Bertha Alvarez Manninen is professor of philosophy at Arizona State University, where she teaches biomedical ethics, applied ethics, philosophy of religion, and philosophy and film.

Lisa Bahar is a licensed marriage and family therapist, clinical counselor and adjunct faculty member for Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology. Bahar has written on the role faith plays in Hollywood.

Abby Olcese is a freelance writer based in Kansas who writes about “the weird, the nerdy, and the profoundly artsy corners of popular culture” — with a focus on faith and film — for various outlets, including Sojourners, Rotten Tomatoes, and RogerEbert.com.

In this edition of ReligionLink, we try our hand at predicting some of next year’s big religion news themes and tease out the kinds of stories journalists, commentators and analysts might be working on, talking about or sharing with one another in 2023.