Faculty Webinar: The False Gospel of More with Dr. Andrew Root & Dr. Joel Kiekintveld
The False Gospel of More
The Church, Capitalism, and the Obsession with Growth
What if the Church has mistaken growth for faithfulness? In a culture that measures success by scale and influence, what would it mean to pursue a different vision of ministry?
Join Andrew Root, PhD, scholar of theology, ministry, and culture, as he discusses the forces shaping the Church’s pursuit of growth and scale. Drawing from his latest book, Baal and the Gods of More, Root traces the roots of this fixation and invites us to imagine a way of being beyond the capitalist promise of more. In conversation with Joel Kiekintveld, PhD, affiliate faculty in theology and culture at The Seattle School, we’ll explore how the Church became caught in a cycle of performance and striving, and what it might look like to break free.
Dr. Andrew Root is the Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary, USA. He writes and researches in areas of theology, ministry, culture and younger generations. His most recent books are Evangelism in an Age of Despair (Baker, 2025), The Church in an Age of Secular Mysticisms (Baker, 2023), Churches and the Crisis of Decline (Baker, 2022), The Congregation in a Secular Age (Baker, 2021), and The Pastor in a Secular Age: Ministry to People Who No Longer Need God (Baker, 2019). In addition, he serves as theologian in residence for Youthfront.
Dr. Joel Kiekintveld holds a PhD in Practical Theology from the University of Pretoria (South Africa), a Master of Arts in Global Urban Ministry degree from Bakke Graduate University, a Bachelor of Religious Education degree from Reformed Bible College (now Kuyper College), and a Certificate in Non-Profit Management from The Foraker Group/ University of Alaska Fairbanks. He was ordained as a Commissioned Pastor by the Christian Reformed Church in 2008.