13 CT News Stories That Made Us Happy in 2021

It was another hard year on many fronts, but it wasn’t all bad news.

2021 brought more headlines about COVID-19, religious persecution, division, and spiritual abuse. Amid the heaviness, we saw God at work through his people in big ways and small, from signs of hope for Christians in the Middle East to a surprise worship leader at a church in California.

Here are 13 of our favorite good-news stories covered by CT this year, listed in chronological order.

Read all of our year-end lists here.

- More from CT Editors

Also in this series

Introduction

Christianity Today in 2021: Our Top News, Reviews, Podcasts, and More

CT Editors

Top 10 CT News Stories of the Year

CT Editors

Christianity Today’s Top Testimonies of 2021

CT Editors

Christianity Today’s 15 Most-Read Book Reviews of 2021

CT Editors

CT’s Top 10 Articles for Pastors in 2021

CT Editors

CT’s Top 20 Stories of 2021

CT’s 2021 Cover Stories, Ranked

CT Editors

Biblical Archaeology’s Top 10 Discoveries of 2021

Gordon Govier

CT’s Stories of 2021 That You May Have Missed

CT Editors

Our Favorite Christianity Today Podcasts from 2021

12 Leaders Evangelicals Lost in 2021

Daniel Silliman

The Global Church in 2021: CT’s Top 20 International Articles

Morgan Lee

Our Latest

An Instagram grid of people in blue and red squares.

Faith Should be Public but Not Performative

Jen Pollock Michel

Christian faith must act on behalf of the most vulnerable, not clutter social media feeds.

A child writing math symbols.

Analysis

First, Honesty. Then, Multiplication Tables.

Carrie McKean in Midland, Texas

We need to know how badly students are failing in math class. Then we must return to the fundamentals.

Security officers stand guard next to a bus carrying freed worshippers at the Government House in Kaduna.

News

Mass Kidnappings Leave Nigerian Churches Reeling

Emiene Erameh

Christian leaders fight to draw attention to the abductions by criminal gangs amid government denial.

why-are-young-men-struggling

The Russell Moore Show

Richard Reeves on Why Young Men Are Struggling

What do boys need from fathers, churches, and institutions that they aren’t getting right now?

The book on an orange background.

Review

They May Forget Your Sermons, but They’ll Remember This

Reuben Bredenhof’s new book encourages pastors to focus on small acts of faithfulness.

A collage of images showing a Ukrainian soldier, a drone, and an explosion.

A Russian Drone Killed My Brother. Is the World Tired of Our Suffering?

Taras Dyatlik

On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a Ukrainian theologian meditates on self-interested calls for a comfortable peace.

The book on a purple background.

Excerpt

Parents of Prodigals Can Trust God is Good

Cameron Shaffer

An excerpt from Cameron Shaffer’s Keeping Kids Christian.

"Live From Nashville" in neon lights surrounded by stage lights.

The Bulletin

The Bulletin Goes to Nashville!

Sho Baraka, Mike Cosper, Clarissa Moll, Russell Moore

In Music City, Russell, Mike, Sho, and Clarissa talk about creativity, vocation, and AI.