In the United States, the mood about immigration carried a new administration to power in Washington, D.C. Since then, the news media has reported sensational stories of law enforcement arrests around, or in, faith-based ministries and houses of worship. How does this affect Church of Christ congregations and ministries that are active among immigr…

In some congregations, you may find one member whose ministry is sending hand-written cards of congratulations to new Christians upon their baptisms. Imagine if that one member tries to send a card to every new Christian, not just in their own congregation, but in the entire world. Meet Lorraine Smith of Central Church of Christ in Dalton, Georgia.…

In 2 Corinthians 3:5, the apostle Paul writes: "Not that we are competent in ourselves...but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of the new covenant." Casey Coston is a veteran Church of Christ campus minister of more than 20 years. As he started his third decade in ministry, he took stock of his own "incompetence" …

"The Restoration Movement" refers to the 19th and 20th century stream of events, people and thinking from which the Church of Christ emerged. Church of Christ folks of a certain age imagine that they are restoring the first century church as they find it in the New Testament. But does restoration itself sometimes need to be restored? If so, how do …

What is Christian nationalism and what are its effects on the United States? Christians these days may choose to consume any number of blogs, books, cable news, podcasts, social media and talk radio shows that deal with those questions. In this episode, however, we address how Christian nationalism may effect the Church of Christ community in the U…

It is a fact that more people in the world live in cities than in rural areas. That means the Church of Christ, if it is to be faithful and obedient to Jesus the Christ, must get used to city life and loving its neighbors in the city. But what we imagine to be "urban ministry" in the Church of Christ is outdated and perhaps was never quite right-he…

It is a common narrative (assumption?) that Church of Christ congregations in rural and small town America are in decline. Perhaps that is a story that numbers (of congregations and members) might tell. But are numbers the whole story? Or even the most important one? Mike Cope believes it is not the whole story. In this episode, he talks about how …

It may be said that God does God's mightiest work in the unlikeliest places. Take South Sudan, a young nation where civil war has been the norm for generations. Conditions in that country are as poor as anywhere on earth, yet in just the last year 73 Church of Christ congregations formed and more than 2,400 South Sudanese were baptized into the kin…

Almost as soon as Church of Christ missionaries entered Ukraine after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Christian Chronicle reporters entered the country as well. For more than three decades now, The Christian Chronicle has covered how the Ukrainian people embraced with joy the gospel of Jesus Christ. Few parts of Europe can match Ukraine for how th…

More Christians in more parts of the world may sing Chris Tomlin's worship music ('Our God,' 'How Great is Our God,' 'God of Angel Armies') than any other artist alive today. A Grammy Award winner and two-time Songwriter of the Year with more than 7 billion global streams, Tomlin is branching out into film. He is executive producer for the new majo…

Marie Stroughter (Westside Church of Christ, Killeen, Texas) is an all-star "church mom" and "church wife," raising three kids (two adopted), supporting her elder/deacon husband, and volunteering in the life and programs of the church. And she does all of that while living with mental health challenges like obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic a…

On March 7, 2025, eleven men from Gamma Sigma Phi (Abilene Christian University, Abilene, Texas) will push off on a cycling relay that will take them 1,400 miles across deserts, mountains, unpaved trails and Death Valley. Riding day and night, they plan to reach Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, in just five days. They're riding to raise…

The clips at the top of this episode are from (in order) the preaching of Andrew Hairston and James Maxwell, two "giants" who worked for decades to build for the kingdom of God. Andrew Hairston stood in the pulpit at Simpson Street Church of Christ in Atlanta, Georgia, for more than 50 years. Not only did he preach, he was a practicing attorney and…

Lauren and Owen Mitchell drop in to talk about what they've learned about building a great marriage -- from being Marriage Dynamics Institute facilitators for more than 25 years and by practicing marriage together for more than 28 years. In this conversation, they focus on how the small things often make the biggest difference in how partners exper…

Jonathan Skrmetti (Harpeth Hills Church of Christ), attorney general for the state of Tennessee, is the defendant in what the national media argue is the biggest case of the term for the United States Supreme Court: United States v. Skrmetti. In question is a 2023 Tennessee state law that prevents healthcare professionals from providing gender tran…

The way Christians think about and use sex is changing. For example, a recent study by Barna Group and Pure Desire Ministries shows that Christian porn use is almost equal to porn use by the general public. And an increasing number of Christians believe that it is OK to look at porn. At the same time, fewer and fewer congregations are addressing th…

The way Christians think about and use sex is changing. For example, a recent study by Barna Group and Pure Desire Ministries shows that Christian porn use is almost equal to porn use by the general public. And an increasing number of Christians believe that it is OK to look at porn. At the same time, fewer and fewer congregations are addressing th…

Christian Chronicle Podcast partner Freed-Hardeman University sponsored this special episode on a crisis that is emerging under our noses: screen addiction. In this conversation, Freed-Hardeman University president David Shannon shares some of the latest research on how (much more) young people are using devices and how dramatic increases in "scree…

The new film, Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin (Angel Studios) is drawing Christian audiences around the world, but does it get the depiction of its title character right? Dr. Myles Werntz (professor of theology at Abilene Christian University) says it does not...and that Christians should view the movie with caution. In this interview, Werntz tal…

Dr. Bill Pink, a Church of Christ lifer (and outstanding song leader) is president of 10,000-student Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan. In this episode, he talks about how he practices Christianity while being a faithful public steward of a secular, tax-funded university where all faiths (and no faiths) have a place. Dr. Pink: Talks a…

Since it opened almost 119 years ago, Abilene Christian University (ACU) has been educating, forming, and training Christian evangelists who spread the news of Jesus Christ around the world. This year, however, the university is launching something that has the potential to change the world and save lives in a surprising new way. ACU is building an…

This Christmas special features a message of "good news of great joy for all the people" (Luke 2:10) by Brother Jerrard Davis (Spencer Church of Christ, Spencer, Oklahoma) and vocal arrangements by Praise & Harmony.By The Christian Chronicle Podcast

This Christmas special features a message of "good news of great joy for all the people" (Luke 2:10) by Jonathan Storment (Pleasant Valley Church of Christ, Little Rock, Arkansas) and vocal arrangements by Praise & Harmony.By The Christian Chronicle Podcast

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.By The Christian Chronicle Podcast

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 d…

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, dark…

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 cate…

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 man…

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 he…

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 incl…

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 c…

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. A…

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…

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 repr…

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 a…

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 Oklaho…

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 …

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 …

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…

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 thei…

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, immigra…

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 befor…

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 …

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 W…

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 mad…

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 excepti…

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…

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 poi…

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 Me…

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 arou…