The deeper story: Systems thinking for religion reporting

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From the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV — the first U.S.-born pope — to the assassination of Charlie Kirk; from the increasing adoption of sacred language to talk about artificial intelligence to ongoing debates about free speech and sexuality, it was another big year in religion news. 

ReligionLink was there to help you cover it with balance, accuracy and insight, providing background, relevant stories and expert sources for topics such as education and “church-state separation” under reelected President Donald J. Trump, religion and political violence, climate change in the extremes and religion in space. 

But each December, ReligionLink invites reporters to take a step back from the headlines and instead contemplate the craft of religion journalism. In years past, we published guides on how to report on religion at home, using photo archives in your research or the ins-and-outs of ethnographic religion reporting. 

In this edition of ReligionLink, we invite you to consider how applying a systems-thinking approach to religion news might offer new depth and resonance to your reporting in the year to come. 

What is "systems journalism"?

As a religion reporter, you cover a beat that is not just about worship services, conversion stories or theological disputes.

In the newly revamped Religion Reporting Handbook on ReligionLink, the authors remind religion reporters that they must “understand and accurately portray a variety of complex belief systems and traditions”; it is not just about quoting a faith leader, but about grappling with internal debates, doctrines and how theology translates into practice — or practice shapes theology — all with a keen sense of religious literacy and cultural sensitivity. It is also about recognizing how religion is a key part of most of the major issues of the day.

That means you are often charting currents beneath the surface: the beliefs, institutions, rituals, practices and values that shape how people act and how communities organize. A systems-thinking approach, as formulated by the Journalism + Design Lab at the New School, offers a powerful way to map those deeper dynamics. Systems thinking, they explain, “is a way of seeing the underlying connections, patterns and ideas that shape our world.”

To help explain this approach, the Lab utilizes the metaphor of the iceberg. Journalists sometimes report only the events visible above the waterline — a political rally, a controversial sermon or an interreligious conflict. But just below lie trends such as generational shifts in religious identification. Deeper still are structures, power dynamics, denominational networks and policies. At the very base of the iceberg are, perhaps, mental models or material conditions that consist of shared worldviews, presuppositions, material realities or deeply held convictions that sustain those institutions and contribute to said trends. 

Putting a systems approach to work

Imagine you are reporting on faith and immigration. A church decides to offer sanctuary to undocumented immigrants. At first glance, you might write a profile of the congregation, interview the pastors and report on community backlash. But through a systems lens, you may begin to map deeper patterns of faith-based activism or institutional structures that support sanctuary — local nongovernmental organizations, interfaith coalitions, legal aid organizations. What beliefs or histories (both personal and institutional) motivate the congregants — biblical imperatives of hospitality, “welcoming the stranger,” notions of nationhood? By integrating these additional layers into the story, your coverage can show how convictions become political action and how policy feedback (e.g., legal threats) reshape congregational strategies.

Likewise, when covering the decline of Christianity in the U.S. alongside rising Christian nationalism, systems thinking helps you go beneath attendance statistics and culture-war headlines to examine power structures (e.g., megachurch networks, political lobbies) and feedback loops (how political wins reinforce religious identification, and vice versa), as well as the material conditions and mental models — perhaps a theology of American exceptionalism, historical disenfranchisement, a belief in cultural decline or eschatological visions — that sustain them. When ReligionLink’s Handbook encourages you to ask, “What are people’s motivations? What beliefs shape their actions?” it is pushing you to unearth those forces to help readers see not only what is happening, but why, and what might change.

If you are reporting on minoritized religions — say, on zoning battles over building a mosque, or prejudice faced by Hindu or Sikh communities — systems thinking again adds depth. You can chart structural barriers that exist because of restrictive zoning codes and local governance as well as efforts to overcome them by interfaith councils or civil liberties institutions. You can also trace patterns in the data about hate crimes, interfaith organizing or demographic changes. You can furthermore analyze cultural narratives about concepts such as “assimilation” or “integration,” the uneven application of religious freedom or the mechanisms of “other-ing” newcomers. That richer framing lets your audience understand how systemic forces, not just isolated incidents, shape the lived reality of religious minorities.

Systems thinking for journalism does not force reporters into advocacy, but it should prompt reflection on your role. As the Journalism + Design Lab suggests, journalists are not only observers. Instead, they are participants in systems as well. How might you take a further step back and consider revisiting your reporting process, tone-checking stories, reconsidering framing or otherwise mitigating biases built into the norms, ethics and aesthetics of our craft? By centering structural forces and considering mental models, your reporting can illuminate possibilities for systemic change, not just document symptoms.

Systems thinking for religion journalism: A conversation with Heather Chaplin

Heather Chaplin is an educator and journalist who teaches at The New School, where her work sits at the intersection of journalism, design and systems thinking. As the founding director of Journalism + Design Lab, she is dedicated to helping reporters develop tools for covering complex social problems by looking beyond events to the underlying forces that shape them.

What do you want journalists who are new to systems thinking to know?

The goal isn’t to get a Ph.D. in complexity science. It’s to learn what tools and insights we can borrow to tell complex stories better.

For many reporters, systems thinking feels like something they already knew but didn’t have language or tools for. That recognition can be freeing, especially for journalists covering entrenched problems like crime, immigration or extremism. When you offer a way to tell stories that focuses on systems, not just events, people feel newly equipped to do their work.

I often use the iceberg metaphor. What we report on (the incident, the event) is what’s above the surface. Beneath that are the structures, incentives, histories and feedback loops that are harder to report on. But if you want to help people understand the “why,” you have to be willing to go there.

How might systems thinking be applied to reporting on religion?

Religion is often central to complex conflicts, from Israel and Gaza to the rise of the far right in the U.S., where politics and certain evangelical movements are deeply intertwined.

Trying to cover religion right now raises difficult questions: Are we untangling real connections, or are some of those connections overblown? It’s incredibly complicated, and it seems to me that systems thinking is exactly the kind of approach people would turn to for this.

Anything that helps you get beneath the incident to the forces that are constantly boiling underneath will be useful. Religious intolerance, like other forms of intolerance, is growing in many places. There’s a deep question there about fear of the “other.” How do you begin to tell stories about that in ways that hold onto the humanity of everyone involved, and that might actually lead to change?

How does this relate to solutions journalism?

The two are often linked, but they’re not the same. Solutions journalism focuses on what works. Systems thinking focuses on how we got here. Reporting only on outcomes isn’t enough; understanding how a system functions is essential to real insight—and to identifying meaningful solutions.

Any tips for reporters who want to try a systems approach?

We offer a lot of free tools on our website. One of the simplest starting points is visualization. Can you list all the forces beneath the surface of this story?

Say you’re assigned to cover a shooting at a religious event. What are all the forces that might have contributed to that moment? Brainstorm freely. How does education, societal vulnerability, extremist messaging, social isolation, media ecosystems factor in? Then start arranging them visually so you can see the connections and feedback loops.

These mental maps and visual maps help you move beyond the event itself and toward the conditions that made it possible. What had to be in place for something like this to happen?

That kind of thinking not only deepens understanding. It leads to stories you might never have considered otherwise. It actually opens up more space for religion reporting, not less.

Anything else you’d like to add?

When people go very deep into systems thinking — into complexity theory, quantum physics, all the “weird” stuff — it can almost become a religion unto itself. There’s a sense of re-enchantment, of acknowledging forces that are bigger than any one individual and deeply interconnected.

It’s a holistic lens on reporting, one that emphasizes connection, meaning and responsibility, even for reporters who don’t think of themselves as religious. Sometimes I joke that it’s religion for people who don’t believe in God. There is a feeling of oneness, an awareness of connection and a responsibility to act, or report, accordingly.

Tips and suggestions

How theologies of hospitality shape local immigration responses

Key questions

  • Which theological ideas (e.g., welcoming the stranger, imago Dei) shape a congregation’s or community’s engagement?
  • What public systems (legal aid, law enforcement, housing support) or migrant infrastructures (shelters, waypoints, etc.) do faith groups also provide?
  • What feedback loops exist between faith-based advocacy and local policymakers?
  • What informal systems (housing, jobs, transit, child care) have congregations created? How do these systems fill gaps in public services?

Sources and stakeholders

  • Immigrant-majority congregants; congregations that are not immigrant- majority, but are offering sanctuary.
  • Sanctuary movement leaders
  • Local business leaders, chambers of commerce, associations, as well as construction, hospitality, agriculture sectors
  • Immigration attorneys; city officials
  • Faith-based NGOs; interfaith coalitions
  • Immigrant families; mutual aid leaders; social workers

System-mapping prompts

  • Map relationships between the church, migrant networks, advocacy groups, city departments.
  • Look at how this issue plays out on local, state and national levels.
  • Identify bottlenecks (e.g., lack of legal representation, mobility limitations) and reinforcing loops (e.g., public attention → more volunteers → more services).
  • Show how needs (housing, legal, transportation) are met through community networks.
  • Identify points where formal systems (government services) intersect or fail.

Possible angles

  • Sanctuary as an alternative governance system.
  • How moral framing shapes city-level immigration debates and discussions around the economy, politics, culture.
  • What happens when public systems rely on religious communities?

Read/listen

Mapping the ecosystem of Christian nationalism

Key questions

  • What institutions amplify Christian nationalist messaging (churches, PACs, media)?
  • How does political success seem to reinforce theological claims?
  • Which mental models underlie the movement (“chosen nation,” “divine mandate”)?

Sources

  • Political scientists; evangelical historians
  • Church leaders; Christian nationalist critics
  • Media researchers tracking religious rhetoric

System-mapping prompts

  • Chart media → congregation → political actor → policy feedback loops.
  • Identify which stakeholders hold the most power or influence.

Possible angles

  • The seemingly hidden structures and systems behind a growing ideology.
  • How decline in membership paradoxically strengthens nationalist identity.
  • Look at how local and national groups and/or coalitions are organizing against Christian nationalism.

Read

The hidden structures of church decline

Key questions

  • How do financial models, property ownership and denominational rules affect a church’s ability to survive?
  • What urban planning or zoning pressures do communities face when building, selling or moving?
  • What about demographic shifts, both within and without of cities, suburban areas, etc.?
  • What about churches and institutions that are thriving or growing? What are they doing differently?

Sources

  • Denominational officials; church administrators
  • Real-estate experts; city planners
  • Congregants experiencing closure or merger
  • Sociologists and scholars studying these trends at the macro and micro level

System-mapping prompts

  • Diagram the flow of money, authority and decision-making.
  • Identify barriers to adaptation (e.g., bylaws, pension obligations, zoning laws).

Possible angles

  • Why some dying congregations reinvent themselves while others collapse and/or thrive.
  • The “structural trapdoors” many churches don’t see coming.

Read 

Religious minorities and local power

Key questions

  • What systems govern religious space (zoning boards, HOAs, fire codes, permit offices)?
  • What narratives shape public resistance or support?

Sources

  • Mosque/temple/gurdwara leaders
  • City zoning officials; civil liberties groups
  • Local neighbors; interfaith coalitions

System-mapping prompts

  • Plot the permitting process from application → hearings → appeals.
  • Note where power concentrates (elected board, planning department).

Possible angles

  • Zoning as a gatekeeping mechanism for religious freedom.
  • How minority faiths build coalitions that shift local power.

Read/listen

The rise of digital faith networks

Key questions

  • How do algorithms shape authority and influence?
  • What new roles emerge — influencer-pastors, online elders, virtual congregations?

Sources

  • Digital ministry leaders; platform analysts
  • Sociologists of religion and theologians dealing with digital technologies
  • Online community members

System-mapping prompts

  • Track content creation → algorithmic amplification and “authority” → audience formation → monetization.

Possible angles

  • How platforms reshape doctrines, not just distribution.
  • Virtual communities as new sacred spaces.

Read/listen

Religious philanthropy as a system-shaping force

Key questions

  • Where does religious philanthropic money go (schools, politics, humanitarian aid)?
  • How do philanthropic priorities flow from theological commitments?
  • How have federal cuts impacted religious philanthropy? What’s behind those cuts?

Sources

  • Philanthropy scholars; foundation executives
  • Religious leaders; nonprofit directors
  • Policy analysts

System-mapping prompts

  • Follow money from donors → foundations → grantees → public outcomes.
  • How do theological and traditional systems get adapted to modern contexts and/or to meet new needs and contexts?

Possible angles

  • How philanthropy quietly steers public morality.
  • The theological logics behind billions in charitable spending.

Read/listen

How religious beliefs shape local climate adaptation

Key questions

  • How do theologies of stewardship or dominion influence climate efforts?
  • What systems (disaster relief, local resilience planning) involve faith communities?

Sources

  • Faith-based environmental groups
  • Climate scientists; city resilience officers
  • Rural and urban congregations

System-mapping prompts

  • Diagram emergency response systems that involve churches, mosques, synagogues.

Possible angles

  • Faith communities as frontline climate responders.
  • Do religious narratives accelerate or hinder climate action?

Read

Rebuilding after scandal: Systems of accountability

Key questions

  • What governance failures enabled abuse or fraud?
  • How does the institution attempt reform — transparency, oversight, survivor involvement?

Sources

  • Survivors; advocacy groups
  • Institutional leaders; canon lawyers
  • Governance experts

System-mapping prompt

  • Map previous systems of oversight — where they broke — and new systems replacing them.

Possible angles

  • Can a religious institution genuinely remake itself?
  • Which reforms work in practice and which are symbolic?

Read/listen

New religious movements as social systems

Key questions

  • How do emerging groups form governance, leadership and economic structures?
  • What attracts new members, and what keeps them?

Sources

  • Movement founders and participants
  • Sociologists of new religions
  • Former members; community observers

System-mapping prompt

  • Identify recruitment pipelines → leadership models → resource flows.

Possible angles

  • Rethinking so-called fringe movements as complex social systems.
  • Why some new movements endure while others dissolve.

Read