The Christian Chronicle Podcast

The Christian Chronicle Podcast explores the news and stories shaping Church of Christ congregations and members around the world. 

  1. Episode 154: Why church history is bigger than the New Testament (Dyron Daughrity)

    29 Apr

    Episode 154: Why church history is bigger than the New Testament (Dyron Daughrity)

    Church of Christ folks sometimes have an uneasy relationship with church history outside of the New Testament. In a tradition that esteems the Bible as the singular authority and pattern for the church, it may feel weird or wrong to explore church history from other sources. Dr. Dyron Daughrity is a Church of Christ kid who not only grew up to be a local Church of Christ minister, he became a historian. And not just a historian; Dr. Daughrity recently became the next president of the American Society of Church History. In this episode, Dr. Daughrity argues that the project to restore primitive New Testament Christianity encourages knowing the history of the church in the 2,000 years between Acts of the Apostles and today. He also makes the case for Church of Christ folks exploring their more recent roots in the Stone-Campbell Movement. For fun, he reveals the characters and events in recent Church of Christ history that may not be household names, but are worth knowing and studying. Link to Dr. Dyron Daughrity's faculty biography at Pepperdine University Link to The Bible: Our Final Authority, the latest book by Dr. Dyron Daughrity Link to Dr. Daughrity's author page at amazon.com Donate to support this ministry of "information and inspiration" at christianchronicle.org/donate Send your comments, ideas, and suggestions to podcast@christianchronicle.org Help your congregation or organization grow in generosity. Study Growing Into Generosity by Clark Dickerson. Let Clark help you. Call (303) 886-4531 or email clarkl.dickerson@yahoo.com.

    41 min
  2. Episode 152: Who belongs in a national Church of Christ directory? (Dr. Suzie Macaluso)

    21 Mar

    Episode 152: Who belongs in a national Church of Christ directory? (Dr. Suzie Macaluso)

    Church of Christ lifers may remember Churches of Christ in the United States, an annual directory of, you guessed it, all Church of Christ congregations in the United States. The last edition came out in 2018. In 2024, The Christian Chronicle, Heritage 21 Foundation, Siburt Institute and 21st Century Christian formed a partnership, the Church Research Council, to resume publication of Churches of Christ in the United States.  But making a directory of Church of Christ congregations is not as easy as it may seem. First, there is the challenge of tracking down 10,000 to 12,000 independent congregations across 50 states and territories. Then there's the fact that some congregations will resist participating for a variety of reasons, including how creating a directory feels "denominational" to congregations that avoid anything that resembles that label.  And then there's the harder question of all: What is a "Church of Christ" and who gets to decide? In this episode, Dr. Suzie Macaluso, the lead researcher on the Churches of Christ in the United States project, talks about the challenges and implications of the directory on how Church of Christ folks imagine themselves and how they relate to one another. Link to Cheryl Mann Bacon's Christian Chronicle story on the challenges of compiling a new Churches of Christ in the United States Help your congregation or organization grow in generosity. Study Growing Into Generosity by Clark Dickerson. Let Clark help you. Call (303) 886-4531 or email clarkl.dickerson@yahoo.com.

    33 min
  3. Episode 150: How a church from the 1920s is still ahead of its time in the 2020s (Harold Shank)

    3 Feb

    Episode 150: How a church from the 1920s is still ahead of its time in the 2020s (Harold Shank)

    How many Church of Christ congregations in the United States baptized 8,000 people in their first 20 years? Central Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee, did. Forming in 1925, the Central Church of Christ did not choose to assemble in the desirable, fast-growing, upwardly-mobile parts of Nashville. Rather, the congregation chose to put down roots in the highest-crime, highest-poverty part of town.  Backed by philanthropist A.M. Burton, Central Church of Christ activated a dazzling array of community services and ministries that would seem ahead of their time even today. Led by minister E.H. Ijams, the congregation operated from the belief that announcing the kingdom of God and practicing neighbor love are one and the same. In this episode, Ijams's protege and student, Harold Shank, talks about the legacy of Central Church of Christ and what congregations around the world today can learn from it today. Link to The Christian Chronicle's archive of coverage of the Central Church of Christ Link to It's All About God, Harold Shank's book about E.H. Ijams and the Central Church of Christ Donate to support this ministry of "information and inspiration" at christianchronicle.org/donate Send your comments, ideas, and suggestions to podcast@christianchronicle.org Help your congregation or organization grow in generosity. Study Growing Into Generosity by Clark Dickerson. Let Clark help you. Call (303) 886-4531 or email clarkl.dickerson@yahoo.com.

    34 min
  4. Episode 149: How the church can make peace in a world that seems to want war (Tryce Prince)

    22 Jan

    Episode 149: How the church can make peace in a world that seems to want war (Tryce Prince)

    These days, the heat and wind of the political environment is kindling even in some Christians what seems to be an appetite for rage, revenge and violence. When the church of Christ allows itself to be set ablaze by politics, how can it demonstrate the grace and peace of the kingdom of God? How can it bear witness to the reconciling and redemptive work of Jesus Christ? How can it be a refuge for those who are exhausted and wounded by the acrimony of our times? Recorded in late 2025, this conversation with Tryce Prince addresses these questions head-on. Prince is director of the Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and and Spiritual Action at Abilene Christian University, contributes to the Good Culture Show podcast and writes at the First Sunday Substack. He recently published an essay, "Fighting Fire with Plants" in Christianity Today.  As the church searches its soul and tries to find solutions to the crises of these times, Prince points to a branch of the Christian family tree from recent history. The Black church in the United States responded to hateful and violent circumstances in the 19th and 20th centuries by cultivating a "beloved community" of proactive and purposeful love and peace-making. Donate to support this ministry of "information and inspiration" at christianchronicle.org/donate Send your comments, ideas, and suggestions to podcast@christianchronicle.org Help your congregation or organization grow in generosity. Study Growing Into Generosity by Clark Dickerson. Let Clark help you. Call (303) 886-4531 or email clarkl.dickerson@yahoo.com.

    44 min

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The Christian Chronicle Podcast explores the news and stories shaping Church of Christ congregations and members around the world. 

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