Divisive rhetoric on the national stage may have subsided, but in our own communities, congregations, and even families, Americans may be more divided than ever. This week on State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, we will explore how people are building connections in their congregations and greater communities.

A growing number of self-identified Evangelical Christian leaders are turning to identities such as “post-Evangelical” to explore a more generous and inclusive vision of their faith. A recent gathering of Evangelical faith leaders in Indiana intended to explore this situation revealed both the depths of alienation, and the hunger for healing. Pastor Mike Goldsworthy, organizer of the Post Evangelical Pastor and Leader Gathering, will join Rev. Welton Gaddy, host of State of Belief, to discuss the gathering, and how he is building a network with fellow disaffected Evangelical pastors.

Among the many surveys the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute regularly conducts, it’s the American Values Survey that offers perhaps the most comprehensive look at who we are – and who we think we are – as a nation. Welton will sit down with Dr. Robert P. Jones, CEO of PRRI, to discuss this year’s findings.

White supremacy and Christian nationalism go hand in hand – one need not look further than the symbolism present on January 6. Religion historian Dr. Randall Balmer, author of Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right, will join Welton to discuss how a movement which strongly supported abolitionism drifted into the trap of exploiting race in the pursuit of power and dominance.

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