#1313 Ryan Burge: The Vanishing Church
RECORDED ON APRIL 10th 2026.
Dr. Ryan Burge is Professor of Practice at the John C. Danforth Center at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Burge is a political scientist whose research focuses on the impact of religion on American life, especially politics. His popular Substack newsletter “Graphs about Religion” has tens of thousands of subscribers and is read millions of times annually. He is the author of The Vanishing Church: How the Hollowing Out of Moderate Congregations Is Hurting Democracy, Faith, and Us.
In this episode, we focus on The Vanishing Church. We start by discussing what moderate religion is, progressive and liberal religious sects, and recent trends in Evangelical Christianity, Mainline Protestantism, Catholicism, and the Nones. We talk about religious polarization in the US, and how that manifests socially and politically. Finally, we discuss whether religion can become less polarized, and what effects the decline of the church could have.
Time Links:
Intro
What is moderate religion?
Progressive and liberal religious sects
Trends in Evangelical Christianity, Mainline Protestantism, Catholicism, and the Nones
Is religion on the decline?
Religious polarization in the US
Can religion become less polarized?
What effects could the decline of the church have?
Follow Dr. Burge’s work!
Follow Dr. Burge’s work:
Faculty page: https://tinyurl.com/3sjswtfn
Google Scholar page: https://tinyurl.com/3p8tc7zv
The Vanishing Church: https://tinyurl.com/4tthk3ab
X handle: @ryanburge