Show Notes
Kelsi is joined by data analyst, Ryan Burge, to discuss the current American Religious Landscape as well as his newest book, The Vanishing Church: How the Hollowing Out of Moderate Congregations Is Hurting Democracy, Faith, and Us.Dr. Ryan Burge is an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. He is the author or co-author of four books including The Nones, 20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America, and The Great Dechurching. He has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and POLITICO. He has also appeared on 60 Minutes, where Anderson Cooper called him, "one of the leading data analysts of religion and politics in the United States." He has been a pastor of an American Baptist Church for over seventeen years.
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More from Outside Ourselves
Kelsi chats with pastor and author, Steve Kruschel, about his latest devotional, A Year of Confession with Augustine: 365 Daily Devotions for the Restless Heart. The devotional will be out October 13, 2026 and is now available for preorder.
Kelsi chats with author, Laura Wifler, about her first book of poetry, This Side of the Sky: 101 Poems and Scriptures for the Hungry, Hopeful, and Homesick.
Author and Pastor, Luke Kjolhaug, joins Kelsi to talk about his new book, Fear Not: How the Gospel Disrupts Our Deepest Anxieties. The two talk about how "Fear Not " is often less of a command than it is a promise throughout Scripture and how we can rely on Jesus to defeat our deepest anxieties. Luke Kjolhaug is the pastor of Elim Lutheran Church in Osakis, Minnesota. He holds undergraduate degrees from Wheaton College and the University of Minnesota, as well as a master’s degree from Lutheran Brethren Seminary. Luke is the author of Sinner Saint: A Surprising Primer for the Christian Life. He and his wife Bethannie have been blessed with two daughters.
Kelsi is joined by theologian, Amy Orr-Ewing, to discuss the unique gift of Christian forgiveness which Amy writes about in her most recent book, Forgiveness: Reclaiming its Power in a Culture of Outrage and Fear.
Kelsi chat with author and editor, Eddie LaRow, about his forthcoming book, After Progress: How an Ancient Faith Roots a Restless Generation, the needs of those of us living in a digital age, and how those needs are met time and again by Christ and the cross.