Church and Main

Dennis looks back at 30 years as part of Mainline Protestantism, what bugs him, why he stays, and why this part of Christianity matters.Jonathan Edwards vs. Charles Finney The Post-Anxiety Church Mainline Faith, With Passion The Un-churching of America Why I Can't Give Up on the Mainline As Churches Close, A Way of Life Fades Revisioning the Future of Oldline Protestantism Be sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: [email protected].  website: spheresofinfluence.org Twitter: @CompanyPolite  Facebook Page  YouTube Channel Make a Donation to Spheres of Influence (Buy me a coffee!) Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

Hope is something that is missing from American politics. It was not found in the campaign and presidency of Donald Trump and oddly it isn't found among his detractors. In this commentary, Dennis argues that if Trump and Trumpism is to be defeated, his enemies must have hope.Show notes:Theologies of Hope Why politics needs hope (but no longer inspires it) The world to come: A new politics of hope A Political Hope Why ‘thoughts and prayers’ is starting to sound so profane Be sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: [email protected].  website: spheresofinfluence.org Twitter: @CompanyPolite  Facebook Page  YouTube Channel Make a Donation to Spheres of Influence (Buy me a coffee!) Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

Picking up where the interview with Reed Howard left off, how important is it to create a faction in the GOP? People say there isn't a civil war in the GOP and that the Trumpists won, but was it ever even tried? We talk about the hard work of politics, easy answers and magical moderates.The Future is Faction  The Future Really Is Faction Forking the GOP A New Center-Right Party Won't Work Be sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: [email protected].  website: spheresofinfluence.org Twitter: @CompanyPolite  Facebook Page  YouTube Channel Make a Donation to Spheres of Influence (Buy me a coffee!) Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

Everyone is talking about the future of the Republican Party these days. Some think its too late to save the party, while others think there's a chance. Reed Howard thinks there could be one last chance to save the GOP from Trumpism. He was part of a groups of NeverTrump and Trump-critical Republicans who signed A Call for American Renewal, a statement calling on the party to change its ways or face the prospect of a new third party. Dennis and Reed talk about American Renewal and its prospects, the future of the GOP and why white evangelicals took a more authoritarian turn.A Call for American Renewal The Future is Faction  The Future Really Is Faction Be sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: [email protected].  website: spheresofinfluence.org Twitter: @CompanyPolite  Facebook Page  YouTube Channel Make a Donation to Spheres of Influence  Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Dennis does a potpourri of events from Liz Cheney to the Israeli Palestinian conflict.  Why the Republican Party Won’t Die Already:Life for those in GazaIs this Anti-Trump group ready to fight Trump? Does Never Trump have a chance?A Call for American RenewalThe Free Market Welfare StateThe Party of Free Enterprise High Tory America?Simplistic Narratives About Israel/Palestine #1Simplistic Narratives About Israel/Palestine #2Secular QuebecBe sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: [email protected].  website: spheresofinfluence.org Twitter: @CompanyPolite  Facebook Page  YouTube Channel  Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

We like to think that b**********g is a mostly harmless gesture, but it can do great harm to institutions. Dennis looks at how b**********g from the boardroom to the White House can threaten democracy.Sears, Trump and the Age of Bull, by Dennis Sanders Eddie Lampert Interview, Chicago Sun-Times Donald Trump Is BS, Says Expert in BS by Harry Frankfurt Why BS is More Dangerous Than A Lie by John PetrocelliBe sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: [email protected].  website: spheresofinfluence.orgTwitter: @CompanyPolite Facebook: YouTube Channel Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

Join Dennis as he takes a trip to 1970s Michigan and recounts what is was like to grow up as a young black man.  It was a time of challenges to be sure, but it was a time of hope and of pride.  Dennis remembered the importance of being "Black and Proud."  The 2020s is a time period where Black Pride seems nowhere to be found.  What happened?  Dennis looks into the question, Is Black Still Beautiful?What Happens When a Slogan Becomes the Curriculum by Conor Friedersdorf‘The Narrative Is, “You Can’t Get Ahead”’ by Conor FriedersdorfThe Virtue Signalers Won’t Change the World by John McWhorterBe sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: [email protected].  website: spheresofinfluence.orgTwitter: @CompanyPolite Facebook: YouTube Channel Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

A lot of pastors are leaving the ministry and it has only worsened during the pandemic.  Why?  Dennis shares his own frustrations as a pastor in this very challenging time.  If you are ordained, have you ever considered leaving the ministry?  Or, are you a former pastor that left in frustration? What got you into the ministry and what would made you leave or tempted to leave?  If you’re willing to share please drop me a line via email at [email protected] or through Twitter by going to @CompanyPolite.  I look forward to hearing from you!Thanks to all of you who have rated the podcast or left a review. The more you can do that, the more this podcast can be found by others.  Also consider subscribing!I have had 28 pastor friends resign this year, by Dan WhitePastors are leaving their congregations after losing their churchgoers to QAnon by Sophia Ankel6 reasons why your pastor is about to quit by Thom RainerFor some pastors, the past year was a sign from God it was time to quit, Religion News ServiceFailing Pastor BlogBe sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: [email protected].  website: spheresofinfluence.orgTwitter: @CompanyPolite Facebook: YouTube Channel Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

What happens when the last person of integrity is pushed out of the GOP?  As Rep. Liz Cheney’s leadership position hangs in the balance, we are about to find out.The GOP is at a turning point. History is watching us. By Liz CheneyGOP eyes voter fraud conspiracy theorist to replace Liz Cheney (Washington Post)Why Liz Cheney's brave Trump crusade is so depressing to Republicans like me by Susan Del PercioBe sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: [email protected]: spheresofinfluence.orgTwitter: @CompanyPoliteFacebook: YouTube Channel Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Dennis uses his ADHD/Aspergers brain and takes on a potpourri of issues such as President Biden's speech to Congress, the role of the state and the center-right, Sen. Tim Scott's response and the United States as a racist nation, America becoming a post-religious nation and the fate of the mainline Protestant church.  He caps things off with a tribute to the "forgotten astronaut" of Apollo 11, Michael Collins.Show Notes: The Era of Limited Government is Over, by Ross DouthatIndividual and National Freedom: Toward a New Conservative Fusion by Brad LittlejohnWhat libertarianism has become and will become — State Capacity Libertarianism by Tyler CowenThree Motivations for State Capacity Libertarians by Sam HammondAmerica Will Be! Podcast EpisodeI Love My Country. But Let’s Not Kid Ourselves, by Dennis SandersAmerica Without God by Shadi HamidBreaking Faith by Peter BeinartWill the ELCA Be Gone in 30 Years? By Dwight ZscheileWhy I Can’t Give Up on the Mainline, by Dennis SandersAstronaut Michael Collins was the ideal ‘Forgotten Man’ for Apollo 11 (Orlando Sentinel from 2019)Be sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: [email protected]: spheresofinfluence.orgTwitter: @CompanyPoliteFacebook: YouTube Channel Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe