🏛️ #RNA2023: The news that has religion writers' attention this week 🔌
Godbeat pros are meeting in the D.C. area
By Bobby Ross Jr.
BETHESDA, Md. — Greetings from just outside the nation’s capital.
The Religion News Association’s annual meeting started Thursday, and I’m enjoying the opportunity to connect with old friends and make new ones.
I attended my first RNA conference in Nashville, Tennessee, in the fall of 2002, just a few months after joining The Associated Press in that same city. I met the late, great Rachel Zoll — then one of AP’s two national religion writers along with the legendary Richard Ostling — at that meeting. What a blessing!
We’ll stick with the RNA theme as we jump into the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
What to know: The big story
#RNA2023: That’s the hashtag to follow the live highlights at the religion writers meeting.
Thursday’s program featured reports by academics and journalists on the Spiritual Exemplars project by the University of Southern California’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture.
ReligionUnplugged.com published a dozen or so of the profiles produced as part of that ambitious project on engaged spirituality.
Godbeat topics: As the conference opened, Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana led a session on “The Future of Houses of Worship.” Plug-in readers may recall that Smietana is the author of “Reorganized Religion: The Reshaping of the American Church and Why It Matters.”
Another session I really enjoyed: The Associated Press’ Holly Meyer moderated a discussion on “Praying and Playing: The Role of Sports in Religion.” In recent months, Meyer covered the Super Bowl ad campaign touting Jesus and wrote about football fans who see prayer as a Hail Mary.
Next up: The 30th anniversary of the Waco siege, Christian nationalism and the next chapter after Roe v. Wade are among the agenda items for the next two days.
Be sure to follow along on Twitter!
Power up: The week’s best reads
1. Sex abuse crisis: “These survivors felt betrayed by local SBC officials. What their stories say about reform.”
Once again — as I told him in person Thursday — The Tennessean’s Liam Adams has produced an important, enlightening story about the handling of sexual abuse allegations within the Southern Baptist Convention.
His stories are must-reads heading into the SBC’s annual meeting in New Orleans in June.
2. Blast from the past: I love it when journalists recognize the importance of history when reporting on today’s news.
The Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner does just that as he interviews Larry Hardison, whose “name was chiseled into American legal history 46 years ago when the Supreme Court ruled against him in a landmark religious accommodation case.”
The contemporary time peg: The high court will review the 1977 decision April 18 when it hears the case of a former U.S. Postal Service worker who resigned rather than deliver packages on Sundays. For more insight, see “A brief history of American Christians fighting Sunday mail” by Christianity Today’s Daniel Silliman.
3. The tears still flow: “He was with Emmett Till the night he was murdered. The horror haunts him still.”
Speaking of history, what a compelling piece by NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe on the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., whose 14-year-old cousin and best friend was lynched 67 years ago.
“It changed my life,” the 83-year-old Parker tells Rascoe. “I promised God if he just saved my life, I was going to do right.”
More top reads
Caleb Gayle writes for the New York Times Magazine about being “Black, evangelical and torn.” … Since the 1880s, Southern Baptists have argued over the role of women, Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana explains. … After 10 years, the fervor for Pope Francis in his home country of Argentina has faded, The Associated Press’ Almudena Calatrava and Débora Rey report. … Uncovering decades of allegations out of the Christian Academy of Japan, investigators tried new tactics to facilitate repentance and healing, according to Christianity Today’s Emily Belz. … An Oklahoma City pastor is celebrating 60 years with one church, as The Oklahoman’s Carla Hinton highlights. … Muslim holidays are finding welcome from mainstream retailers with new Ramadan goods, RNS’ Kathryn Post notes. … And in a Wall Street Journal think piece, Francis X. Rocca asks, “Must God have a gender in our prayers?”
Inside the Godbeat
Simran Jeet Singh, director of the Aspen Institute's Religion & Society Program and author of “The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life,” was part of Thursday’s Religion News Association panel on sports and religion.
Last week, Singh spoke at the 2023 South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas.
He opened the conference “with a reflective speech about using Sikh traditions in daily life and looking for the good in the world … receiving a standing ovation from the crowd,” The Daily Texan’s Trisha Dasgupta reports.
Charging station: ICYMI
Here is where you can catch up on top ReligionUnplugged.com content.
Monday marked Pope Francis’ 10th anniversary as head of the Catholic Church.
ReligionUnplugged.com’s own Clemente Lisi counts down “5 things to know about his time as pope.”
Also this week, Lisi writes about Israel’s baseball team bringing together American players of Jewish heritage.
The final plug
At the beginning of this week’s newsletter, I mentioned my time with AP in Nashville.
Twenty years ago on March 20, 2003, I had the byline on AP’s main “America reacts” story — with an anecdote from a church gathered to pray — as the U.S. launched its attack on Iraq.
I was reminded of that when I saw a story this morning on young Iraqis seeing signs of hope two decades after the invasion.
Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend.
Bobby Ross Jr. is a columnist for ReligionUnplugged.com and editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 15 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.