In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss how for many people, Advent is simply a countdown to Christmas. Few seem to truly know the rich Christian tradition of Advent as it falls on the liturgical calendar. The word “advent” means “coming,” and the season of Advent within the Church is to be a time when we are preparing spiritually for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. In fact, so many of the traditions connected with Christmastime also have a rich Christian history and can all serve to help keep Christ in Christmas when you know their deeper meaning.

This conversation was sparked by an article in The Atlantic titled, “Advent Calendars Are Totally Out of Control.” It seems as though culture has commandeered this tradition of counting down to Christmas and cultivated a “little treat culture,” all about businesses making money and people treating themselves. You can read that article in full HERE. Dr. White mentioned another article that he read in a similar vein titled, “Shoppers still can't get enough of Advent calendars, and brands are racing to keep up with demand.” You can find that article HERE.

Dr. White mentioned that a great way to combat the drift in culture regarding Advent is to take part in what's known as “The Advent Conspiracy.” This idea was brought forth in a book written by Rick McKinley, Chris Seay and Greg Holder called Advent Conspiracy: Making Christmas Meaningful Again (Zondervan). At Mecklenburg Community Church, where Dr. White serves as the senior pastor, this is fleshed out in a few ways. First and foremost, we make sure that the focus of the season of Advent is on Jesus' birthday, and that a great way to honor Him is by giving to the least and the lost in our world. We call it “Giving to Christ at Christmas,” and you can read more about it HERE.

Another way that we've done this is through strategic message series that Dr. White has given over the years during the season of Advent. These include “The Advent Conspiracy,” “Keeping Christ in Christmas” and “I Need You Christmas.”

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In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the results of a multi-year study of about 24,000 church attenders that was conducted by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. The goal was to examine their church engagement. A particular finding stood out, which was that 46% of those 24,000 churchgoers reported active engagement with more than one church. For purposes of the study, they defined “active engagement” as attending in person, watching online or on TV, or taking part in both physical and virtual offerings. So this begs the question: What drives people to want to participate in a variety of church services?

During today's discussion, Dr. White outlined three categories of churchgoers: the church hopper, the church shopper and the church dropper. He also wrote a blog about this topic titled “Church Hopping, Shopping and Dropping,” which you can read HERE.

It's also important to have a clear understanding of what Church is meant to be, and how we are called to engage with the community of the local church. Dr. White delivered a two-week series at Mecklenburg Community Church called “This Is Us,” which outlined the values and the mission of Meck. And then another incredibly helpful series was simply titled “Being Church” and explored what true biblical community looks like. You can find that series HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.