A Different Kind of Conference

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Next Thursday, the eleventh annual Church & Culture Conference will take place via livestream from Mecklenburg Community Church (Meck) in Charlotte, NC. If you have not attended before, you may be wondering what the vision is for this event.

Heaven knows the Christian world doesn’t need another conference that is just like every other conference. You know the drill: the same eight or 10 speakers currently hot on the circuit, the same “pep rally” atmosphere. Yes, they serve a purpose, but we have them in ready supply.

In its earlier years, Meck offered what we called the “New Work Conference.” It was for church planters, and we served countless numbers, but we stopped after a while because we had grown distant from our own church planting days and because the church planting world was changing rapidly. There were simply churches better positioned for that role.

But it was rich while it lasted. Why? Because it really did fill a niche. So we waited until another very clear niche presented itself.

It did.

There are conferences that bring the latest insights into leadership, but where is the conference that brings the latest insights into culture?

And not just cultural insight, but practical applications for the local church in light of those insights? If our mission is the evangelization and transformation of culture through the centrality of the local church, then two things must follow: we must understand the times, and then we must know what to do.

We must understand our culture and how best to respond to it,

… penetrate it,

… reach it,

… and transform it.

And we must understand how to do that through the local church. It is not that other means do not exist for the mission, but Jesus created and charged the Church to be in the vanguard.

So the vision for the annual Church & Culture Conference is simple: to bring the latest, best insights about culture to the surface and to explore how to practically respond as a church, being mindful of those insights. 

This year is no different.

We’ll be bringing entirely fresh content and new challenges anchored by the living laboratory of Meck that experiences more than 70% of its growth from the previously unchurched.

We’re offering the event via livestream, with the option to watch on demand for six weeks. So, whether you’re joining from another time zone in the U.S. or from another country around the world, there is no need to worry—you can access the content whenever your schedule allows.

So what’s on the docket for the 2025 Conference?

Session 1: The Cultural Study We've Been Waiting for... and What It Tells Us

Pew Research Center’s most recent Religious Landscape Study (RLS), last conducted in 2014, was released this year. The RLS surveys more than 35,000 Americans in every state concerning their religious affiliations, beliefs, and practices, along with their social and political views and demographic characteristics. It is the largest and most significant study of its kind. As David Campbell, a political scientist at the University of Notre Dame, said to the New York Times, “It is difficult to overstate the importance of the survey to the understanding of American religion.” In this session, I'll dive into the findings and uncover the two most significant headlines it gave us.

Session 2: A Conversation with Christian Smith on "Why Religion Went Obsolete"

Christian Smith is no stranger to readers of the blogs and podcasts flowing from the Church & Culture team. As one of the leading sociologists of our day, his research and writing have set the standard for understanding so many critical dynamics of culture. His latest book may be his tour de force. While the “rise of the nones” is now commonly understood, what Smith does in his most recent book - Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America - is examine “why” this has happened. Drawing on extensive survey data and hundreds of interviews, Smith offers the best analysis to date of why so many Americans have lost their faith in traditional religion. As you'll find out in our conversation, it's not just one thing.

Session 3: A Conversation with Stephen Presley on Learning from the Early Church

Many believe there are clear parallels between our post-Christian world and the pagan culture so hostile to Christianity during the first few centuries of its attempt to grow. Yet grow it did. By A.D. 100, there were around 7,500 followers of Jesus. By the mid-300s, there were more than 30,000,000. Dr. Stephen O. Presley wrote a critically acclaimed work titled Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the World Like the Early Church. In this session, I'll talk with Dr. Presley about the five areas from which we should learn from those first Christians - identity, citizenship, intellectual life, public life, and hope - and the roadmaps they offer for our day. They had neither a "fight" nor "flight" mentality, but instead chose to sanctify culture - and in ways still possible for the church today.

Session 4: Our New World (that no one wants to talk about)

This year marked a significant milestone - it's been five years since the worldwide pandemic began. We now know how it has changed our world, but not many people want to talk about “how”. Or, more to the point, people seem unwilling to accept that certain changes are here to stay. But as the New York Times put it, we are now "living in the branch of history [the pandemic] created... and its contours are only now coming into view." This session will outline the most significant changes that the pandemic has made to our world, along with the significance of each change to the life of the church.

Session 5: A Conversation with John Hendrix on the Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien

Few individuals have shaped the minds of contemporary Christians more than C.S. Lewis. His good friend J.R.R. Tolkien did his fair share of cultural shaping as well. John Hendrix wrote an exceptionally well-informed and researched book, creatively presented as a graphic novel, on their lives titled The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. It explores their personal biographies, their friendship, their creativity, their thinking, their motivations, and, of course, their faith. We'll discuss the key revelations, insights, and ongoing significance of their lives. And specifically, the great ideas of the "myth that came true" from Lewis and Tolkien's shared project.

Session 6: Meet Generation Alpha

In 2017, I released my book Meet Generation Z: Understanding and Reaching the New Post-Christian World. In the final session of the conference, I'll provide a key introduction to another new generation: Generation Alpha. The oldest member of this newest generation is around 14 years old, with the youngest having just been born last year. Generation Alpha are among the most unique of all generations, having been raised in an entirely online world, along with being the generation most marked by the pandemic. They are currently estimated to become the largest generation in history, at more than two billion people. Raised by Millennials and shaped by AI, it's time to become acquainted with Generation Alpha and what reaching them might mean for the church.

Sound interesting and practical? That’s our hope.

Along with the hope that you will join us. You can access all of the registration details here. 

James Emery White

Photo Courtesy: ©Church & Culture Team/Rachel Hill
Published Date: September 8, 2025 

James Emery White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, NC, and a former professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also served as their fourth president. His latest book, Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age, is now available on Amazon or from your favorite bookseller. To enjoy a free subscription to the Church & Culture blog, visit churchandculture.org where you can view past blogs in our archive, read the latest church and culture news from around the world, and listen to the Church & Culture Podcast. Follow Dr. White on X, Facebook, and Instagram at @JamesEmeryWhite.