Ryan Burge on The Vanishing Church: How Polarization Is Hollowing Out American Faith

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: [email protected] this conversation, we’re joined by Ryan Burge, professor of practice at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics and author of The Vanishing Church. Burge walks us through what the data actually shows about religion in America—especially the quiet collapse of mainline Protestantism and the growing alignment between political identity and religious affiliation. We talk about why religious change is usually slow, why the 1990s marked a real inflection point, and how churches that once brought politically diverse Americans together are disappearing. The result, Burge argues, is not just a weaker church, but a weaker democracy—more isolated, more polarized, and less capable of holding disagreement without rupture.Book MentionedThe Vanishing Church: How the Hollowing Out of Moderate Congregations Is Hurting Democracy, Faith, and Us: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9781587436697Guest BioRyan Burge is a sociologist of religion and political scientist who studies religious change, polarization, and the rise of the religiously unaffiliated. He serves as Professor of Practice at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. Before entering academia full-time, Burge spent nearly two decades as a local church pastor. He is the author of The Nones, The Great Dechurching, and The Vanishing Church, and writes regularly at his Substack, Graphs About Religion. Support Sarah Stankorb’s work and preorder Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, Releases September 15, 2026.  Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889837091Website: https://www.sarahstankorb.com/Support the showKeep the conversation going.Want to learn more about Faithful Politics, suggest a future guest, or connect with us directly?Visit our website:faithfulpoliticspodcast.comBrowse our bookstore, featuring books from many of our guests:faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstoreSupport the show and help us keep these conversations going:patreon.com/cw/FaithfulPoliticsSubscribe for behind-the-scenes content, reflections, and updates:faithfulpolitics.substack.comContact the hosts:Josh Burtram, Faithful Host: [email protected] Wright, Political Host: [email protected] Faithful Politics:Instagram: faithful_politicsFacebook: FaithfulPoliticsPodcast