Church Conversations About Christian Nationalism
The balloons have dropped. The party conventions are over. The main third-party candidate, Robert Kennedy Jr., exited the race. Now it’s a 10-week political sprint, with Donald Trump and J.D. Vance versus Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Societal polarization and partisan rancor will impact pastors and churches over the next 70 days — and beyond. Many are dreading this period. They don’t know how to talk about the elephant (or the donkey) in the room.
One constructive way to address the critical issues of this moment without reducing our Christian witness to a stump speech for our preferred candidate is to focus our energy and attention on Christian Nationalism. Regardless of what happens on Nov. 5, 2024 — or on Jan. 6, 2025 — the dangers of Christian Nationalism won’t be going away.
That’s one of the reasons why we created a free downloadable study guide to go along with our new book Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism.
We’ve been excited to hear from so many people about how the book has informed their thinking, but we’ve been especially encouraged to see how churches and small groups are holding sessions to dialogue about what they’re learning and to confront Christian Nationalism in their own church, denomination, or community. Here are a few examples of what we’re seeing already:
The Riverside Church in New York City has two groups about to start six-week studies of our book. The Sunday School class and the Wednesday young adult book club are part of Riverside’s special emphasis on “Faith Over Fear: Road To and Through the Election.”
A Presbyterian church in Oklahoma is studying the book ahead of Brian delivering a lecture there on Sept. 21. That church helped propel Baptizing America onto the state’s bestseller list, where the book’s been for five of the last six weeks (and we’ll note that for most of those weeks it bested Hillbilly Elegy, which means we’re clearly more popular than J.D. Vance).
The Pacific Southwest Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is offering a three-week study from which clergy can even receive continuing education credits.
A United Methodist church in Louisiana held a six-week small group study on Wednesday nights, with Brian last week zooming in during the last session to answer questions.
We’re happy to join your group virtually or in-person, so email Brian or Beau if you’d like to schedule something. As Rev. Amy Pagliarella, book review editor for the Presbyterian Outlook, wrote about Baptizing America: “The book is easily organized for a small group study, and would be an excellent choice for churches.” Our free study guide helps make that even more true.
In addition to groups studying the book, we’re encouraged by churches asking us to give a presentation (in-person or virtually) about Christian Nationalism. This includes upcoming events like Brian speaking at First Baptist Church in Kansas City, Missouri, on Sept 7, both of us leading an event with Moravian Seminary on Sept. 18, and several other opportunities with churches and denominational groups before and after the upcoming election.
The next 10 weeks offer a great opportunity to address a topic a lot of people are hearing and thinking about. But the conversations will also be important afterward, so we’re pleased to have some events already lining up for later this year and into 2025. After all, Christian Nationalism is not merely a White House problem, as seen in states like Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and beyond.
As we document in Baptizing America, Christian Nationalism is a problem beyond the conservative evangelical and Pentecostal groups usually examined and critiqued. The need for mainline churches and denominations to study their own past and present complicity with Christian Nationalism is an ongoing project. While there are a lot of excellent books confronting Christian Nationalism, only one focuses on mainline Protestants. So we guarantee you’ll learn stuff in Baptizing America you won’t find elsewhere.
Indeed, numerous scholars and faith leaders have praised our book for the unique contribution it makes. As Dr. Bradley Onishi, author of Preparing for War and co-host of the Straight White American Jesus podcast, put it, “This is a really important book because in an age where we talk a lot about Christian Nationalism .... they contribute something that I’ve not seen anywhere else.” Similarly, Dr. Robert P. Jones, author of The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and president of PRRI, said it’s “a fantastic book. It’s got a really original angle.” And Dr. Kristin Du Mez, author of Jesus and John Wayne and a professor of history, called it “an important new book,” adding that “this book will give much food for thought.” We would honestly buy any book the three of them recommended.
Whether reading on your own or in a group, we hope you’ll pick up a copy of Baptizing America. You can order it now almost anywhere you buy books online, including Bookshop, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. You can also buy it directly from Chalice Press, which is offering readers of A Public Witness 33% off the cover price when you use the promo code “BaptizingW&W.”
Once you get your copy, please share a photo on Facebook, write a positive review on Amazon, and tell others about it. By doing so, you help the word spread about our book and help with the effort to challenge a heresy that threatens democracy and distorts the Christian witness.
As a public witness,
Brian Kaylor & Beau Underwood
