The new year will likely continue a lot more of the same stories from 2025, combined with many surprises. Below are two stories we are keeping an eye on for the new year.
Craig Nash
Senior Editor
Christian Revival?
In 2023, extended times of worship and prayer broke out at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, drawing widespread media attention, especially among evangelical Christians. This year, after the assassination of conservative media personality Charlie Kirk, many of his followers claimed his death prompted a revival of Christianity, particularly among young men.
The data paints a different picture. A 2025 Pew Research study showed that religious practice among Christians has remained relatively unchanged since 2020. Meanwhile, PRRI research has shown that, while there is a slight uptick in young men expressing religious fervor, Gen Z women are leaving the church in droves.
Despite all this, conservative evangelical Christians have been clamoring for a revival of their form of Christianity in the nation. I’ll be watching to see how that takes form in 2026, especially as President Trump races toward being a lame duck and Republicans seek to take up the “family values” mantle once again.
Look for an early manifestation of this to occur as evangelicals push out stories from Passion 2026 in Texas and claim it is evidence of “revival fires” burning.
Kali Cawthon-Freels
Faithful Pride Initiative
The Future of Trans Athletes in Sports
On January 13th, the Supreme Court will begin hearing testimony in two cases related to transgender athletes competing in events aligned with their gender: West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox. As transphobic slander continues to rise, especially from groups claiming extremist conservative religious values, we understand that many within and beyond the LGBTQ+ community are ill-informed (or perhaps mis-informed) about the nuances of these arguments.
Throughout the first half of 2026, the Faithful Pride Initiative will collaborate with Christian Athlete Circle on content that educates and shares the stories of trans athletes. As people of good faith, we want to do our part to learn from and support our trans siblings–even and especially as faith is being weaponized against them as justification for the slander against them.
Our hope is that this content will help our audience better contextualize what they hear about these SCOTUS cases as they unfold over the next several months, and help them formulate a faith-based response rooted in humility and compassion.
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