In this episode of Thinking Christian, Dr. James Spencer is joined by Rev. Dr. Andrew Hale, pastor, author, and host of CBF Conversations and Clergy Confessions, to discuss his new book Mending the Fracturing Church: How to Navigate Conflict and Build Trust for Thriving Communities.

Drawing on decades of ministry experience—and insights from cognitive psychology, social psychology, trauma studies, and theology—Andrew argues that church conflict today cannot be understood merely as a theological or political problem. Instead, it reflects deeper issues of discipleship, anxiety, embodied trauma, media fragmentation, and generational formation.

James and Andrew explore why church conflict feels uniquely intense in this moment, even though the church has alwaysbeen marked by disagreement. They examine how political polarization, algorithm-driven media, generational divides, and unaddressed physiological stress shape congregational life—often overwhelming the formative power of Scripture and worship.

A central claim of the conversation is that discipleship has failed to keep pace with formation pressures. Congregants spend far more time immersed in outrage-driven media ecosystems than in practices that shape Christlike humility, patience, and love of neighbor. The result is a church increasingly reactive, defensive, and fragile.

The episode also wrestles with difficult but necessary questions:

• Is church fracture rooted less in ideology and more in unresolved trauma?

• How do time, patience, and humility function in genuine spiritual formation?

• What happens when faithfulness is reduced to being “right” rather than honoring one another?

• How do different generations carry distinct “prototypes” of Jesus shaped by their historical circumstances?

Rather than offering quick fixes, Andrew calls churches back to slow, relational work: intergenerational presence, shared meals, play, embodied practices, and renewed attention to the whole person—mind, body, and soul. Drawing from Acts 2, the Gospels, and family systems theory, he argues that healing church communities begins not with better programming, but with learning to be with one another again.

This episode is a candid, hopeful, and theologically grounded conversation for anyone who loves the church and wants to see it become healthier, more faithful, and more resilient in a fractured age.

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To read James's article on this topic, check out his author page on Christianity.com.

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You can get a copy of Andrew's book at www.amazon.com

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