Halloween spending is projected to remain relatively steady this year, averaging $115.14 per person compared to $114.45 in 2025. But that doesn’t mean shoppers aren’t keeping a close eye on their budgets and being more deliberate about what they buy for the holiday. (Sharma, Retail Brew)
Read MoreAs AI content spreads online, political strategists have used the technology to create glossy campaign videos. According to a Wesleyan Media Project report released in September, 164 ads generated or enhanced by AI have been released this election cycle, costing $80 million. (André, Religion News Service)
Read MoreMr. Kasereka uses his status as a low-level church official and an Ebola survivor to help spread the word about the importance of early treatment and to counter widespread claims that Ebola was invented by outsiders to kill local inhabitants and steal their mineral-rich land. (O’Reilly, The New York Times)
Read MoreLifeway Research’s annual tracking survey reveals that most U.S. Protestant pastors (54 percent) report the economy is negatively impacting their congregation. Slightly more than a third (36 percent) say it’s having no impact, while 8 percent see a positive economic effect. (Earls, Baptist Press)
Read MoreIts new leaders, [employees] believe, are abandoning the publication’s longtime commitment to independent journalism, a record that includes investigating accounts of misconduct by high-profile evangelicals. (Graham, The New York Times)
Read MoreGrowing numbers of people in Britain are defining themselves as Christian nationalists, according to a new survey — but the majority of them are not churchgoing Christians. The report, “Beyond Christian Nationalism — Measuring Attitudes to Christianity and Britishness Today,” published by the reputable think tank Theos, surveyed 1,765 people. It shows that more than 10% of those surveyed identify as Christian nationalists. (Pepinster, Religion News Service)
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