Gospelbound Top 10 Theology Stories Since 2000: Part 1
Rise Of Non Denominational Congregations
- Non-denominational churches rose sharply, fueled by internet resource sharing and church-planting networks.
- Collin links Church of the Highlands, spread of Reformed theology, and pooled online resources like The Gospel Coalition as catalysts.
Non Denominationalism Grew Fivefold
- Non-denominational affiliation rose ~3% (1972) to ~14–15% today, a fivefold increase over decades.
- Michael Graham attributes acceleration to social media incentivizing critiques of institutions and reputation spillover.
Churches Drop Denominational Labels To Avoid Association
- Denominational labels declined as churches dropped Baptist identity to avoid scandal-by-association.
- Collin points to SBC controversies and media amplification as reasons churches rebrand to non-denominational names.
Join Collin Hansen, Michael Graham, and Sarah Zylstra as they look back on the top theology stories from the last 25 years. In part 1 of this two-part series, Graham and Zylstra walk with Hansen through his stories #10 down to #6.
Since the year 2000, religion in America has changed dramatically. As recently as the 1990s, religion in America was what Tim Keller called “thick”: In general, many clergy were held in high esteem, churches were respected, and people either belonged to a congregation or knew that would be a good idea.
Yet since 2000, the percent of religious Americans has dropped and the number of nones (no religion) has jumped up from 8 percent to 22 percent—and climbing.
So while social commentators lament how much time Americans spend on our screens, describe how views on sexuality have drastically changed, identify how our politics have become sharply polarized, and observe how mental health especially in Gen Z has declined, they often miss the biggest story of all, the one underneath all the others—the decline in attention and deference to God.
In This Episode:
00:00 — The Great Dechurching: belief vs. disaffiliation
00:32 — Sarah hosts: why a 30,000-foot view now
03:26 — “Factfulness” and why we overlook positive trends
05:00 — #10: Global church leadership moving south
09:02 — Theological education hasn’t moved south at the same pace
10:03 — #9: Rise of non-denominational congregations
14:49 — Data point: non-denominationalism grows from ~3% (1972) to ~14–15% today
17:27 — Why churches drop denominational labels; media amplification; scandal-by-association
20:00 — #8: China’s church growth—and crackdown
22:07 — India, Hindu nationalism, and persecution; Nigeria and the Africa frontier
25:41 — #7: The Dechurching of America
30:24 — Apologetics after dechurching: from hostility to apathy
34:25 — Are churches fewer but stronger?
36:39 — Retention vs. conversion: why evangelical identity declines less
39:09 — #6: The Great Awokening (Ferguson to Floyd)
47:20 — Four paradigms for navigating race in America
52:44 — Wrap-up: Part 2 teaser
53:10 — Outro + where to find the podcast/newsletter
Resources Mentioned:
- Factfulness by Hans Rosling
- The Reason for God by Timothy Keller
- Making Sense of God by Timothy Keller
- A Secular Age by Charles Taylor
- Divided by Faith by Michael Emerson
- The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby
- We Have Never Been Woke by Musa al-Gharbi
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