10 notable Christian leaders, influencers who died in 2025

By Michael Gryboski, Editor Sunday, December 28, 2025

Top L to R: Jimmy Swaggart, Creative Commons/Jntracy75/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0; Voddie Bacham, Ema Capoccia; James Dobson, provided; Bottom L to R: Kay Arthur, Screengrab: YouTube/Revive Our Hearts; John MacArthur, Facebook/Shepherds' Conference; Pope Francis, Reuters.

In a year marked by Donald Trump's return to the White House, peace efforts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe and economic uncertainty, the world also mourned the loss of several notable Christian leaders and public figures in 2025.

The people who died this year made history, made headlines, sometimes sparked controversy, and influenced many in the Church and society.

This list does not include every church or ministry leader who has died since the start of the year and is largely focused on Christian clergy and influencers in the United States.

Those on this list are people who publicly identified as Christian and are included even if they might have held theological views or done things that were not compatible with biblical teaching.

Here are 10 notable Christian deaths that occurred in 2025.

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