Religion Unplugged, Dallas, TX (2026)

01/14/2026

Right now, across the waters of the world, massive cargo ships are floating from Hong Kong to Houston, from Marseille to Newark, from San Diego to Seoul.

The ships carry everything from bananas to coal to toothbrushes. Some estimates claim that 90% of all goods purchased in the U.S. spent some time on the sea.

And if 90% of all goods spent some period of time on the sea, then 90% of all goods were handled by mariners. Nearly 200 years ago, the Seamen's Church Institute set out to serve these mariners. They are still doing so today.

Six representatives from The Seamen's Church Institute told Religion Unplugged what they do for mariner advocacy, education, and spiritual wellness.

Mariners help provide vital resources to the American people. Millions of Americans are fed because of food shipped from overseas and millions of Americans stay alive because of medical equipment shipped from overseas.

But for how vital they are for the life of the average American, the isolating lifestyle can take quite a toll on mariners.

One study published in Sage Journals found that 30% of mariners studied exhibited signs of depression. Furthermore, a report by the World Maritime University found that up to 7.7% of seafarer deaths are confirmed suicides.

Mariners also face many physical dangers, with the CDC saying, “Maritime industries have a higher fatality rate and risk of injury and illness than the national average for all workplaces.” The combination of heavy machinery, natural disasters, and limited health resources have made seafaring a sometimes-deadly occupation.

The Seamen's Church Institute has worked hard to make sure that the men and women who are responsible for making so many Americans comfortable and healthy, are not only recognized, but actively cared for.

Right now, across the waters of the world, massive cargo ships are floating from Hong Kong to Houston, from Marseille to Newark, from San Diego to Seoul. The ships carry everything from bananas to coal to toothbrushes. Some estimates claim that 90% of all goods purchased in the U.S. spent some time

01/13/2026

Drawing from extensive survey research and his own previous books and columns for Substack, he offers sweeping, statistics-rich, and notably bleak scenarios in a book out starting Tuesday: “The Vanishing Church.”

The following can only sketch some of the multiple revelations in a work highly recommended for anyone who cares about religion in America.

Ryan Burge offers sweeping, statistics-rich, and notably bleak scenarios in a book out starting Tuesday: “The Vanishing Church.”

01/12/2026

Communicating through Starlink satellite and bypassing the government-enforced internet blackout in Iran, Iran Alive Ministries founder Hormoz Shariat told Baptist Press he learned on Sunday that a Christian man had been shot in Iran, that Christians are in harm’s way because they are ministering amid protesters, and that at least one wounded man accepted Christ through a Christian’s intervention.

Christians are bringing light amid the evil, with many treating the wounded at homes to avoid certain arrest at hospitals. Christians are also taking food and water into crowds of protesters amid Iran’s humanitarian crisis. One Christian couple prepared 50 sandwiches, put them in their backpacks a...

01/12/2026

An incredibly detailed land-use survey and census from the 1500s, commissioned by none other than Henry VIII, will soon be digitally available to everyone — including genealogists, educators, researchers and community groups — thanks to a new $2 million project.

The historic records, published under the title “Valor Ecclesiasticus,” or Value of the Church, were the Tudor equivalent of the Domesday Book, and often captured minute details of the everyday lives of children, slaves and landowners.

History nerds rejoice! An incredibly detailed land-use survey and census from the 1500s, commissioned by none other than Henry VIII, will soon be digitally available to everyone, including genealogists, educators, researchers, and community groups, thanks to a new $2 million project.

01/09/2026

To Gwen Cummings, the late Marshall Keeble was more than a famous traveling evangelist.

He was her “Pop.”

Keeble was born in 1878, 13 years after the end of the Civil War. He died in 1968, 16 days after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

To Gwen Cummings, the late Marshall Keeble was more than a famous traveling evangelist. He was her “Pop.” Cummings shared her personal memories of Marshall and Laura Keeble, her great-grandparents who were more like grandparents to her.

01/08/2026

When violence broke out in Leh this past Sept. 24, a place usually known for its thin air and patient rhythms, the immediate human cost was stark: several young people critically wounded, and four confirmed dead.

Leh is the capital city of Ladakh, which borders Pakistan and China. Nearly seven years ago, the Indian government revoked the state’s special autonomous status. In recent years, people in Ladakh have protested to demand jobs, statehood and political representation, according to Human Rights Watch.

As news of the deaths spread through the town and into surrounding villages, residents turned almost instinctively to religious practice and interfaith solidarity as their primary means of coping. Rather than answering blood with blood, many Ladakhis turned to prayer, ritual, and mutual care. This response has become as much a political statement as a spiritual one.

Rather than answering blood with blood, many residents turned to prayer, ritual, and mutual care. This response has become as much a political statement as a spiritual one.

01/07/2026

In a public landscape filled with minefields, clergy across the U.S. are meeting the moment with care and some angst as they try to build bridges through preaching, prayer and advocacy.

Members of Catholic communities, whether active or cloistered, have also been affected by the challenges of being faithful in a time of profound political and social uncertainty. But rooted as they are in ancient traditions of prayer and practice, these men and women say that part of their calling is to be a steady force for hope and trust among all the chaos.

In some churches, congregants may be directly or indirectly affected by the storms raging outside the sanctuary walls.

It is a fraught time to lead a congregation. Church leaders are navigating concerns about ICE raids, conversations following Charlie Kirk’s death — and trying to dodge spiritual and occupational burnout along the way.

01/06/2026

How does one balance faithfulness to religious tradition with artistic expression? Culture critic Joseph Holmes interviews director Lotfy Nathan on this very topic. Lotfy was raised in the Coptic Christian tradition and grew up to make a horror film, starring Nicholas Cage, called “The Carpenter’s Son” about Jesus’ childhood based on the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.

How does one balance faithfulness to religious tradition with artistic expression? Culture critic Joseph Holmes interviews director Lotfy Nathan on this very...

01/06/2026

The climb to Mar Musa al-Habashi monastery is deliberate and demanding — 340 stone steps wind up a stark, treeless mountain ridge in the Qalamun region, north of Damascus, offering nothing to the weary except an expanding vista and the growing certainty that you are meant to be here, or you are not.

For Father Paolo Dall'Oglio, an Italian Jesuit who arrived in Syria in 1982, those steps represented something far more significant than a physical challenge. They were a pathway to a calling that would reshape how an entire generation understood the possibility of religious dialogue in the Muslim world.

The climb to Mar Musa al-Habashi monastery is deliberate and demanding. Three hundred forty stone steps wind up a stark, treeless mountain ridge in the Qalamun region. But complete the journey, and you’ll find a community of Muslims and Christians committed to interfaith dialogue and healing their...

01/05/2026

For many years, Uganda’s churches and affiliated NGOs depended heavily on international financing from the U.S., U.K. and European Union to run feeding programs, support clergy families and build schools and hospitals. Until last year, USAID was a major conduit for American support.

Uganda’s churches and affiliated NGOs are being forced to adapt after USAID withdrew funding. One built solar panels and planted a farm, another turned to locals to make bricks for their church.

01/03/2026

For many Venezuelans, the capture of President Nicolás Maduro is an answer, albeit a bittersweet one, to decades of fervent prayer.

“Although I am a Christian and firmly oppose all forms of war, I cannot deny that my heart feels a sense of hope at the possibility of justice being served in Venezuela,” Yhonatan Parada told The Christians Chronicle Saturday morning, after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife.

“And it is precisely because of my Christian faith that I do not celebrate the downfall of a person,” Parada said, “but rather the longing for peace, freedom and restoration that is now beginning to awaken in the soul of our people.”

Many Venezuelans, including Christians at home and abroad, expressed cautious hope after U.S. forces captured President Nicolás Maduro. While rejecting violence, they welcome the possibility of justice after years of repression. Church leaders now see the moment as a difficult beginning toward rebu...

01/03/2026

The elliptical machine in 69-year-old Bob Stephens’ home gym is stretching its handlebars to hang three coats. A recumbent bike, various weights and a stationary rowing machine complete the 20-by-20-foot room.

Stephens, a Focus on the Family senior public relations representative, said it’s been a few months since he used the room, likely speeding the fact that he fell short of his New Year’s Resolution to lose weight last year.

The elliptical machine in 69-year-old Bob Stephens’ home gym is stretching its handlebars to hang three coats. A recumbent bike, various weights and a stationary rowing machine complete the 20-by-20-foot room.

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