Complexified

Pope Hats, Hot Dogs and Holy Ground:

Baseball has long been called a kind of church. It has its own calendar and rituals, its sacred places and inherited traditions. Its faithful gather at appointed times, sing familiar songs, share food, pass stories from one generation to the next, and keep believing through seasons of disappointment. Like religion, baseball asks people to live with failure, practice hope, and trust that renewal is always possible.

RNS Reporter Bob Smietana was recently in Chicago for a remarkable night with the White Sox. But this was not just any old night of baseball. This was high church!

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says it is bringing in new converts at an extraordinary rate. Its practicing members are among the most religiously engaged people in the country.

By a lot of measures, active Latter-day Saints appear to be doing well.

At the same time…the church is losing nearly half of the people who were raised in it. Even for kids raised going to church every week with families committed to the Mormon faith, one in three leaves.

Both of these stories are true. So what happens between a deeply Mormon childhood and the decision to walk away?Amanda Henderson speaks with RNS columnist Jana Riess on the declining numbers of LDS women.
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Why Democratic pastors are being attacked for their faith, not merely their politics.

Pastors, seminarians and other faith leaders are running for office as Democrats across the country. Their campaigns are making progressive Christianity newly visible—and prompting opponents to challenge not only their politics, but their legitimacy as Christians.

RNS national reporter Jack Jenkins joins Amanda to examine James Talarico’s rise, attacks involving a “Satanist wedding” and biblical inerrancy, and the theological dispute between Raphael Warnock and Mike Johnson over Matthew 25. Do these candidates represent a durable religious political force, or are they a temporary reaction to Trump?
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Who's behind a mysterious mass-text that invoked faith and economic justice to promote data centers?

A few weeks ago, residents of Prince George’s County, Maryland, received a text message telling them about the benefits of data centers: jobs, investment, economic opportunity.

The message wasn’t signed. It didn’t say who had paid to send it. But it linked to a website belonging to something called the Interfaith Action Movement.

Sounds like a coalition of religious leaders. But the leaders, followers, and houses of worship were not disclosed by the IAM contact.

And the timing was interesting. Less than a week earlier, Prince George’s County had imposed a two-year moratorium on hyperscale data centers. Residents were already fighting over the environmental costs, the economic promises and who would ultimately benefit.

So who was behind this “interfaith” campaign?

RNS reporter Aleja Hertzler-McCain followed the anonymous text to a Seventh-day Adventist faith leader and political consultant with connections in Maryland, New Jersey—and a campaign-finance scandal in Bermuda.

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RNS reporter Bob Smietana on Gloo, the faith-tech company chasing a one-stop IT/AI solution for churches.

Nearly half a billion dollars, gone, over thirteen years.

That's how much a company called Gloo has lost trying to build an all-in-one digital & administrative powerhouse for what it's calling the "Faith & Flourishing Ecosystem" of American churches.

A tech company that can handle email & texting, data analytics, web hosting, podcast hosting, IT infrastructure, sermon-to-social video clips, all the way to AI-generated devotionals and study guides. That's just a taste.

Our guest is RNS reporter Bob Smietana, and we're asking:

What happens if it works? What happens when one for-profit company, one whose SEC filings admit it might not survive the year, becomes the back office for a huge slice of American Christianity?

Who holds that data? Who shapes that message? What happens if all of that data falls into the wrong hands?

Check out more here:

Faith-based AI company Gloo faces moment of truth after $438M in losses — Bob Smietana, July 9, 2026

Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger hopes Gloo can make AI a force for good — and for God — Bob Smietana, March 24, 2025

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