Here’s what’s on for the 2025 Conference…

Session One: The Cultural Study We've Been Waiting For... and What It Tells Us

Pew Research Center’s most recent Religious Landscape Study (RLS), last conducted in 2014, was released this year. The RLS surveys more than 35,000 Americans in every state concerning their religious affiliations, beliefs and practices, along with their social and political views and demographic characteristics. It is the largest and most significant study of its kind. As David Campbell, a political scientist at the University of Notre Dame said to the New York Times, “It is difficult to overstate the importance of the survey to the understanding of American religion.” In this session, Dr. White will dive into the findings and uncover the two most significant headlines it gave us.

Session Two: A Conversation with Christian Smith on Why Religion Went Obsolete

Christian Smith is no stranger to readers of the blogs and podcasts flowing from the Church & Culture team. As one of the leading sociologists of our day, his research and writing has set the standard for understanding so many critical dynamics of culture. His latest book may be his tour de force. While the “rise of the nones” is now commonly understood, what Smith does in his most recent book - Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America - is examine “why” this has happened. Drawing on extensive survey data and hundreds of interviews, Smith offers the best analysis to date of why so many Americans have lost their faith in traditional religion. Hint: it's not just one thing. In this conversation, Dr. White will interview Dr. Smith on his book and its ideas.

Session Three: A Conversation with Stephen Presley on Learning from the Early Church

Many believe there are clear parallels between our post-Christian world and the pagan culture so hostile to Christianity during the first few centuries of its attempt to grow. Yet grow it did. By A.D. 100, there were around 7,500 followers of Jesus. By the mid-300s, there were more than 30,000,000. Dr. Stephen O. Presley wrote a critically-acclaimed work titled Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the World Like the Early Church. In this session, Dr. White talks with Dr. Presley about the five areas from which we should learn from those first Christians - identity, citizenship, intellectual life, public life and hope - and the roadmaps they offer for our day. They had neither a "fight" nor "flight" mentality, but instead chose to sanctify culture - and in ways still possible for the church today.

Session Four: Our New World
(that no one wants to talk about)

This year marked a significant milestone - it's been five years since the worldwide pandemic began. We now know how it has changed our world, but not many people want to talk about “how”. Or, more to the point, people seem unwilling to accept that certain changes are here to stay. But as the New York Times put it, we are now "living in the branch of history [the pandemic] created... and its contours are only now coming into view." In this session, Dr. White will outline the most significant changes that the pandemic has made to our world along with the significance of each change to the life of the church.

Session Five: A Conversation with John Hendrix on the Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien

Few individuals have shaped the mind of contemporary Christians more than C.S. Lewis. His good friend J.R.R. Tolkien did his fair share of cultural shaping as well. John Hendrix wrote an exceptionally well-informed and researched book, creatively presented as a graphic novel, on their lives titled The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. It explores their personal biographies, their friendship, their creativity, their thinking, their motivations, and, of course, their faith. In this conversation, Dr. White and John Hendrix discuss the key revelations, insights and ongoing significance of their lives. And specifically, the great ideas of the "myth that came true" from Lewis and Tolkien's shared project.

Session Six: Meet Generation Alpha

In 2017, Dr. White released his book Meet Generation Z: Understanding and Reaching the New Post-Christian World.  In the final session of the conference, Dr. White will provide a key introduction to another new generation: Generation Alpha. The oldest member of this newest generation is around 14 years old, with the youngest having just been born last year. Generation Alpha are among the most unique of all generations, having been raised in an entirely online world along with being the generation most marked by the pandemic. They are currently estimated to become the largest generation in history at more than two billion people. Raised by Millennials and shaped by AI, it's time to become acquainted with Generation Alpha and what reaching them might mean for the church.