Christianity Today is in clear organizational distress. The magazine’s October 2026 leadership announcement and accompanying staff reductions are the latest evidence of a multi-year trajectory that has steadily alienated much of its traditional evangelical readership. While the pace accelerated after Russell Moore’s tenure as editor-in-chief, the underlying shift away from the magazine’s historic base was already underway well before he took the role.
Leadership instability has become a defining feature. In less than seven years, CT has named six editors-in-chief: Mark Galli, Daniel Harrell, Tim Dalrymple, Russell Moore, Marvin Olasky, and now Erik Petrik. Such rapid turnover is rare for a publication that still claims to speak for a broad evangelical audience. Moore served as editor-in-chief from 2022 until 2025, when he moved to editor-at-large to focus on podcasting and writing.
Olasky’s subsequent term was brief; he is retiring in mid-October 2026 as Petrik steps in as chief content officer and incoming editor-in-chief. The churn has coincided with repeated staff reductions. Two rounds of cuts in 2025—one in March and another in September—eliminated roughly twenty positions. The October 2026 changes that elevated Petrik included a further reduction of about 20 percent of overall staff and 40 percent of the editorial team. Notable departures included news editorial director Andy Olsen; deputy editor Bonnie Kristian resigned soon after. These cuts follow earlier reductions and reflect sustained pressure on both audience and finances.
The editorial direction has tracked the personnel changes. Years before Moore’s formal leadership, CT was already publishing material that many longtime readers regarded as increasingly aligned with progressive cultural priorities on race, immigration, and political commentary. Moore’s visibility and editorial influence made the drift more pronounced and more costly in audience terms. Large segments of the magazine’s historic constituency came to view the publication as treating them primarily as a problem rather than as its core readers. The resulting loss of engagement has shown up in the form of successive layoffs and constant leadership reshuffling.
The selection of Erik Petrik as the next editor-in-chief highlights how far the organization has moved from conventional journalistic expectations. Petrik’s primary experience is in creative production, podcast development, film, and visual branding; he executive-produced the feminist series The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill that revived Mark Driscoll’s career and has overseen other audio and design initiatives at CT. While official materials note some background touching journalism and seminary training, he does not bring a substantial record as a working reporter or news editor of a major publication. In the current media environment, an additional gap stands out: Petrik appears to have no meaningful personal presence on X, the platform where a large volume of real-time news, primary-source discussion, and audience formation now takes place. An editor-in-chief expected to interpret events for the church is poorly positioned if he is not engaged where that discourse actually happens. From a theological perspective, Petrik is likely dispensationalist given his study at Dallas Theological Seminary.
The magazine’s difficulties did not originate with any single appointment. The leftward movement relative to its traditional base was observable for years prior to Moore’s editorship. His period in the top editorial role, followed by the subsequent leadership under CEO Nicole Martin and the elevation of a primarily creative executive lacking both deep journalistic credentials and any visible presence on the dominant platform for contemporary news discourse, has simply continued the pattern while the consequences have become more visible. Multiple rounds of layoffs, six editors-in-chief in short succession, and the latest appointment together form a consistent record of institutional decline.
May it be so.
One Response
An answer to prayer.