Spiritual Not Religious, Sunday School Revival, and Why Go To Church?

We’re continuing our summer series with an episode about the state of the church, highlighting favorite conversations from The Bulletin archive. Daniel Silliman, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper discuss trends in Americans’ religiosity and spirituality from a 2025 Pew survey. Then, Beth Moore joins the show to talk about the importance of Sunday School for adults, and why small groups may not be meeting the same needs. Finally, church planter and author of the book The Reason for Church Brad Edwards sits down with Mike to talk about why he encouraged his congregation to briefly stop inviting others to church, the danger of viewing church as a vehicle for Christian self-actualization, and why physical participation in the gospel narrative is vital. REFERENCED IN THE SHOW: The Hartford Institute for Religion Research’s report on congregational health since the pandemic. GO DEEPER WITH THE BULLETIN: Join the conversation at our Substack. Find us on YouTube. Rate and review the show in your podcast app of choice. ABOUT THE GUESTS: Daniel Silliman is a journalist and a historian. He is the news editor for Christianity Today, the author of a religious biography of Richard Nixon, and a teacher of humanities at Milligan University. Beth Moore is a dynamic teacher whose conferences take her across the globe. She has written numerous best-selling books and Bible studies. She is also the founder and visionary of Living Proof Ministries, based in Houston. Brad Edwards is the lead pastor and church planter of The Table Church in Lafayette, Colorado. He is a regular contributor to Mere Orthodoxy and The Gospel Coalition, and he cohosts the podcast PostEverything. He is Christianity Today’s 2025 Book of the Year winner for his book The Reason for Church. ABOUT THE BULLETIN: The Bulletin is a twice-weekly news analysis podcast from Christianity Today, with editor-at-large Russell Moore. Each episode offers commentary on current events and headlining news with a roundtable of premier guests, and shares a Christian perspective on issues that are shaping our world The Bulletin listeners get 25% off CT. Go to https://orderct.com/THEBULLETIN to learn more. “The Bulletin” is a production of Christianity Today Host: Alexa Copeland Associate Producer: Alexa Copeland Editing and Mix: Kevin Morris Graphic Design: Rick Szuecs Music: Dan Phelps Executive Producer: Erik Petrik Senior Producer: Matt Stevens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices