2025 Faith Trends to Watch
It’s an incredibly dynamic time for the faith sector. From the pandemic abruptly shaking up existing models and strategies, to religious nationalism planting a flag on the political stage, to the Israel/Gaza war straining interfaith relationships globally, to a range of longer-term dynamics in the sector, including the continued growth of the religiously unaffiliated demographic in the U.S., the first half of the 2020s have seen the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in-between.
In the middle of it all, there’s joy, there’s angst, there’s conflict. It may look messy, but the sector is pulsing with opportunity. People and institutions have opened themselves to change in new ways, in many cases fully embracing it. Leaders are returning to core values, thinking creatively, adapting, innovating, collaborating, and in so doing, contributing to the overall health of our societies and world.
Continue reading to explore a few faith sector trends we’re watching as we head into the second half of the decade. They give us great optimism for the future of faith.
1. The rise of spiritual innovation
Spiritual innovation, defined most simply as the application of spiritual wisdom in new forms, is as old as spirituality itself. Spirituality is inherently dynamic, always evolving to meet the needs of changing times. However, today’s rapid pace of societal transformation has not only fostered new innovations, it has also led to the establishment of various supports to encourage and sustain these efforts. In effect, we're seeing growing signs of an emergent spiritual innovation field. Evidence of this includes a proliferation of tools, resources, incubators, accelerators and leadership development opportunities for spiritual innovators. Some early leaders in the space have evolved their offerings in recent years while some older organizations have adopted a new spiritual innovation focus. Newer initiatives have also emerged, and more funders have started directing resources to these efforts.
Some of the many organizations and initiatives supporting spiritual innovators include Glean Network, DO GOOD X, Praxis, Upstart, Ministry Incubators, Sacred Design Lab, Faith Matters Network, TIDEL at Union Seminary, UU Cultivators Collaborative, ABHMS’s Co-Creators Incubator, Kwaray, and Wesley Innovation Hub. At innoFaith, we’ve launched a partnership with the NYU Bronfman Center to offer a Certificate in Faith, Innovation, and Social Impact.
Additionally, the last few years have seen the creation of various spiritual innovation awards, convenings, and reports. One of the pioneers in the space, Duke Divinity’s Traditioned Innovation Awards, has been joined by Wesleyan Impact Partners Locke Innovative Leaders. In 2024, Sacred Design Lab released a global report on spiritual innovation. Also in 2024, innoFaith has been a co-leader with other partners on a national field study on spiritual innovation in the U.S. On the philanthropy side, a new collaborative of funders, Faith & Philanthropy recently invested in several faith-rooted organizations doing innovative social impact work and released a Spiritual Imagination Report about those grantees. Over the last few years, various organizations have hosted convenings of spiritual innovators, including a now regular gathering called Soularize.
Thinking forward: How might faith institutions partner with this burgeoning movement to chart a new path forward that counters the narrative of religion in decline?
Call to action: Spiritual innovators are everywhere, both inside and outside traditional faith institutions. What values, traditions, and rituals from your faith tradition could be applied in a new way to address a growing concern in your community? Who is already doing this work in your community? Could some of the resources listed here be helpful to them? What other resources could be unlocked in your local community to support them?
2. Chaplaincy redefined
While trust and interest in traditional religious institutions has declined, spiritual need remains as robust as ever. As a result, chaplaincy has evolved, taking on new roles in the modern era. Traditional chaplains continue to play a significant role in providing spiritual care in contexts like hospitals and the military, where people are separated from their religious communities and/or face particularly challenging life situations that raise ethical and spiritual questions. At the same time, innovation in this space has exploded, with the deployment of chaplains in numerous new contexts. The core values and goals of chaplaincy - accompaniment, spiritual care, and emotional wellbeing - are expanding into new communities and settings. In a sense, chaplaincy has become more proactive, showing up in unexpected places and offering more than just spiritual care, in many cases supporting social impact. Some chaplains are also responding to the rise of the unaffiliated and not-religious by offering care that is humanist, agnostic, and more broadly spiritual, rather than tied to a specific religious community. All of these chaplains deploy a whole range of skills and services from mental health support to de-escalation in potential conflict situations to bridge-building across relational and social divides to expertise in the spiritual aspects of various social issues.
Some emerging categories of chaplains include movement chaplains, poll chaplains, eco chaplains, and animal chaplains. Chaplaincy Innovation Lab has been a leader in research and support for those navigating the evolving landscape of chaplaincy.
Thinking forward: This new era of chaplaincy might model a way for faith institutions to offer value beyond their walls, bringing spiritual care and guidance to the broader community, regardless of people’s beliefs. What if religious communities became known for spiritual and communal care for all?
Call to action: Are there issues your community is wrestling with where spiritual accompaniment might unlock new potential? Could you collaborate with chaplains to explore the possibilities and experiment?
3. Repurposing religious assets
The last several years have seen a growing trend in faith communities repurposing assets to help address societal challenges. Some of these efforts have emerged from closing congregations deciding what to do with their property and financial assets, others from institutions faithfully trying to find ways to serve their surrounding communities, still others from faith communities committed to righting historical wrongs to help address current needs. From developing affordable housing to using church kitchens to incubate food entrepreneurs to returning land to Indigenous and Black and other local communities, we've seen growing attention to and innovation in faith communities' thinking about the use of their assets.
Some of the organizations supporting faith communities to think creatively about their property or other assets to respond to community needs include Sympara, the UCC Church Building and Loan Fund, Enterprise Faith-Based Development Initiative, Oikos Institute for Social Impact, Rooted Good, the Church Council of Greater Seattle’s Faith Land Initiative, and the Faith X Project. As more and more congregations face closure, one organization, Invested Faith, offers them the opportunity to continue their legacy by investing remaining funds in faith-rooted social entrepreneurs. Numerous individual communities have also birthed innovations as a result of thinking about how to use their property or other assets to address needs in their communities. Examples of innovations that have grown to become national (or even larger) efforts include the Black Church Food Security Network (using Black churches as food hubs), Second Nurture (using the social capital of faith institutions to support foster families), and GoodLands (using the Catholic Church’s landholdings for social and environmental good). Organizations innovating around repairing historical legacies through land return or other forms of reparations include Land Justice Futures and the Minnesota Council of Churches.
Thinking forward: Individual institutions can make a difference but may have limited assets with which to work. What if faith communities across a city or state think together about their collective assets? Not just financial and physical assets, but other assets as well - relationships, proximity to problems, talents and expertise. What transformation might they bring, working together?
Call to action: What assets could your faith community use to advance the common good? Many of the organizations listed above have resources to help think this through. Use them. And who else in your community might you collaborate with to multiply your impact? Start a conversation.
4. Rebuilding social capital
With growing attention on the intersecting crises of social isolation, polarization, and threats to democracy, faith-rooted leaders and organizations are leveraging their unique positioning to rebuild social capital—the networks of relationships that enable society to function effectively. Studies show that active members of faith-based groups are happier and more likely to volunteer and be civically engaged, underscoring the sector's potential to cultivate connection and collaboration. By finding new ways in a changing religious landscape to foster trust, mutual support, and shared purpose, faith communities are playing a critical role in bridging divides and strengthening societal cohesion.
Some of this work is in response to the state of the political landscape. Bolstering democratic values and principles is by no means a new role for faith communities, but with the recent decrease in trust towards democratic institutions and the subsequent rise in authoritarianism and religious nationalism, leaders and people of faith sense an urgency and increasingly recognize the unique potential they have to help address these issues. Countering the ways faith has been co-opted by demagogues to advance political ideologies, many faith communities are putting their values into action to advance inclusion, diversity, and civic participation.
For instance, numerous faith-inspired and interfaith initiatives have emerged to address polarization by fostering dialogue, understanding, and connection across ideological divides. Faith leaders, leveraging their unique ability to convene diverse groups united by shared moral frameworks, are spearheading programs that seek to bridge the widening gaps in society. By tapping into faith traditions’ rich histories of community-building and moral discourse, these leaders aim to depolarize a political and cultural landscape increasingly shaped by binary, adversarial thinking. Some examples include the One America Movement, the Rebuilding Democracy Project, Resetting the Table’s faith leaders initiative, the Inheritance Theater Project, the Team Up Project. In recent years, philanthropy organization PACE ran a Faith In/And Democracy initiative exploring the impact of faith communities on civic life that highlights more of these efforts.
Another vein of this work lies beyond the political causes or symptoms of a fraying social fabric, rooted instead in what has become an epidemic of loneliness and social isolation. Whether reinvigorating intergenerational connections, helping address mental health, or collaborating with healthcare systems to advance social health, faith-rooted leaders and institutions are developing innovative models to bolster connection and community. Examples include the UJA Federation of New York’s Isolation to Connection program (social prescribing for isolated seniors through Jewish Community Centers), the HAVEN Connect project (Black churches supporting young people at risk of suicide), and an initiative positioning rural pastors as changemakers for the mental health of the farming community.
Thinking forward: In the coming years, when the national political scene may be highly chaotic and acrimonious, institutions working to bridge divides and strengthen democracy at the local level will be more important than ever. What if a critical mass of faith communities become beacons of connection, community, and civic engagement for their local areas, collaborating with secular organizations to offer opportunities for all people to feel less isolated and more invested in their local communities?
Call to Action: How could your community offer opportunities for connection that appeal even to people that don’t trust faith institutions or feel uncomfortable there? Ask people and organizations who are addressing isolation and mental health or who are mobilizing civic engagement in your community how you can help.
Let us know your thoughts on these faith trends or others you’re seeing in your own work in the comments below or by reaching out to us at info@innofaith.org.