Public-facing Programming
This project will expand public knowledge about the religious and spiritual landscapes by sharing its findings through legacy and new medium including traditional news outlets, a series of public-facing events, and media training for researchers and doctoral students in religion and adjacent fields.
The core questions that guide the Public-Facing arm of this project are as follows:
- How can we collaborate with journalists and influencers to produce more representative reports about the current and future spiritual infrastructures locally and nationally?
- How can we partner on public materials and events that advance public knowledge and understanding about the spiritual infrastructure of the future while engaging across our differences and preparing religious leaders and educators for the future?
This page will be updated as the project’s outreach launches and grows.
More about our Approach
Research
Our research will examine congregational closures (endings), spiritual innovation (beginnings), and the changing shape of religious leadership in the United States... learn more.
Public-Facing Programming
This project will expand public knowledge about the religious and spiritual landscapes by sharing its findings through legacy and new medium including traditional news... learn more.
Professional Pipelines
This project will enable current doctoral students to complete paid internships outside of the academy to better understand and prepare for leadership in the emerging spiritual infrastructure... learn more.
In the News
‘God commands us not to kill’: Faith leaders protest 50 years of executions
July 2, 2026, ReligionNews.com - On the anniversary of a Supreme Court ruling reinstating the US death penalty, faith leaders, those affected by murder and activists organize to call for an end to the death penalty. But religion has also been present in support for capital punishment... Read the article.
PCUSA, American Academy of Religion call Gaza war a genocide
July 1, 2026, ReligionNews.com - The largest Presbyterian denomination in the US and the American Academy of Religion both referred to Israel's war in Gaza as genocide in new resolutions condemning the war... Read the article.
Japanese internment survivors, faith leaders demand closure of South Texas ICE detention center
June 27, 2026, TexasTribune.org - Completing a pilgrimage from a World War II internment camp in Crystal City, activists said history is repeating itself with family detentions at the Dilley facility... Read the article.
As supporters praise Texas’ proposed “Judeo-Christian” curriculum, rabbis say it dismisses Judaism
June 25, 2026, TexasTribune.org - A required reading list before the State Board of Education would present a predominantly Christian perspective to public school students, Jewish leaders say... Read the article.
This 8 am Zoom service has become a satellite of love
June 23, 2026, ReligionNews.com - The 30-minute morning minyan offered through the Los Angeles-based IKAR Synagogue has become the primary form of community and prayer for a group of Jews from around the world... Read the article.
Juneteenth is a religious reckoning
June 18, 2026, ReligionNews.com - The Equal Justice Initiative’s Bryan Stevenson says confronting America’s lynching history is a matter of faith that demands truth-telling and repentance — especially on America’s most recently recognized national holiday... Read the article.
SCOTUS stops execution of inmate who became ministry leader
June 12, 2026, ReligionNews.com - The Supreme Court...prevented Alabama from executing a man who became a Christian ministry leader during his 26 years on death row, deciding that killing him using nitrogen gas was unconstitutional... Read the article.
Biola acquires Phoenix seminary
June 5, 2026, ReligionNews.com - After three decades of independent operations, Phoenix Seminary is set to be acquired by the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University... Read the article.
California forest synagogue experiments with nature-based spirituality
April 14, 2026, ReligionNews.com - “The Jewish soul comes alive when we’re in the natural world”... Read the article.
From Diwali parties to daily puja
February 23, 2026, ReligionNews.com - Hindu campus houses push for deeper faith practice... Read the article.
As universities shutter DEI offices, progressive Christian groups open their doors
February 5, 2026, ReligionNews.com - Several of these groups are connected with ZOE, an emerging network of progressive Christian student ministries... Read the article.
Modern American women are finding Hinduism’s powerful goddess tradition
December 2, 2025, ReligionNews.com - Bridging the East and West, American women have found Hinduism’s powerful divine feminine through the art of sacred dance... Read the article.
After Oct. 7, Jews seek healing at kabbalah-informed psychedelic retreats
October 29, 2025, ReligionNews.com - The nonprofit Shefa integrates Jewish beliefs and rituals with legal psychedelic practices, an approach that’s especially resonated in recent years... Read the article.
Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future
How are religious and spiritual changes happening in the United States today? What are the institutions through which spirituality, religion and broader approaches to meaning making are and will continue to be taught, learned and passed across generations?