It's an honor to welcome new guest Curtis Chang to Reconciliation Roundtable to discuss his efforts to bridge partisan divides through his work on the The Good Faith Podcast and The After Party project. In this episode, we delve into the importance of addressing spiritual dysfunctions in the Church and fostering meaningful dialogues across differences. Curtis offers helpful insights into overcoming political polarization, the temptations of power, and finding hope and mission in local communities.

Curtis Chang is a consulting professor at Duke Divinity School and a Senior Fellow at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is also a former senior pastor of an Evangelical Covenant Church in San Jose, California. Curtis is the author of The Anxiety Opportunity: How Worry Is the Doorway to Your Best Self (2023) and co-author with Nancy French of The After Party: Toward Better Christian Politics (2024).

Curtis is the Executive Director of Redeeming Babel, home of The After Party faith & politics course. He's also the host of The Good Faith Podcast, where friends who follow Jesus gather each week for conversations that matter.

He founded Redeeming Babel in 2019 to address three underlying theological problems driving the chaos and confusion of our current world. These three problems damage Christians in their interior, institutional, and societal selves:

• a mistaken spirituality of anxiety (interior)
• a missing theology of organizations (institutional)
• a misshapen approach to politics (societal)

• Redeeming Babel
• The After Party: Toward Better Christian Politics
• The Good Faith Podcast
• Facebook (@CurtisChangOfficial)
• X / Twitter (@CurtisChangRB)

In this episode, I welcome new guest Dr. Ryan Burge, an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. He is the author or co-author of four books including The Nones, 20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America, and The Great Dechurching. He has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and POLITICO. He has also appeared on 60 Minutes, where Anderson Cooper called him, "one of the leading data analysts of religion and politics in the United States." He previously served as a pastor of an American Baptist Church for over seventeen years.

Together, we dive into Ryan's journey as a researcher, data analyst, and person of faith exploring the nuanced landscape of American religion and politics. Our conversation covers the growth of the religiously unaffiliated "nones" and "dones" and examines the broader implications of religious disaffiliation across America. We also discuss the intricate dynamics between faith communities, political identities, and the strong cultural markers that influence them. Ryan sheds light on the important role that empathy, service, and community engagement play in his work and life, and underscores the significance of faithful mission over perceived success.

• Website & Books (drburge.com/books)
• Substack (@ryanburge)
• Instagram (@graphsaboutreligion)
• X/Twitter (@ryanburge)

Reverend Adam Hamilton is the founding Senior Pastor of the Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, the largest Methodist church in the U.S. Adam grew up in the Kansas City area, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Pastoral Ministry from Oral Roberts University and a Master of Divinity degree from Southern Methodist University. He is the author of numerous books, served as a presidential appointee in the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, and frequently speaks on leadership across the US.

In this episode, we discuss our collaborative work to promote kindness and depolarize America through initiatives like the Campaign for Kindness and Braver Angels. Adam shares insights on his church's growth, guiding principles, and the importance of fostering intellectual and spiritual discourse within diverse congregations. We also explore how faith communities can model respectful political dialogue and embody Christ's teachings to create a more just and equitable world.

Cathy Bien, lead director of communications and public relations at Church of the Resurrection, also joins to discuss their collaborative projects and campaigns to encourage kindness and empathy in advance of the 2024 election.

• Adam's Website & Books (adamhamilton.com/books)
• Facebook (@PastorAdamHamilton)
• X / Twitter (@RevAdamHamilton)
• Instagram (@RevAdamHamilton)
• Campaign for Kindness (campaignforkindness.com)
• Resurrection, A United Methodist Church (resurrection.church)
• Sermons on YouTube