New Research & Teaching Initiative to Map Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future
Funded by the Templeton Religion Trust, the project was designed by and will be co-led by Bryn Mawr President Wendy Cadge and includes scholars from a number of colleges and universities as well as partnerships with the American Council of Learned Societies and the Religion News Service.
A $3.9 million grant from the Templeton Religion Trust to Bryn Mawr College will support a three-year multi-faceted initiative to map the religious and spiritual infrastructure of the future.
The project focuses on three interlocking arms in research, public engagement, and professional pipeline development. New research will focus on religious change related to congregational closures, spiritual innovation, and changes in religious leadership in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and a fourth city to be named soon.
“Sir John Templeton was intensely interested in the dynamics of religious innovation and change,” says Templeton Foundation Chief Grants Officer W. Christopher Stewart. “This project is the first major attempt to map these emerging spiritual infrastructures, expanding the possibilities for discovery, growth, and human flourishing.”
Alongside several research projects, the project team will facilitate media and public education on the topic. In partnership with the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the project will also provide fellowships for Ph.D. students in relevant fields across the country, building institutional partnerships that create a professional pipeline of new leaders knowledgeable about the rapidly changing American religious landscape.
The project was designed by Bryn Mawr President Wendy Cadge, who will lead the project in collaboration with Jonathan Anjaria, professor of anthropology at Brandeis University, Kraig Beyerlein, associate professor of sociology and director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society, University of Notre Dame; Penny Edgell, professor of sociology, University of Minnesota; Amy Lawton, researcher of religion and society, Bryn Mawr College; Diane Winston, professor of journalism and communication and Knight Chair in Media and Religion, University of Southern California; and Robert Wuthnow, professor of sociology emeritus and former director of the Princeton University Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University. Edgell will also edit a new volume to serve as a complement to Wuthnow’s The Restructuring of American Religion: Society and Faith Since World War II (1989, Princeton University Press).
“I’m thrilled to partner with so many amazing colleagues and institutions to bring this project to life. So much is changing in American religious and spiritual life so quickly that it is essential for scholars and the broader American public to keep up and to continue to educate the next generation to understand these important transitions.”
In partnership with the Religion News Service (RNS) the project will also raise public awareness about innovation and the “spiritual infrastructure” emerging in communities today, countering media focuses on religious decline and disaffiliation.
“American news media tells two stories about religion: it's in decline and it's all about politics,” says Diane Winston. “But our research will tell a different story: Americans are experiencing new ways to serve, celebrate, and come together--and religion is far from dead.”
The project will also focus on building a strong pipeline of leaders prepared to continue work in the changing religious and spiritual infrastructures inside and outside of the academy. In November 2025, ACLS will launch the first of two national fellowship competitions for Ph.D. students working in related fields across the country.
Jonathan Anjaria will work closely with ACLS in developing this fellowship. Up to 20 fellowships will be awarded in 2026 and 2027 based on a highly competitive, peer-reviewed process. Fellows will be placed with a partner organization and be part of a year-long cohort that includes in-person and virtual workshops and educational events featuring some of the researchers and journalists involved in the other arms of this project. These fellows will gain practical experience in how their research skills can be applied outside of academia.
"While Ph.D. students' scholarly activities have the potential to make an impact in the world, most doctoral programs do not offer students the opportunity for internships,” said Anjaria. “This unique program will enable students to use their research and communication skills to address practical problems, while showing potential future careers related to the study of religion.”
“ACLS is excited to partner with the Templeton Religion Trust and ACLS members Brandeis University and Bryn Mawr College on this important project,” says ACLS Senior Program Officer Desiree Barron-Callaci. “This work is a wonderful example of how doctoral studies can support important research about growth and change in communities, facilitate positive, socially impactful work based on this learning, and make this valuable research visible to the field as well as to our communities.”
For more information, visit the Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future website.
About Templeton Religion Trust
Templeton Religion Trust (TRT) is a global charitable trust chartered by Sir John Templeton in 1984 with headquarters in Nassau, The Bahamas. TRT has been active since 2012 and supports projects as well as storytelling related to projects seeking to enrich the conversation about religion. TRT is always seeking more spiritual information, more “benefits of religion,” and more spiritual growth.
About Bryn Mawr College
Since its founding in 1885, Bryn Mawr College has been the preeminent college for women interested in the pursuit of wisdom necessary to challenge the world's expectations. The Bryn Mawr College community has repeatedly broken barriers to achieve greater equity through exceptional academics and a deep dedication to learning. Its more than 35 undergraduate majors span the humanities, sciences, social sciences, and arts. Two co-educational graduate schools offer selective master’s and Ph.D. programs across the Arts, Sciences, and Social Work, and the Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program is one of the most successful in the nation for placing students into medical school. Bryn Mawr is dedicated to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, which serve as the engine for excellence and innovation, helping pave the way for gender equity and inspiring brilliant minds who find life-long community as part of the college.
About the American Council of Learned Societies
Formed a century ago, the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a nonprofit federation of 81 scholarly organizations. As the leading representative of American scholarship in the humanities and interpretive social sciences, ACLS upholds the core principle that knowledge is a public good. In supporting its member organizations, ACLS expands the forms, content, and flow of scholarly knowledge, reflecting its commitment to diversity of identity and experience. ACLS collaborates with institutions, associations, and individuals to strengthen the evolving infrastructure for scholarship.
About Brandeis University
Brandeis University is a top-tier private research university with a focus on undergraduate education. The university was founded in 1948 by the American Jewish community as a nonsectarian institution at a time when exclusionary practices prevented equal access to some of the nation’s best universities. Named for Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, the university embraces the values of academic excellence, critical thinking, openness to all and a commitment to making the world a better place. Located just west of Boston in Waltham, Massachusetts, Brandeis is a member of the Association of American Universities, which represents the leading research universities in the United States and Canada. Brandeis’ distinguished faculty are dedicated to the education and support of about 3,600 undergraduates and more than 2,000 graduate students.