Church Potluck: A Smorgasbord of Christian Curiosity

A Smorgasbord of Christian Curiosity! Church Potluck serves up thoughtful, friendly, informal conversation at the intersection of Christianity and contemporary culture. Just like a church potluck, we offer variety: a variety of topics, a variety of academic disciplines, and a variety of Christian traditions. Guests are friends and colleagues who are also experts in the fields of sociology, political science, theology, philosophy, divinity, and more.

Church Potluck: A Smorgasbord of Christian Curiosity is a religion podcast hosted by Dale McConkey, Host, with 106 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Dale McConkey, Host hosts Church Potluck: A Smorgasbord of Christian Curiosity, a religion show with 106 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #50

  My Baccalaureate Address: A Love Letter to Berry and Jesus

  May 8, 202625 minS4

  <p>Send us Fan Mail</p><p>I had the honor of delivering the baccalaureate address to this year's graduates of Berry College. I was grateful for the kind words of affirmation I received afterward. One colleague called it "a love letter to Berry and Jesus." That description really touched me. Here's how AI describes it in a sentence: "A deeply personal, reflective, and surprisingly joyful baccalaureate address—blending life story, faith, doubt, humor, and wisdom—centered on one simple call: keep your eyes on Jesus." I'm not sure how well a formal address translates into a podcast episode, but I ho...

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  Episode #32

  Is This War Different? Putting the Iran Conflict in Context

  Mar 16, 20261 hourS1

  <p>Send a text</p><p>After a break, American Angst returns with Dr. Michael Bailey bringing his sharp, historically grounded perspective to one of the biggest questions in political culture right now: how unusual is this latest American war footing, really? Rather than offering hot takes, Bailey carefully sorts through what feels familiar, what feels troublingly new, and what may signal a deeper shift in the way the United States talks about power, war, and presidential authority.</p><p>With his trademark mix of intellectual seriousness, dry wit, and wide-ranging historical context, Bailey explores whether today’s rhetoric around co...

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  Episode #49

  What’s a Person? Humans, Animals, Aliens, AI, and Corporations

  Feb 4, 20261h 14mS4

  <p>Send us Fan Mail</p><p><b>What does it mean to be a person, and who gets to decide?</b> This episode dives headfirst into one of the most deceptively simple—and quietly explosive—questions in ethics, theology, and science. Is personhood limited to humans, or does it extend to animals, artificial intelligence, corporations, or even extraterrestrial life? Along the way, we wrestle with why defining personhood by intelligence or capability quickly collapses under pressure, how beginning-of-life and end-of-life questions complicate any clean boundary, and why our answers carry real moral weight—whether we’re talking about dolphins, embryos...

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  Episode #48

  Protesting in God’s Name: Faith, Immigration, and Public Witness

  Jan 30, 20261h 11mS4

  <p>Send us Fan Mail</p><p>This week’s Church Potluck is a powerful crossover episode with<b> </b>American Angst. <b>Dale McConkey</b> is joined by fellow United Methodist pastors <b>Rev. Ash McEuen</b> and <b>Rev. Karen Kagiyama</b>, along with political scientist <b>Dr. Michael Bailey</b>, for a wide-ranging conversation about <b>immigration, protest, and what it means to follow Jesus in public life</b>.</p><p>The discussion begins with the real-world impact of current immigration policies. Ash McEuen, whose ministry is deeply rooted in immigrant and Latino communities, describes the daily fe...

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  Episode #47

  Christians and Political Power: Sovereignty, Stewardship, or Servanthood? (Thoughts on Christian Nationalism)

  Jan 25, 202623 minS4

  <p>Send us Fan Mail</p><p>This week’s Church Potluck looks a little different than usual. With guests postponed and a winter storm rolling across the country, Dale flies solo—no roundtable conversation, no lively banter, just a thoughtful monologue shaped like a Bible study.</p><p>The focus, however, could not be more timely. Few topics divide Christians today more deeply than the question of <b>power</b>—Christian nationalism, political power, national identity, moral authority, and how Christian faith should shape public life. Drawing from Scripture and history, Dale explores three broad Christian approaches to power: <b>sove...

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