The Christian Chronicle Podcast

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

  1. Episode 153: Faith that is out of this world (Astronaut Victor Glover)

    2D AGO

    Episode 153: Faith that is out of this world (Astronaut Victor Glover)

    On Wednesday, April 1, four astronauts blasted into space for a historic mission to the far side of the moon. The pilot, Captain Victor Glover, is a Church of Christ member who often speaks of his faith with candor and clarity. As the BBC reported, Captain Glover took his Bible with him more than 250,000 miles from Earth.  This episode is a replay of Captain Glover's May 2023 conversation with The Christian Chronicle Podcast, when NASA first announced that he would be part of the Artemis II mission to the moon. Donate to support this ministry of "information and inspiration" at christianchronicle.org/donate Send your comments, ideas, and suggestions to podcast@christianchronicle.org Join the Hope for Haiti's Children Lunch Club at thelunchclub.org Support African Christian Schools Foundation at africanchristianschools.org

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

    MAR 21

    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 Join the Hope for Haiti's Children Lunch Club at thelunchclub.org Support African Christian Schools Foundation at africanchristianschools.org

    33 min
  3. Episode 151: Why heaven and hell may not be what you think (Rubel Shelly)

    MAR 4

    Episode 151: Why heaven and hell may not be what you think (Rubel Shelly)

    Bible scholar and prolific book-writer Rubel Shelly returns to talk about his two new books on heaven and hell. In this episode, he explains why heaven and hell may not be what most Christians always imagined them to be. Link to Heaven: Why It May Not Be What You Have Always Heart, by Rubel Shelly Link to Hell: Why It May Not Be What You Have Always Heard, by Rubel Shelly Donate to support this ministry of "information and inspiration" at christianchronicle.org/donate Send your comments, ideas, and suggestions to podcast@christianchronicle.org Join the Hope for Haiti's Children Lunch Club at thelunchclub.org Support African Christian Schools Foundation at africanchristianschools.org Practice the life of Jesus with Healing Hands International at hhi.org

    1h 6m
  4. Episode 150: How a church from the 1920s is still ahead of its time in the 2020s (Harold Shank)

    FEB 3

    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 Join the Hope for Haiti's Children Lunch Club at thelunchclub.org Support African Christian Schools Foundation at africanchristianschools.org

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

    JAN 22

    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 Join the Hope for Haiti's Children Lunch Club at thelunchclub.org Support African Christian Schools Foundation at africanchristianschools.org Practice the life of Jesus with Healing Hands International at hhi.org

    46 min
  6. Episode 148: Church of Christ congregations and ICE may be on a collision course in Chicago

    JAN 15

    Episode 148: Church of Christ congregations and ICE may be on a collision course in Chicago

    Lakeview Church of Christ and Northwest Church of Christ, both in Chicago, have long histories ministering to their neighbors and welcoming strangers into their pews. For decades, migration trends mean that many of their members and neighbors are from countries beyond the United States.  For both Lakeview and Northwest, embracing and supporting these newcomers has always been a simple matter of obedience to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ and the laws of the kingdom of God as the Gospel of Matthew 25:31-46.  Changes in attitudes among some U.S. voters, however, led to a new federal administration that promised to deport 10 million illegal immigrants in 2025. Federal law enforcement is now deploying personnel and tactics that are affecting Lakeview and Northwest members and neighbors.  Which raises difficult questions for congregational leaders. What will they do when obedience to the Christ could bring them to not comply or not cooperate with the U.S. government? What will they do if law enforcement tries to enlist, search or surveil their congregations? In this episode we hear from Chicago ministers Walter Pierce (Lakeview Church of Christ) and Carlos Estrada and Patrick Odum (Northwest Church of Christ). Link to an archive of The Christian Chronicle's coverage of Lakeview Church of Christ Link to an archive of The Christian Chronicle's coverage of Northwest 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 Join the Hope for Haiti's Children Lunch Club at thelunchclub.org Support African Christian Schools Foundation at africanchristianschools.org Practice the life of Jesus with Healing Hands International at hhi.org

    1h 2m
  7. Episode 147: Church of Christ history for the next generation (Luke Dockery and Jared Pack)

    12/22/2025

    Episode 147: Church of Christ history for the next generation (Luke Dockery and Jared Pack)

    Kids and young adults growing up in congregations with "Church of Christ" signs on their buildings have honest questions: "Who are we? How did we become who we are? Why do we do what we do?" These are important questions for young Christians trying to decide whether to remain with the church of their upbringing or strike out in search of something different. And, if "restoration" truly is essential to Christians who identify with the Church of Christ, then it must be a fresh practice for each new generation. These are the reasons why Church of Christ youth ministry veterans Luke Dockery and Jared Pack wrote Origin Story: Churches of Christ and the Restoration Movement.   The book, which uses comic book illustrations and fast-moving, punchy language, seeks to orient a new generation to Church of Christ history. In this episode, the authors discuss why church history beyond the New Testament is still crucial for present-day Christians to learn and study. They also make their case that restoring the New Testament church is always a present and future pursuit and never a past-tense accomplishment. Thus, restoration demands both an awareness of history and an orientation toward emerging generations. Link to Zack Martin's Christian Chronicle review of Origin Story Link to Origin Story: Churches of Christ and the Restoration Movement Donate to support this ministry of "information and inspiration" at christianchronicle.org/donate Send your comments, ideas, and suggestions to podcast@christianchronicle.org Join the Hope for Haiti's Children Lunch Club at thelunchclub.org Support African Christian Schools Foundation at africanchristianschools.org

    36 min
  8. Episode 146: How can our Christian colleges keep margins from replacing mission? (Joshua Travis Brown)

    12/15/2025

    Episode 146: How can our Christian colleges keep margins from replacing mission? (Joshua Travis Brown)

    Declining birthrates in the United States will drive down college enrollment over the next 15 years. Some experts predict that hundreds of small private colleges and universities will close. Of the 14 colleges and universities in the Church of Christ family tree, as many as ten of them have characteristics that put them at higher risk in the new higher education market. Many of these schools are innovating in ways that cut costs, increase operating margins and revenue and at least give them a chance to grow or maintain enrollment enough to survive. But will a necessary focus on margins lead to less focus on mission? Dr. Joshua Travis Brown, assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Education and research fellow with the Center for Skills, Knowledge and Organizational Performance at the University of Oxford, shares what he found when he researched how small private colleges are managing tradeoffs between margins and mission. That research appears in his book, Capitalizing on College: How Higher Education Went From Mission Driven to Margin Obsessed (Oxford Press). Donate to support this ministry of "information and inspiration" at christianchronicle.org/donate Send your comments, ideas, and suggestions to podcast@christianchronicle.org Join the Hope for Haiti's Children Lunch Club at thelunchclub.org Support African Christian Schools Foundation at africanchristianschools.org

    36 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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