Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Darren Schalk on Raising Kids Without Smartphones and Rebuilding Peerless Church
About this episode
Darren Schalk, pastor of Peerless Church in Cleveland, Tennessee, joins Philip Cameron for a candid and practical conversation about two of the most pressing challenges facing Christian families and congregations today: protecting children from the dangers of smartphones and social media, and trusting God through the impossible work of church revitalization. Darren draws on his own family's experience raising three children without smartphones until high school, sharing the specific boundaries he and his wife Christy set — including a daily screen-free window from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. for the entire household. "I liken handing a phone to our children and leaving them alone as dropping them off into one of those rental stores, leaving them there for the night with no parental supervision whatsoever," he explains. He also points to a striking cultural shift: where grandparents were once the wisdom-holders of every generation, the digital age has inverted that dynamic and widened the generational gap in ways he calls "a tool of the enemy." Darren also shares the remarkable story of Peerless Church — one of the oldest Pentecostal congregations in existence, founded in 1906 by A.J. Tomlinson. When he stepped in as pastor in November 2023, the sanctuary had been gutted by a flood with no insurance payout and dwindling attendance. By December 2024, the church had completed a $1.1 million facility and owed less than $150,000. Learn more at peerlesschurch.org or visit darrenschalk.com for resources on technology and family.
Part of our Pastors collection of conversations.
Quotes worth sharing
“I liken handing a phone to our children and leaving them alone as dropping them off into one of those rental stores, leaving them there for the night with no parental supervision whatsoever, and saying, 'You can do anything you want, but don't go into that back room.' Where's the first place they're going to go as soon as Mom and Dad disappear? They're heading straight to the back room. And put on top of that the fact that the enemy is targeting them, so even when they're not walking into the back room, the back room is trying to find them.”
“My three children did not receive smartphones until high school. They had no access to anything other than what they had to. They didn't start social media until they got to college, and here's the miracle of it all — to this day, they come to us regularly and say, 'Thank you for keeping me off of this.'”
“The building can't tell God no. And I knew the moment that God wanted that building to fall under submission, it would.”
What's Discussed
Pastor Darren Schalk of Peerless Church in Cleveland, Tennessee — one of the oldest Pentecostal congregations in America, founded in 1906 by A.J. Tomlinson — shares two compelling conversations in one episode. First, he offers practical, field-tested strategies for protecting children from smartphones and social media, including enforcing daily screen-free hours for the whole family and coaching kids to observe how devices change their friends. He warns that handing a child an unsupervised phone is spiritually equivalent to leaving them alone in a store full of harmful content. Second, Darren recounts how he stepped into a flood-damaged, uninsured church with no sanctuary in November 2023 and watched God provide a fully renovated $1.1 million facility by December 2024. He also authored the book "Dear God, We Need to Talk," available on Amazon.
- Digital Age Flipping Generational Wisdom
- Grandparents Raising Kids with Technology
- Schalk Family Screen-Free Parenting Rules
- Teaching Kids to Observe Friends and Phones
- Tech Giants Keep Devices from Their Own Children
- Peerless Church History and Flood Recovery
- 1.1 Million Dollar Sanctuary Miracle
- Book Dear God We Need to Talk
Scripture in this episode
Episode Transcript
Auto-generated · click any timestamp to jump the video
Intro
Digital Age Flipping Generational Wisdom
Grandparents Raising Kids with Technology
Schalk Family Screen-Free Parenting Rules
Teaching Kids to Observe Friends and Phones
Tech Giants Keep Devices from Their Own Children
Peerless Church History and Flood Recovery
1.1 Million Dollar Sanctuary Miracle
Book Dear God We Need to Talk
Common questions
Why did Darren Schalk wait until high school to give his kids smartphones?
Darren and his wife Christy wanted to give their kids a childhood as close as possible to the one they had — limited screen time, no constant access to devices. He compares handing a young child a smartphone unsupervised to dropping them off in a video rental store with a back room full of adult content and telling them not to go in — the temptation is immediate and the danger is real.
What's the practical tip Darren used at home to cut down on screen time for the whole family?
Darren and Christy enforced a daily no-screens window from 5:00 to 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. — for everyone in the house, parents included. After an awkward first week or two, it became the family's favorite time of day, filled with board games, outdoor play, and conversation, and the kids eventually started asking to turn the TV off early to get to it sooner.
How did Darren get his kids to stop asking for phones without just saying 'because I said so'?
He told them to watch what happened to their friends once those friends got phones. Over time, the kids noticed their friends became buried in their devices, stopped holding real conversations, and changed in ways that bothered them. After a year or two of observing that, Darren says his kids stopped asking on their own and actually began thanking him and Christy for keeping them off social media.
What is Peerless Church and how did Darren turn it around after a flood?
Peerless Church in Cleveland, Tennessee is one of the oldest Pentecostal churches in existence, founded in 1906 by A.J. Tomlinson. When Darren stepped in as pastor two and a half years ago, the church had no usable sanctuary after a flood, no insurance payout, and dwindling attendance. Within about a year, the congregation completed a $1.1 million facility renovation and now owes less than $150,000, which Darren credits to focusing on the people and trusting God with the building.
What is Darren Schalk's book about?
His book is called 'Dear God, We Need to Talk,' and it's built around the idea that God is great and questions are okay. Darren wrote it to explore his own honest questions about God, hoping that as readers work through those questions, God speaks to them directly. It's available on Amazon.