S5E24 The Two Kens’ Beach Talk: The Decline of Faith Communities in America - So What?

Ken Fong and Betsey Newenhuyse join Ken Kemp for a special edition - The Two Kens and Beach Talk. Betsey made her third annual trip to California and the studios of the Beached White Male podcast. The three friends join together to interact over their weekend and a conversation is triggered by an unlikely Atlantic article (April 3, 2024, Issue) they all read - The True Cost of The Church Going Bust by self-described agnostic, Derek Thompson. In it, Thompson writes, “More than one-quarter of Americans now identify as atheists, agnostics, or religiously ‘unaffiliated,’ according to a new survey of 5,600 U.S. adults by the Public Religion Research Institute. This is the highest level of non-religiosity in the poll’s history.” The two Kens and Betsey discuss their church experience, especially the Sunday they spent together at the First Baptist Church of Pasadena (Ken Fong’s home church). Thompson argues, as a non-believer, that something profound is lost should communities of faith disappear in America. This episode has been released on both this podcast and Asian America The Ken Fong Podcast.

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