In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a recent lawsuit against the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A. Lauren Weber wrote an article in The Wall Street Journal that prompted today's conversation titled, “Sundays Are Sacred at Chick-fil-A. The U.S. Says a Worker's Saturday Sabbath Is, Too.” The restaurant is known for giving employees Sundays off to observe the Christian Sabbath, but found themselves being sued for denying an employee's request to have Saturdays off. Her denomination, the United Church of God, observes the Sabbath on Saturdays. So which day should the church observe? And what, really, defines a Sabbath?

The practice of observing a Sabbath day is something that has been declining among people who would consider themselves Christ followers. However, God felt that this was such an important part of our lives that the call to observe the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments. Dr. White delivered a series at Mecklenburg Community Church simply titled, “Ten,” which explored the biblical and cultural significance of each of the Ten Commandments. You can find that series at Church & Culture HERE.

As Dr. White explained, as a society we've so overly cluttered our lives that it's hard for so may of us to even wrap our heads around taking a day to rest and renew. He referenced an old article from Newsweek featuring Neil Rudenstine, the (then) president of Harvard University, who once faced extreme exhaustion. It was titled “Breaking Point,” and you can read that article HERE.

He also discussed a 2025 Forbes article about how an increasing number of employees are taking sabbaticals, something that's really helping with career longevity. You can read the article titled “Why More Professionals Are Taking Sabbaticals—And How It's Transforming Work And Well-Being” HERE.

Dr. White referenced a recent announcement from the American Academy of Pediatrics updating their policy statement on the need for children to return to more play. He used this as inspiration for a recent Church & Culture blog titled “We All Need Recess,” which you can read HERE.

Finally, Dr. White discussed the importance of the church needing to teach on topics related to rest and the Sabbath. In addition to the series “Ten,” we'd encourage you to check out another recent series that he gave called “Quieting Your Life.” This series explored the call to quiet ourselves, how we need to be quiet and seek quiet, and the significance of a daily quiet time. You can find that series on Church & Culture HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the newest parent in town - the “beta mom.” From tiger moms to helicopter moms to dolphin moms, as a culture we love to find labels for the myriad of ways to parent. As the title of the article in the Wall Street Journal (which prompted today's conversation) put it, “The Era of the Tiger Mom Is Over. Enter the Beta Mom.”

This is not the first time that parenting and the cultural challenges that both young people and their parents are facing has been a topic of the podcast. Here are a collection of past episodes that we think you might like to go back and listen to if you missed them:

CCP188: On Cultural Attacks on Parental Authority

CCP176: On Parents and Grandparents

CCP124: On Parenting Being Hazardous to Your Health

CCP98: On Generation Alpha

CCP70: On Social Media and Mental Health

CCP60: On Gentle Parenting

Parenting has also been the focus of a number of message series that Dr. White has given at Mecklenburg Community Church over the years. You can find those gathered under the “Marriage and Family” category on Church & Culture HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the rise in popularity of a very unusual type of church in the U.S. - psychedelic churches. The largest church of this kind is Zide Door Church of Entheogenic Plants in Oakland, CA, which currently has about 130,000 members and “places psilocybin mushrooms at the center of their religious practice” according to an episode on NPR. Now the drugs aren't free, of course - you have to pay for the service. So is there anything beyond the obvious that is a draw for people to attend a church like this?

There are two other articles that you may find helpful to read related to today's conversation, particularly tied to the legality of psychedelic churches:

Hayley Sanchez, “This church holds psychedelic rituals. But that's not what keeps people coming back,” NPR.

Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly, “Inside the US's psychedelic church boom, where taking drugs is legal,”
The Guardian.

There are three past podcast episodes that we'd suggest you go back and listen to if you missed them. The first is a recent episode that Alexis mentioned: CCP195: On Dreams and Interpreting Dreams. The second is a look at whether it's okay for a Christian to partake in using drugs and alcohol: CCP74: On Smoking Marijuana and Drinking Wine. And finally, as the conversation touched on hypnosis you can check out this one: CCP3: On Hypnosis and Meditation.

Dr. White steered the conversation to the importance of fasting found throughout the Bible, and how this is such a contrast from what the psychedelic churches are pursuing. He did a series at Mecklenburg Community Church that you may be interested in checking out called “Fast Forward,” which you can find HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the recent findings of the “Toxic Boss” survey from Harris Poll's Thought Leadership Practice. As the title of the article in Fast Company summarized, “6 in 10 workers say they have a toxic boss.” While the survey defined a toxic boss as someone who “exhibits harmful workplace behaviors, including unfair preferential treatment, lack of recognition, blame-shifting, unnecessary micromanagement, unreasonable expectations, being unapproachable, taking credit for others' ideas, acting unprofessionally, or discriminating against employees based on personal characteristics,” Dr. White explained there's so much more that could be added to the list.

One potential reason outlined for the rise in toxic bosses in the workplace is the shift in focus on employees as human beings and elevating the importance of AI. Church & Culture had an entire podcast devoted to this topic. We'd encourage you to go back and listen to CCP44: On Artificial Intelligence.

The conversation then shifted to how the church is not exempt from toxic leadership, something that is particularly glaring when you look at the seemingly unending string of pastors whose moral failings resulted in their removal from leadership within the church. Again, we'd encourage you to check out a couple of past podcast episodes, which take a deeper dive on this subject: CCP4: On Pastors and Moral Failings and CCP31: On Celebrity Pastors.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a phenomenon that has been with us since the beginning of human creation. It's impacted people in every country and every time period, young and old, male and female - it's our dreams. They can scare us, they can delight us, they can confuse us, they can inspire us. Although they are commonplace, there is little agreement about what to make of them, and particularly whether God can speak through them.

One of the biggest concerns when it comes to our dreams are the means people use to try to interpret them. This is where people can begin to dabble in the world of the occult. Whether through fortune tellers or astrology, tarot cards or horoscopes, we've touched on the potential dangers and pitfalls of this in past podcast episodes. We'd encourage you to go back and listen to: CCP151: On Spirits and Ghosts, CCP77: On Angels, CCP58: On Your Horoscope and Starbucks and CCP45: On Superstition and God's Will.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

Once again, Alexis Drye is joined on the podcast by a guest - this time Pastor Zach White, Zach is the pastor of the creative arts ministry (known as Meck Creative) at Mecklenburg Community Church. The topic for discussion for today's episode is on leading and equipping Gen Z in the workplace, and so we thought he would bring a unique perspective, as the majority of his team falls into this cohort.

Alexis mentioned an article written by Tessa West in The Wall Street Journal that prompted today's discussion. Titled “A New Lost Generation: Why Gen Z Is Unprepared for the Workplace,” this article - along with others like it - explores the important role that leaders need to play in helping their Gen Z employees navigate their organizations. Zach mentioned a helpful resource for people who may interact a lot with Gen Z. It was written by Dr. White, and while primarily written for the church to know how to reach them for Jesus, it also can serve to help understand what marks this generation. It's called Meet Generation Z and you can find it HERE.

Zach also mentioned the depressing findings of a recent survey from Instructure, which found that 87% of Gen Z workers feel unprepared to succeed in the workforce. You can read the full article in Campus Technology for more results of the survey HERE. It's in helping them to overcome feelings like this where leaders need to step in and guide them.

To help fill that type of leadership role, Zach has a podcast leadership community that you can find on YouTube at @ZachWhiteLeadership. The purpose is to serve leaders looking to grow, thrive and last in leadership. Every week, he releases new research-driven content that's designed to help you have a truly meaningful and lasting leadership journey.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the incredibly important role that money can play in a marriage. While many couples focus on the wedding and the checklist of what needs to get done before the wedding day, few realize the importance of discussing personal finances and how they view and value money.

At the top of the episode, Alexis mentioned an article written by Jake Hays for the Pew Research Center titled “8 facts about divorce in the United States.” The purpose of the study was to look at causes for the very high divorce rate in the U.S. and, in particular, why so many divorces happen so quickly - often within the first five years of marriage. Money was the reason behind many of those failed marriages.

Dr. White referenced a recent string of articles from The Wall Street Journal that are related to today's topic of marriage and money. They discuss things like financial infidelity, why men and women choose to often have separate finances, and how what we value when it comes to money can be a factor. You can find those articles below. You can also find the National Endowment for Financial Education study that Dr. White mentioned HERE.

Julia Carpenter, “What We Fight About When We Fight About Money.”

Gunjan Banerji, “Inside the ‘Financial Infidelities' That Tear Marriages Apart.”

Allie Jones, “She Almost Lost Everything in Her Divorce. Now Women Are Learning From Her Mistakes.”

Finally, for those interested in some pastoral wisdom when it comes to both marriage and money, we'd encourage you to check out the many marriage and finance series that Dr. White has delivered at Mecklenburg Community Church. You can find the various series on marriage and family HERE, and the series on finances HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a topic that you might be wildly unfamiliar with - death doulas. Today's discussion was prompted by an article in The New York Times titled “How Death Doulas Support the Living.” It's about how actress Nicole Kidman is charting a new career path as a death doula after feeling a void in support when her mother passed away. A death doula is a trained, non-medical professional who provides holistic emotional, spiritual and practical support to people who are dying and their loved ones.

Dr. White explained how death is not a topic that people (obviously) like to talk about. But it is important to understand the stages of death. He mentioned a resource that was written decades ago, but that still proves to be incredibly helpful for processing death and dying. The book is titled On Death and Dying, written by Elisabeth Kubler Ross and published in 1969. You can find it on Amazon HERE.

Increasingly in our culture, the need for someone like a death doula to come alongside you has to do with loneliness. There was a recent article in The Washington Post on this titled “An age-old fear grows more common: ‘I'm going to die alone.'” The subheading summarizes the problem well: “As families fracture, people are living longer and are more likely to find themselves without close relatives or friends at the end of their lives.” These broken families, broken relationships, are really the heart of the problem. Dr. White recently did a series at Mecklenburg Community Church on the importance of “Relational Repair.” It struck a chord with so many people. If you wish to check it out, you can find it on Church & Culture HERE.

Dr. White pointed out something very vital to our lives - community that is found through the Church. If you don't already have a church home, I would encourage you to check out Mecklenburg Community Church. On our website - mecklenburg.org - you can find out more about who we are and what we believe. And you can even experience a service through our Online Campus if you can't join us in person. But we hope that you will find community through a local church.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

You probably noticed something quite different for today's conversation. Alexis Drye is joined by Pastor Jonathan Emery White, who serves children and families at Mecklenburg Community Church. Along with his pastoral role at Meck, he also teaches classes through the Meck Institute, instructing parents about the realities of the new digital world when it comes to their children. It's this background that he brings to today's episode about some recent interesting studies and trends related to teenage sexuality.

There's an on-demand class at Mecklenburg Community Church that was taught by Jonathan called “FaceTime: What Parents Need to Know About Technology, Social Media, Video Games and More.” You can find that on the Meck website HERE. Dr. White also did a series at Meck called “Streaming Now,” which featured background on four of the most popular streaming series at the time and the lessons that can be applied to the Christian life through them. One of the installments was on the show Adolescence - you can find that series HERE.

Jonathan mentioned the software that he recommends to protect parents and their children from the dangers of pornography and the online world. It's called Covenant Eyes, and you can find that HERE. There are also a number of articles relevant to our conversation today if you'd like to take a deeper dive on this topic. We'd encourage you to check out:

Selena Simmons-Duffin, “Teen birth rates hit another historical low in 2025, CDC says,” NPR.

Lyman Stone, “Sexless America: Young Adults Are Having Less Sex,” Institute for Family Studies.

“The Impact of Pornography on Children,” American College of Pediatricians.

Mar Alvarez-Segur et al., “Impact of pornography consumption on children and adolescents: a trauma-informed approach,” National Library of Medicine.

Carmen M. Leon et al., “From Pornography Consumption to Sexually Violent Practices: Uncovering the Hidden Influence of Sexual Norms,” National Library of Medicine.

Taylor Lorenz, “The Hottest Chat App for Teens Is … Google Docs,” The Atlantic.

“Injections, Bone Hammering and the Pursuit of Peak Male Beauty: Inside the image-obsessed subculture that is ‘looksmaxxing,'” The New York Times.

John Koetsier, “80% Of Gen Zers Would Marry An AI: Study,” Forbes.

Finally, there are two past podcast episodes that we'd encourage you to go back and listen to when you have the time. They are: CCP152: On Women's Porn, CCP72: On Toxic Masculinity and CCP146: On Hooters and OnlyFans.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the rapidly changing landscape of Christian wellness. The wellness industry is now a multi-trillion dollar global market, one that some within the Christian faith are aiming to capitalize on. They are taking culture's focus on prevention and lifestyle choices and washing all of it in faith - putting a Christian label or a Christian personality behind it to move a product. And “Christian” social media influencers are having a lot of success in gaining the trust of other Christians.

Alexis mentioned the article that prompted today's discussion written by Kelsey Kramer McGinnis in Christianity Today titled “‘No Guardrails' for Some Christian Wellness Influencers.” In it she notes how influencers are using Christian language and isolated Bible verses to sell everything from energy drinks to supplements, skin care to gym clothes. And the lack of guardrails is a huge concern, particularly when it's spreading distrust of the medical world.

In response, Dr. White outlined what a social media influencer is. We had an earlier podcast episode on this topic that you can go back and listen to for a deeper discussion about influencers: CCP128: On Social Media Influencers. He also spent some time outlining the disproportionate influence that YouTube has had on our culture. Here's another past podcast episode that you can check out for more on this topic: CCP149: On YouTube.

Finally, there are four additional articles that we'd encourage you to check out that were helpful sources for today's conversation. You can get to them by clicking the titles below:

Coralie Kraft, “Why Some Teenage Girls Are Trading Medicine for MAHA,” The New York Times.

Alexa Lee, “9 influencers shaping health information online, for better or worse,” STAT News.

Ilana Amselem, “I Developed A Dark Obsession With 'Wellness.' Within Months, It Threatened To Consume My Life.” HuffPost.

Ian Bogost, “People Are Thinking About Looksmaxxing All Wrong,” The Atlantic.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.