The Final Service podcast

The Final Service

Church membership in the U.S. has fallen off a cliff and pastors across the country are trying to save their congregations from shrinking to zero. Why have so many people left Christianity and can pastors do anything to save their churches from dying?

Church membership in the U.S. has fallen off a cliff and pastors across the country are trying to save their congregations from shrinking to zero. Why have so many people left Christianity and can pastors do anything to save their churches from dying?

 

#155

EP4. Stigma

A  church in decline tries to reinvent itself, and its young members struggle with how to ... more

01 May 2025

55 MINS

55:59

01 May 2025


#154

EP3. Chicago

Julian Deshazier is a rapper and a pastor. That sounds like it would be appealing to kids ... more

24 Apr 2025

33 MINS

33:33

24 Apr 2025


#153

EP2. Little Lithuania

Christian Allyn is proud to be Lithuanian. So when he found out that the archbishop was go... more

17 Apr 2025

32 MINS

32:00

17 Apr 2025


#152

EP1. The Mayordomos

This is the first chapter in a four-part series about church closures in America. Lorraine... more

10 Apr 2025

41 MINS

41:05

10 Apr 2025


#151

Trailer

Notice anything about churches in America? In a lot of place they're boarded up. Converted... more

03 Apr 2025

03 MINS

03:09

03 Apr 2025


#150

Jonathan Rauch on the Limits of MAGA and Trump

One theme was consistent throughout this election year: the assertion that democracy was u... more

02 Jan 2025

26 MINS

26:15

02 Jan 2025


#149

Ambassador Michael McFaul: Ukrainians May Fight On, Even with a Trump/Putin Deal

In less than three weeks, Donald Trump will be back in the White House, and we’re waiting ... more

30 Dec 2024

27 MINS

27:06

30 Dec 2024


#148

Why You’re Probably Not Going to Church this Christmas

100,000, that’s the estimated number of Protestant churches that will close in the U.S… no... more

23 Dec 2024

52 MINS

52:58

23 Dec 2024


#147

Overuse of Antibiotics and the Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance

When bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites change over time and no longer respond to med... more

19 Dec 2024

24 MINS

24:12

19 Dec 2024


#146

Denier-in-Chief: The Threat of Trump and RFK, Jr’s Health Policy

Third party candidate, Robert Kennedy, Jr., played an out-sized role in the 2024 president... more

16 Dec 2024

28 MINS

28:51

16 Dec 2024


#145

Millions of Deportations? Just How Tough Trump Might Get on Immigration

One issue where President-elect Trump hammered home the differences between his plans and ... more

09 Dec 2024

53 MINS

53:00

09 Dec 2024


#144

Ian Bremmer on What to Expect from Trump 2.0

Donald Trump has successfully defied the political odds for almost a decade – largely beca... more

02 Dec 2024

53 MINS

53:00

02 Dec 2024


#143

Yascha Mounk on How To Save Diverse Democracies

Diversity has often been seen as the United States’ defining strength – but today, some Am... more

25 Nov 2024

53 MINS

53:00

25 Nov 2024


#142

Mike Madrid: Latino Voters and the Working Class ‘Tectonic Shift’

In 2020, Latinos became the second largest ethnic voting group in the United States, and t... more

18 Nov 2024

53 MINS

53:00

18 Nov 2024


#141

Steve Schmidt: Trump’s Victory is a Disaster for the Democratic Party

According to Steve Schmidt, if you want to understand how the Democrats failed against Don... more

11 Nov 2024

40 MINS

40:07

11 Nov 2024