The Weight

This episode of The Weight is with previous guest Dr. Andrew Root. He joined Eddie and Chris in 2021 for a discussion about the religious lives of younger generations. In today’s conversation, Andy talks about how the decline in mainline Christianity in the United States is a result of a lack of faithful imagination in a secular world. God is no longer seen as a living, breathing being still working in the world. Individual churches have muddied the waters by focusing on their own story, mission, and vision, instead of simply telling God’s story. He offers the idea of churches living into a watchword instead of building ministry around a mission statement.

Andy (Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary) is the Carrie Olson Baalson professor of youth and family ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is a writer and researcher who focuses on theology, ministry, and culture. His most recent books include When the Church Stops Working (coauthored with Blair Bertrand), Churches and the Crisis of Decline, and The Congregation in a Secular Age. 

Resources:

Andy’s website

Follow Andy on Twitter and Facebook

Find all of Andy’s books here

Listen and subscribe to Andy’s podcast, “When The Church Stops Working,” on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

If you’re a parent or you know a parent, today’s conversation with Kayla Craig is a good word for you. But this episode also holds a lot of wisdom for everyone, in every season of life. Life is messy and chaotic and complicated, but finding time to pray doesn’t have to be.

Kayla is a writer, podcaster, former journalist, and mother to four kids, ages seven to thirteen. She is the creator of the Liturgies for Parents Instagram account. Kayla offers short prayers and liturgies because she found that, when you don’t know what to pray, borrowing someone else’s words will get you through the moment. She is encouraging, engaging, and not afraid to admit that she doesn’t have all the answers--and you don’t have to have them, either.

Resources:

Learn more about Kayla on her website

Liturgies for Parents on Instagram

Buy Every Season Sacred

Buy To Light Their Way

Liturgies for Parents Podcast

John T. Edge joins Chris and Eddie for a conversation that takes them all over the South. John T. is a writer, commentator, the former director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, and host of the television show True South. He is the director of the Mississippi Lab at the University of Mississippi, and his latest passion project is the Greenfield Farm Writers Residency, which will offer space for writers of all kinds to step away from the real world and put their focus and attention on their writing project, whether that’s a song, a poem, a novel, or a scientific paper.

John T. earned his MA in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Goucher College. He has written or edited more than a dozen books and has written columns for the Oxford American and the New York Times. He has also been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered as well as CBS Sunday Morning and Iron Chef.

Most importantly, he firmly believes that Birmingham, Alabama, is a Southern city, no matter what Chris says.

Resources:

John T.’s website

Greenfield Farm Writers Residency

True South

The wait is over... The Weight is back! (sorry for the pun)

We'll see you back, right here, next week for a brand new season of The Weight.

We’ve reached that time of year again--The Weight’s yearly wrap-up episode. It’s been a year of conversations that covered a wide range of emotions: joy, hope, grief, fear, love. We talked about seeing the Holy Spirit at work, disagreeing from a place of love, the decline of mainline Protestantism, and the Methodist movement and its history of missional work. We talked to authors, pastors, researchers, and artists. We got to hear Chris get schooled by a beloved United Methodist Bishop. We got to laugh a little and learn a lot, and we are so glad that you, our listeners, joined us.

Eddie and Chris are once again joined by producer Cody Hickman to recap our fourth year of The Weight. This time they pull back the curtain and reveal some behind-the-scenes secrets. Who did Eddie ask to be a guest and was immediately shot down? How do Chris and Eddie cue each other over Zoom? Exactly how many kids does Cody have?

Thank you for listening to The Weight. We’ll be back in February.

Esau McCaulley returns to The Weight for a discussion about his newest book, "How Far to the Promised Land.” This is a joyful conversation that covers some heavy topics, like reconciling yourself to your history while charting your own path and creating your own story. And sometimes, finding your place in the story means finding your place with God and allowing God’s grace to emerge in unexpected ways.

Esau is an author and associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL, with a Ph.D. from the University of St. Andrews. He is the author of Reading While Black as well as articles for the New York Times.

Resources:

Listen to Esau’s previous episode on The Weight

Order Esau’s books: Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope and How Far to the Promised Land: One Black Family's Story of Hope and Survival in the American South.

Read Esau’s articles in The New York Times here: https://www.nytimes.com/by/esau-mccaulley 

Follow Esau on the web: https://esaumccaulley.com 

Follow Esau on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

This episode goes deep into the theological concept of atonement. You may not know what atonement is (broadly, the reconciliation of the relationship between God and people through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ), but today’s guest is here to help. Fred Anderson, author of Why Did Jesus Die and What Does That Have to Do with Me?, is pastor emeritus at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City. He retired after forty-two years in ministry, but also served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War and is the author of hymn texts.

His book, Why Did Jesus Die…, looks at atonement biblically, theologically, historically, and sacramentally to give us a more holistic view of--and perhaps a better way to approach--the concept, which has come to mean more about what we can do to make things better, rather than what God has already done to reconcile our relationship with God.

Resources:

Buy Why Did Jesus Die and What Does That Have to Do with Me?

Don’t give up.

If you take anything away from today’s episode, let it be that simple phrase: Don’t give up. Eddie and Chris talk to Nick Connolly, founder and lead pastor of Bright City Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Nick has a few good words to share with anyone facing hardships, defeat, or resistance. His new book, Don’t Give Up Just Yet, comes out in February 2024 and offers some practical ways to work through doubt, seasons of waiting, and letting life’s difficulties strengthen your faith in God and the path God has ready for you.

Resources:

Bright City Church

Follow Nick on Instagram and Twitter

Pre-order Don’t Give Up Just Yet

Conflict in the Middle East.  It’s a phrase that has been a part of global conversations for years. The assumption is that any ongoing issues are the result of thousands of years of disagreement and strife, but the reality is that the current violence is a much more recent problem.

Today’s guest on The Weight gives us a framework and some history to think more critically about how we engage the news around Israel and Hamas. Dr. Graham Pitts is the Assistant Professor of History and Middle Eastern Studies at the Croft Institute for International Studies at the University of Mississippi. His focuses are food, famine, and environmental history in Lebanon and the Middle East. He first encountered Lebanon while he was a student at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, and his time studying abroad only increased his passion for the people of that region. Graham earned his Ph.D. at Georgetown University, and has worked at North Carolina State, Georgetown, and George Washington University.

Resources: 

Follow Graham on Twitter

Learn more about Graham’s research and writing

In this episode, Chris talks about the book Apeirogon by Colum McCann. You can buy that book here.

Transitions are often hard, especially when the transition comes after 27 years of following one career path. For Jorge Acevedo, following the ancient paths while creating new ones is making his transition into retirement a little easier. 

Jorge retired in August 2023 from Grace Church in Cape Coral, Florida, after serving as pastor there for 27 years. Jorge has degrees from Asbury College and Asbury Theological Seminary, as well as a Doctor of Ministry degree from United Theological Seminary. He is a writer, a speaker, and a leadership coach who uses his years as a pastor and a leader to coach new leaders into building sustainable leadership practices.

Resources:

Learn more about Jorge at his website, jorgeacevedo.com

Follow Jorge on Facebook and Twitter

Find out more information about and buy his books here

Mentioned in this episode: 

John Ortberg, Become New

John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way

Dallas Willard

Ruth Haley Barton

Astonished by the Word by Dr. Brian Russell