Show Notes
Andy's brand new book - Churches and the Crisis of Decline - is out now! Derek took some time to sit down with Andy to talk about the book, the real "crisis" the church is facing (hint - it's not decline), and the importance for church leaders to simply wait for God to act. Grab your copy of the book here - https://tinyurl.com/4pnbkdre www.newtimereligion.org www.twitter.com/newtimereligion www.facebook.com/newtimereligion New Time Religion featuring Dr. Andrew Root produced by Derek Tronsgard.
More from Ministry in a Secular Age featuring Dr. Andrew Root
Andy and Derek discuss what it means when human-created AI goes out of control. From Noah’s flood to Silicon Valley’s dreams of immortality, are we facing something new? Or are we retelling the oldest story in the book?
Andy walks Derek through James Loder's The Logic of the Spirit — the roadside accident that shaped his whole project, and the two questions Loder thinks press on us from our first breath to our last: what is a lifetime, and why do I live it?This, surprisingly, also has a lot to do with modern children's ministry and the existential humans of every age face.
Andy and Derek discuss passage from Jim Loder on ministers who callus over after getting hurt in ministry. Derek and Andy dig into whether pastoral care is really a "helping profession" at all, turning to Bonhoeffer's idea of the pastor as permanent place-sharer — more parent than therapist — and why the office, not the personality, is what holds a pastor through disappointment.
Andy sends Derek a screenshot of a Jim Loder passage he's frantically highlighted and it sparks a conversation about "convictional neurosis," the tendency in mainline churches to bury real encounters with God.
Andy and Derek discuss the complexities of ministering in communities, transparency, and whether the minister's personal life is the business of the congregation