The U.S. is undergoing its fastest religious shift in modern history, marked by a rapid increase in the religiously unaffiliated and numerous church closures nationwide, Axios' Russell Contreras writes.

• Why it matters: The great unchurching of America comes as identity and reality are increasingly shaped by non-institutional spiritual sources — YouTube mystics, TikTok tarot, digital skeptics, folk saints and AI-generated prayer bots.

It's a tectonic transformation that has profound implications for race, civic identity, political persuasion and the ability to govern a fracturing moral landscape.

🧮 By the numbers: Nearly three in 10 American adults identify as religiously unaffiliated — a 33% jump since 2013, according to the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI).

• That's quicker than almost any major religious shift in modern U.S. history, and it's happening across racial groups.
• About four in ten Americans ages 18 to 29 identify as religiously unaffiliated (38%), an increase from 32% in 2013, PRRI said.
• Gallup polling finds 57% of Americans seldom or never attend religious services, a jump from 40% in 2000.

Zoom in: The shift in religious activity is leaving behind a trail of "church graveyards," or empty buildings that are now difficult to sell or have been abandoned.

• An unprecedented 15,000 churches are expected to shut their doors this year, far more than the few thousand expected to open, according to denominational reports and church consultants.
• These churches once served as community gathering places for Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, voting precincts, or town halls, leaving a void.
• Megachurches show signs of stability, but not enough to reverse overall declines.

🙏 The intrigue: As Americans unchurch, YouTube channels like Spiritual Manifestation attract hundreds of thousands of subscribers who share mysticism, spiritual insight, and "inner wisdom" content online.

• YouTube videos of speeches by the late agnostic and astronomer Carl Sagan and atheist and biologist Richard Dawkins attacking religion have drawn millions of views.
• Devotees to unofficial Catholic Latino folk saints such as Santa Muerte and Jesús Malverde have also become increasingly prominent outside official religion.

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🇺🇦 Bulletin: President Trump is expected to host Ukrainian President Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday to discuss his peace plan, Ukrainian officials tell Axios' Barak Ravid.

• Why it matters: The meeting is a sign of significant progress in the negotiations over Trump's peace plan. Trump said several weeks ago that he'll meet Zelensky only when the parties are close to a deal.

The next day, Monday, Trump will meet at Mar-a-Lago with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Barak has learned.

• Trump plans several big announcements on Gaza in early January, but the next steps hinge on the meeting. White House officials think Netanyahu is slow-walking the peace process, and fear he'll resume the war with Hamas.

Netanyahu hopes to bring the president over to his more hawkish point of view despite butting heads with Trump's team, a senior Israeli official said.

🔭 Zoom in: The White House wants to unveil a Palestinian technocratic government and International Stabilization Force for Gaza as soon as possible, and potentially even convene the Trump-led Board of Peace at the World Economic Forum in Davos later in January, White House officials say.

• But Netanyahu expressed skepticism about ideas by envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for phase two of the deal, especially on the demilitarization of Gaza, during a recent meeting with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in Jerusalem, according to a source.

💥 Friction point: Trump's top team has grown increasingly frustrated as Netanyahu has taken steps to undermine the fragile ceasefire and stall the peace process.

• "It's JD, Marco, Jared, Steve, Susie. He has lost them. The only one he has left is the president, who still likes him. But even he wants to see the Gaza deal moving faster than it is right now," a White House official told Axios.

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The U.S. military "launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS" in northwest Nigeria on Christmas Day following the targeting of Christians in the West African country, President Trump announced.

• The airstrike involved more than a dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles fired off a Navy ship. (N.Y. Times)

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Major video streaming services have hiked their cheapest tier of ad-free subscription prices by an average of $6.69 since launch, according to an analysis by Axios' Sara Fischer.

• Why it matters: Streaming inflation has pushed users to pursue more free, ad-supported streaming options like Tubi and Roku.

It's part of what's driving consolidation in the industry, as entertainment giants look to rebundle and repackage their services to make them more palatable to cost-conscious consumers.

💸 By the numbers: Disney+ now costs $18.99 for its cheapest, ad-free tier, up from $6.99 at launch in 2019.

• Netflix and Hulu have each increased their cheapest ad-free tiers by $9 since launch.

👀 What to watch: Five of the eight major video subscription streamers introduced new price hikes in the U.S. this year. So 2026 may not see as many hikes.

• Get Axios Media Trends.

Pope Leo XIV waves from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica before speaking to worshippers gathered in Vatican City during his first Christmas as pontiff.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrive to attend their Christmas Day service at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, England.

Police patrol Bondi Beach in Sydney near Christmas Day beachgoers, less than two weeks after a deadly shooting at a Hanukkah festival there.

An annual Christmas Eve performance by the "Waterskiing Santa" along the Old Town Alexandria waterfront in Virginia.

• More pics: Royal Christmas.

New York City is bracing for its biggest snowstorm in years — "although that may not be saying all that much in an increasingly snow-starved city," the N.Y. Times writes.

• Heavy snow is expected late today into early Saturday with winter storm warnings extending from northeast Pennsylvania into Connecticut.
• Four to eight inches of snow are expected in the broader metropolitan region, according to the National Weather Service.

☃️ Stunning stat: "If New York City sees more than 4 inches of snow, it will be the most significant accumulation since January 2022, when more than 8 inches fell in Central Park," the Times reports.

• Keep reading (N.Y. Times gift link).

⚡ Situational awareness: Intense rain slamming Southern California forced families to evacuate their Los Angeles-area homes over Christmas in a deadly winter storm system that's set to linger today. Get the latest.

Here's a heartwarming story worth reading this holiday season:

• The owners of a company that builds equipment for data centers handed out bonuses worth $240 million when they sold it earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal writes.

Graham Walker and his family, who owned Louisiana-based Fibrebond, decided that employees would get 15% of the proceeds from the $1.7 billion sale.

• "The average bonus was $443,000, to be paid over five years, as long as the employees remained at the company for that period. Long-timers received much more," the Journal reports.
• Employees have used the money to pay off mortgages, buy cars and fund college educations.

Keep reading (gift link).

The holder of a Powerball ticket purchased at a gas station outside Little Rock, Ark., on Christmas Eve won the second-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history.

• To get the full $1.82 billion prize, the winner would receive one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% each year.

The jackpot also has a lump sum cash payment option worth $834.9 million.

• Go deeper.