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This episode explores the complexities of spiritual evolution and its impact on marriages and relationships. Our friend Keri Ladouceur shares her wisdom, and we discuss stories of navigating changing faith and the strain it can place on intimate partnerships. We cover how questioning beliefs impacts relationships, emotional labor amidst change, the stigma and fear surrounding deconstruction, open communication and mutual support, and what hope there is for couples undergoing religious transitions. If this is a place you find yourself, we hope this conversation is beneficial. You are not alone.

Content note: This episode contains profanity.

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Faith deconstruction has become a defining trend in American Christianity, and disagreement persists about what’s driving it. In this episode, we talk with Scot McKnight and Tommy Preson Phillips about their book Invisible Jesus, which considers why so many Christians are critically re-examining their faith. Rather than treating deconstruction as a problem to be solved, they argue that it's a response to real issues—abuse of power, rigid fundamentalism, and a version of Christianity that often looks nothing like Jesus.

Drawing on research from Pew, Gallup, and other studies, McKnight and Phillips unpack what people are actually saying when they step away from the faith communities they grew up in. Some leave Christianity altogether, but most are trying to rebuild something more honest and life-giving. What does it mean to lose faith in the institution but still be drawn to Jesus? And how should the church respond to that tension?

This conversation is for anyone who has wrestled with doubt, walked alongside someone in deconstruction, or wondered what’s next for the church in light of these shifts. Join us as we dig into what’s happening, why it matters, and what a more faithful future might look like.

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The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.

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This is one of our favorite interviews we've ever done. Nicholas Ma (son of famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma) is a filmmaker best known for producing the 2018 documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? about Fred Rogers. We speak with him about his latest documentary Leap of Faith, which follows a group of Christian pastors from diverse sociocultural and demographic backgrounds in the Grand Rapids, MI area for a year as they attempt to form community across theological and social dividing lines. The film is a challenging and raw exploration of vulnerability and what it means to practice Christian faith in our political moment. Nicholas himself is a gentle, kind, empathetic, and almost preternaturally wise person who made us a bit more hopeful about our situation. We also get a chance to discuss Mister Rogers and what we can learn from him in this moment.

The video clip of Nicholas playing piano with his dad on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood as a child can be seen in part here.

We had intended to release this episode at Christmas, but life got in the way. Somehow it seems even more fitting to release it today, when we remember Martin Luther King Jr. as we simultaneously inaugurate the most divisive and authoritarian President in our nation's history. We know that conversations like this can sometimes feel trite in contexts like that, like putting a band-aid on a hemorrhage. But Nicholas helps us refocus, to think not about what's insurmountable, but about what is manageable in our particular context. To look, as Fred said, for the helpers, and to ask again what it means to love our neighbor.

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Want to support us?

The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.

If you'd rather make a one-time donation, you can contribute through our PayPal.

Other important info:

• Rate & review us on Apple & Spotify
• Follow us on social media at @PPWBPodcast
• Watch & comment on YouTube
• Email us at pastorandphilosopher@gmail.com

Cheers!