From editorial director of news Kate Shellnutt: Though we are well into 2025 by now, we at Christianity Today have recently been looking back at last year as part of our performance review process. There are plenty of stories I’m proud to have written and edited, but I still can’t help but think back to the ones I had hoped to write. There were a handful of stories that I struggled to get adequate sourcing for or that got half reported before I had to move onto other projects.
 
Leaving stories unfinished is like carrying a weight in your notebook. I feel bad for people who shared their time and thoughts with me in interviews, only for nothing to come of it (yet). And I miss and long for the sense of completion that comes from moving through the editing process and finally clicking publish to get a story into the world.
 
There are a couple of topics that I set a goal to return to later this year, with new perspectives and updated news hooks. In a landscape where there are more stories to chase down than we could ever get to, I have to trust my instincts, my limits, and God’s timing. Perhaps the story that comes in 2025 will be better than the one I dreamed up last year.