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Interest in religion and spirituality continues to grow among public health practitioners, researchers, and scholars. While there have been several recent landmark publications and efforts to understand the intersections of religion, spirituality, and public health, work remains to be done. In this commentary, we outline three challenges that impede more substantive engagement with religion and spirituality from the public health perspective; namely, the controversial aspects of religion, the perception of religion as a private matter, and limited academic space for coursework around religion and spirituality within public health training. We then describe a series of recommendations that might foster better scholarship and praxis at the crossroads of public health, religion, and spirituality: forming interdisciplinary teams, engaging a wider body of literature, building relationships with faith-inspired colleagues and communities, and considering the goals and ends of communities we serve. We remain hopeful that through ongoing dialogue and academic humility, work exploring the features of religion, spirituality, and public health will yield richer understanding of our shared humanity and the features that give rise to life.