Patheos October 2026 Featured Writer: Richard Ostling

Last updated on: October 1, 2026 at 9:56 am by Alan Crandall

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Patheos October 2026 Featured Writer: Richard Ostling 2026-10-01T09:56:05-06:00 Alan Crandall

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Column: Religion Q and A · Patheos contributor since December 2012

When Richard Ostling started covering religion as a journalist, John F. Kennedy was in the White House. More than six decades later, he’s still at it — and still one of the best in the business.

Ostling spent more than 27 years at Time magazine, where he produced 23 cover stories and served as a senior correspondent. He was a religion writer for The Associated Press for eight years. And he holds a distinction no one else can claim: he was the first correspondent to regularly cover religion for a network television newscast, reporting part-time for the PBS NewsHour and broadcasting CBS Radio religion segments for two decades.

Along the way, he sat across the table from Billy Graham, the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — who would later become Pope Benedict XVI. He authored many of *Time’*s major stories on the rise of evangelical Christianity, including cover stories on Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart. He interviewed ranking rabbis, Muslim leaders, authorities across every major faith tradition, and, as he puts it, “numerous ordinary believers.”

With his late wife Joan, Ostling co-authored Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (1999, revised 2007, HarperOne), which The New York Times Book Review called “eminently fair” and “well-researched.” He also co-authored Aborting America with Bernard Nathanson.

His professional honors include a Pulitzer Prize nomination, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Religion Newswriters Association, the Supple and Templeton prizes, and writing awards from the American Academy of Religion, the Episcopal Church and the Religion Communicators Council. One edition of Media Guide named him the only Time staff member ranked among the nation’s “highest rated journalists.” The Center for Religious Inquiry has called him “one of the most distinguished and honored writers on religion in America.” He is listed in Who’s Who in America.

Ostling holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan (With High Distinction, Phi Beta Kappa), an M.A. in religion from George Washington University, an M.S.J. from Northwestern University’s School of Journalism — which named him a charter member of its Alumni Hall of Achievement — and an honorary Doctor of Letters from Gordon College.

On Patheos, Ostling writes the column “Religion Q and A,” tackling questions on everything from why the Bible is so complicated to whether America is a “Christian nation” at 250. He also writes a biweekly column for Religion Unplugged.

He is the father of two daughters, Margaret and Elizabeth. He lives and works in northern New Jersey and is an active lay member of Ramapo Reformed Church.

Ostling says this about contributing to Patheos: “It has been a journalist’s dream to be part of the Patheos team since 2012 because of the site’s vast and engaged readership, which encompasses all sectors of faith. I’ve found writing about religion to be endlessly fascinating and challenging. Religion affects all aspects of human existence, never fails to produce great stories and issues, and is so complex that even after decades on the ‘beat,’ I learn something new virtually every week.”

He offers up this advice to future Patheos contributors: “Approach topics the way a journalist would. Start off with the who-what-when-where-why type significance or a tantalizing feature ‘hook’ that invites audiences to read further. End with a zinger, perhaps a practical application, terse summary of why all this matters, a look ahead, a pointed quote, or a last little surprising fact. Translate and avoid in-group theological or academic jargon. Always remind yourself you are writing for some people who don’t know a blessed thing about a particular faith or question. Doublecheck everything. Read and research as broadly as deadlines allow. And by all means have fun. Come to think of it, preachers should do much of the same.”

Read Richard’s work at patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda.

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