In this episode, Ryan Burge and Sam explore the rise of non-denominational Christianity and ask a provocative question: are non-denoms essentially just Southern Baptists without the label? Drawing on recent survey data, this conversation examines how non-denominational Christians compare to America’s largest Christian traditions in age, racial diversity, church attendance, and views of the Bible. The trends suggest that non-denominational churches are not simply a rebranded version of older evangelical traditions. They may represent a significant part of the future of American Protestantism.
New Trend: Nondenom ‘Anglicans’?
Last week at the national March for Life, I walked with an evangelical pastor co-leading a successful church plant. Raised in a United Methodist (now Global Methodist) congregation in Tennessee, this pastor chose to plant a non-denominational congregation in Washington, DC. The church is overwhelmingly composed of young, early career congregants. They rent space from a mainline Presbyterian church with a beautiful traditional building but a much smaller congregation.
Readers of this blog are familiar with Mark Tooley’s observation that large denominations, revisionist and orthodox, are seemingly locked in decline in the United States. Non-denominational Christianity is the only large religious category presently growing.
Wheaton-to-Anglican Pipeline: Why Are Young People Turning Anglican?
For many students, Wheaton College is their first introduction to liturgy.
Three days a week, all undergraduate students attend chapel – a required 45-minute Christian devotional service often including congregational worship songs, call and response, and a 20-minute guest lecture. It is within this service that many students participate in some formulation of traditional liturgy. Students respond to the Scripture reading with “Thanks be to God,” recite the Lord’s prayer by memory and participate in corporate confession.
This is a first for many students coming from an evangelical background and may be a foundational explanation in what is commonly known as the “Wheaton to Anglican Pipeline.”
Wheaton-to-Anglican Pipeline: A Response
Recently on Juicy Ecumenism, Sarah Carter — a Wheaton College graduate and a current Falls Church fellow — reflected on her experience of discovering Anglicanism while a student at Wheaton, and on the wider phenomenon of a “pipeline” of Wheaton students discovering Anglicanism. I was intrigued to read her thoughtful reflections, because I am part of that pipeline.
I could have written her words 20 years ago, when I encountered Anglicanism as a student at our alma mater: “Young people want to be a part of something bigger. Young people want tradition.” At the time of her article, I was on the verge of returning to Wheaton’s campus for my 20th reunion. As a Wheaton grad who is now an Episcopal priest, I was glad to know that the pattern of students joining forms of Anglicanism continues, and I’d like to add to the conversation with my perspective, given the 20 years I’ve been on the Canterbury trail since graduation.
Pope Leo urges outward-looking church at meeting of world's cardinals
Pope Leo XIV told the world's cardinals gathered in Rome that they were "not here primarily to reflect on the internal life of the church," but to discern how they can bring the Gospel to a world scarred by war and division.
Opening an extraordinary consistory of cardinals — the second such meeting Leo has convened in his 14-month pontificate — the pope said their two days of reflection would revolve around one central question: "How can we help our churches today to proclaim the Gospel with greater faithfulness, freedom and credibility?"
"Mission is not merely one of the church's many tasks," he said. "It is her very reason for existing."
These traditionalist Catholics are defying Pope Leo XIV, and embracing their outsider status
The group, which celebrates the traditional Latin Mass and rejects the modernizing reforms of the Catholic Church, is planning a highly organized, four-day, livestreamed extravaganza for the consecrations at its Swiss seminary — complete with a souvenir wine set offered to those attending.
Vatican blocks women’s homilies, testing Leo’s view of women in church
A Vatican ruling that bars laypeople, including women, from preaching the homily at Mass is testing the limits of Pope Leo XIV’s early signals of openness to women’s leadership in the Catholic Church.
A Trump commission urges 'bridges' between church and state in sweeping draft report
A new report by a Trump administration commission suggests replacing the idea of separating church and state with the idea of building bridges between them.
The assertion — challenging a longstanding concept in American law — comes amid a raft of recommendations in a draft report of the Religious Liberty Commission, released Friday afternoon.
The advisory body was created by President Donald Trump last year and filled almost entirely by conservative Christians. The 224-page draft report — part policy document, part philosophical argument — echoes members' support for a stronger role for religion and religious expression in government, schools and the public square.
Southern Baptists’ resolutions reflect support of Christian nationalism, scholar says
‘The evidence that the resolutions provide is very clear in terms of the kind of endorsement of the ideas of Christian nationalism that are present in the denomination,’ said Nancy Ammerman.
Mexican church affirms United Methodist ties
The Methodist Church of Mexico reaffirmed its historic relationship with The United Methodist Church by continuing the concordat covenant between the two churches.
During the Methodist Church of Mexico’s General Conference, delegates also elected leaders and set priorities for the next four years.
California-Pacific Conference Bishop Dottie Escobedo-Frank led a United Methodist delegation at the assembly. She celebrated the denominations’ shared Wesleyan roots.
Waco judge wins right to refuse same-sex weddings
A Texas court has awarded $640,000 to a Waco, Texas, judge who sued the state after it disciplined her for refusing to perform same-sex weddings because of her evangelical Christian faith.
A district court awarded Judge Dianne Hensley $10,000 in damages and $630,000 in attorney fees in a case that began in 2019 when she received a public warning from the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct over her refusal to perform same-sex weddings, which are allowed nationwide under order of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Hensley, who has served with the state chapter of a D.C.-based conservative group, Concerned Women for America of Texas, was defended by First Liberty Institute, a Christian legal group that prioritizes religious freedom for evangelicals. First Liberty cited the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act in its arguments.
Religious groups are more prepared for aliens than you think
Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee told RNS that he sees evidence of UFOs in the Bible.
Scientist gives grim warning about heat wave: 'Bad news'
A climate scientist offered a dire warning about the current heat wave sweeping across Europe.
Doug McNeall, a climate scientist at the Met Office and the University of Exeter with the TikTok handle dougmcneall, put forward the grim proclamation that things will only get worse going forward in a video that drew more than 1.7 million views.
“If you are not enjoying the UK summer heat wave, I’m afraid I have bad news,” McNeall said.
“This will be one of the coolest summers of the rest of your life.”
Massive data center cooks nearby residents alive amidst deadly heatwave
As Europe bakes in the throes of a deadly heatwave, residents living near the continent’s largest data center in Slough, a town just west of central London, UK, are enduring extreme temperatures.
As The Guardian reports, the enormous facility ten miles from London Heathrow is making the sweltering heat even more unbearable, with local residents likening the experience to something “pinching your body and burning your skin.” Weather station data revealed that temperatures near the facility have been several degrees higher this week — approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit — compared to the surrounding area.
All but five US states are currently experiencing droughts
Only a few days into what looks to be a summer for the history books, droughts are already sweeping the United States by storm.
According to fresh data from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s drought monitor, all but five US states — Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Alaska, and Hawaii — are completely drought free. And if you really squint, only Ohio is completely clear of any abnormally dry conditions whatsoever.
Millions warned to brace for blackouts as extreme wildfire threat sweeps across nine states
Millions of Americans have been warned to prepare for possible power outages as a sprawling outbreak of extreme fire weather threatens nine states this weekend.
The National Weather Service (NWS) offices from Arizona to Alaska have issued Red Flag Warnings, citing a volatile combination of powerful winds, bone-dry air and tinderbox conditions that could allow any spark to explode into a fast-moving wildfire.
CoGS approves Emancipation Sunday resources
Annual observance celebrates freedom struggles, recognizes contributions of Black Anglicans in Canada.
Bob Dylan & Vocation
The air was heavy and humid when we left Tyler. The evening light was diffuse, with an extreme thunderstorm warning casting an ominous pall over the hundred or so miles ahead of us. Two friends and I piled in our family van before first driving north and then getting on the I-20 heading east to Shreveport. We were on our way to see Bob Dylan, a living legend, in concert. Dylan is 84 years old.
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