds of AG ministers are white.
The obvious question is how to diversify AG ministers so that our pastors better represent the diversity of our adherents. That’s the question I’m asking Dr. Darnell Williams in this episode of the Influence Podcast. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.
Dr. Williams is an ordained Assemblies of God minister; pastor of One Church in Lima, Ohio; vice president of the AG’s National Black Fellowship; and an executive presbyter of the AG’s General Council. Most recently, he is author of Wings to Rise: Blacks, Leadership, and the Assemblies of God.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.
Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.
Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.
Christians believe that marriage is God’s idea and that divorce is a usually bad idea. And yet, Christians — including Christian leaders — get divorced too. The question that needs to be answered is what married couples can do to cultivate a healthy future for their relationship.
That’s the question I’m talking about with Toni Nieuwhof in Episode 242 of the Influence Podcast. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.
Toni Nieuwhof is a family law mediator, former divorce attorney, co-host of the Smart Family Podcast, and author of Before You Split, published by WaterBrook. She is the wife of Carey Nieuwhof, an influential pastor, leadership author and podcaster, and international speaker. They live in Barrie, Ontario, Canada.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.
Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.
Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.
February is Black History Month, and in this episode of the Influence Podcast, we’re celebrating the National Black Fellowship of the Assemblies of God, which just completed 40 years of service.
I’ll be talking with Bishop Walter Harvey about the history, growth, and mission of this vital network within the broader AG community. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.
Bishop Walter Harvey is president of the National Black Fellowship and pastor emeritus at Parklawn Assembly of God in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.
Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.
Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.
Many Christians begin the New Year with a renewed determination to read their Bibles. Their intention is good, obviously, but it needs to partner with understanding and action if it’s to do us any good. In his new book, Missionary God, Missionary Bible, Dr. Dick Brogden argues that the Bible has a missional message: God desires to bless all nations.
That’s the message I’m talking to Dr. Brogden about in Episode 241 of the Influence Podcast. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.
Dick Brogden is an ordained missionary with Assemblies of God World Missions. He has ministered among Muslims in East Africa and the Middle East for nearly a quarter-century. Together with his wife, he is cofounder of Live Dead, a church-planting movement among people groups not yet reached by the gospel.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.
Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.
Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.
This past year was an unsettling one. I like to think of it as the Year of Three Ps: pandemic, protests, and politics. Each one fomented conflict, but taken together, they were a conflict force multiplier. And that doesn’t even taken into account the normal stressors we face every year.
How can followers of Jesus Christ experience settled souls in the midst of unsettling times? That’s the question I’m talking about with Dr. Jodi Detrick in this episode of the Influence Podcast. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.
Dr. Detrick is a personal coach, public speaker, and most recently author of The Settled Soul: Tenaciously Abiding with a Tender God, published by Gospel Publishing House. An ordained Assemblies of God minister, she loves to talk to people at the heart level about things that matter most.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.
Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.
Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.
According to Stephen Covey, one of the seven habits of highly effective people is beginning with the end in mind. I doubt Covey was thinking about the Book of Revelation when he identified that habit, but I can’t think of a better way to begin the New Year than by talking about the end times. So that’s what I’ll be doing with Dr. Chris Carter in this episode of the Influence Podcast, the first podcast of the 2021 season.
I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Dr. Chris Carter is an ordained Assemblies of God minister, missionary to Japan, and author of Revelation: The End Times and the Never Reached, published in December 2020 by Assemblies of God World Missions. He holds a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.
Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.
Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.