Weekend Plug-in 🔌

Editor’s note: Every Friday, “Weekend Plug-in” features analysis, fact checking and top headlines from the world of faith. Subscribe now to get this newsletter delivered straight to your inbox. Got feedback or ideas? Email Bobby Ross Jr. at therossnews@gmail.com.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska— On my first reporting trip to Alaska several years ago, I saw a moose by the highway and stopped to take a picture.

On a quick visit to the Last Frontier this past week, the only moose I personally encountered was the one that greeted me at the airport.

I didn’t spot any bears either, except for the two behind glass in my hotel lobby.

Still, I enjoyed the breathtaking scenery — who doesn’t love snow-capped mountains? — and the opportunity to delve into two compelling religion stories firsthand.

My piece for ReligionUnplugged.com on an Anchorage church with members from Ukraine, Russia and other Slavic nations was published this morning. It focuses on that Russian-speaking congregation’s work to help Ukrainians fleeing their homes.

For The Christian Chronicle, I covered the first Alaska State Lectureship in three years. COVID-19 had prompted the cancellation of the previous two annual lectureships. Members of the state’s scattered-but-interconnected Churches of Christ were elated to be back together.

My favorite interview was with a couple in their 80s who live 26 miles above the Arctic Circle. Ron and Zona Hogan use a phone translation app to communicate in Spanish with newcomers from the Dominican Republic who attend their home church.

It’s good stuff.

I hope you’ll check it out.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. As Ramadan, Passover and Easter converge, an interfaith trolley rolls out: “The rare alignment of major Christian, Muslim and Jewish holidays is fueling a flurry of interfaith celebrations across the nation this month,” Mya Jaradat reports for the Deseret News.

More top holiday coverage:

• 3 churches in Ukraine contemplate faith, hope and charity (by Cara Anna, Associated Press)

• For churches hit by disaster, Easter brings promise of hope (by Luis Andres Henao, Holly Meyer and Peter Orsi, AP)

• As pandemic fades, Spain Easter traditions resurrected (by Juan Maza, Agence France-Presse)

• For Jews fleeing Ukraine, Passover takes on new meaning (by Deepa Bharath, AP)

• Dallas woman spending Passover in Poland sees similarities in Exodus, Ukrainian refugees (by BeLynn Hollers, Dallas Morning News)

• Handmade ‘watched’ matzah a hot Passover 2022 commodity; Lubavitchers set giveaway (by Mark A. Kellner, Washington Times)

• For rabbis visiting the border with Ukraine, Passover has a whole new meaning (by Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service)

• How Nashville mosques are supporting Afghan families during first Ramadan in the U.S. (by Liam Adams, The Tennessean)

2. Many faith leaders grateful for new anti-abortion law, while some express regret: The Oklahoman’s Carla Hinton reports on Oklahoma religious leaders’ reactions to the state’s governor, Kevin Stitt, signing “one of the nation’s toughest anti-abortion laws into law.”

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times’ Jaweed Kaleem travels to Michigan to cover “an increasingly vocal minority of former conservatives” who are challenging the traditional understanding of what it means for Christians to be “pro-life.”

3. Demon time: How a former actress-turned-Christian EDM singer from small-town New York became a Pentecostal faith healer for the TikTok era: That’s a mouthful, but veteran religion writer Sam Kestenbaum covers it all in this story for theLAnd magazine.

As the New York Times’ Ruth Graham notes, this piece is “classic Kestenbaum.”

More Top Reads

• The great church property flip: Florida pastors seek salvation in real estate (by Jordan Blumetti, The Guardian)

• How 5G caused a feud between a small Christian school and T-Mobile (by Bob Smietana, Religion News Service)

• In the shadow of the border wall, a Catholic kitchen provides hope and a hot meal (by Christina Morales, New York Times)

• Trump’s backing of Dr. Oz Forces a rethink for McCormick, Senate rivals (by Mark Niquette, Bloomberg)

• The new reformers (by Kelsey Dallas and Jennifer Graham, Deseret News)

• Chula Vista church becomes a way station for Ukrainians seeking refuge in the U.S. (by John Wilkens, San Diego Union Tribune)

• Ukrainian nuns open their monastery to the displaced (by Renata Brito, Associated Press)

• World Council of Churches faces calls to expel Russian Orthodox Church (by Jack Jenkins, RNS)

• Texas inmate who sought pastor’s touch gets execution date (by Juan A. Lozano, Associated Press)

• Sikhs sue Marine Corps over restrictions on beards (by Dave Philipps, New York Times)

• Texas Supreme Court rules against Southern Baptist leader accused of rape, a win for survivors (by Robert Downen, Houston Chronicle)

• Leaked Hillsong NYC report says sexual misconduct, abuse went beyond Carl Lentz (by Roxanne Stone, RNS)

• ‘Father Stu,’ the story of a boxer-turned-priest, is Mark Wahlberg’s ‘love letter to God’ (by Emily McFarlan Miller, RNS)

• Can an all-Mormon cast pull off ‘Fiddler on the Roof’? We traveled to Utah to find out. (by Mira Fox, The Forward)

• An American rabbi went to help Ukrainian refugees. But he hoped to find his cousins. (by Michele Chabin, RNS)

• Detroit Tigers 3B Jeimer Candelario is a man in full — 'consistent ... as the day is long' (by Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press)

• Think piece: How America’s youth lost its religion in 1990s (by Ryan Burge, RNS)

Inside The Godbeat: Behind The Bylines

Longtime Salt Lake Tribune religion writer Peggy Fletcher Stack calls her first visit to Israel “a dream come true for a religion reporter.”

I was blessed to travel there with a group of U.S. religion reporters in 2019 and echo Stack’s assessment.

Besides her deeper reporting, Stack is filing shorter daily dispatches, the Tribune notes.

Charging Station: In Case You Missed It

Here is where you can catch up on recent news and opinions from ReligionUnplugged.com.

• Christians in Ukraine share stories of evacuation, separation and grief (by Erik Tryggestad)

• IRS backlog affects ministries and churches, leaving donors uninformed (by Shannon Cuthrell)

• Israeli government coalition collapsing over kosher hypocrisy (by Gil Zohar)

• Hillsong Music pulls out of Casting Crowns tour (by Anne Stych)

• Senate approves Deborah Lipstadt nomination for antisemitism envoy (by Dave Schechter)

• ‘Father Stu’ is one of the best faith-based films ever — but will anyone see it? (by Joseph Holmes)

• Ukraine war savagery will loom over this year's World Council of Churches assembly (by Richard Ostling)

• In Burkina Faso, anti-terrorist militias are an interfaith affair (by Joseph Hammond)

• When it comes to Buddhism, where’s the line between appreciation and appropriation? (by Brianna Jacobs)

• Bucket ministries gather supplies for Ukraine — with $10,000 boost from Kelly Clarkson (by Erik Tryggestad)

• AARP lawyers join suit against African Methodist Episcopal Church over retirement funds (by Anne Stych)

• The slap, the rumors and Denzel Washington’s wise words (by Terry Mattingly)

The Final Plug

The Evangelical Press Association presented its 2022 awards this week, and ReligionUnplugged.com was among the big winners.

Congratulations to executive editor Paul Glader, managing editor Meagan Clark and the entire ReligionUnplugged.com team for taking top honors in the newspaper-online news category.

In the reporting category, Julia Duin won first place for her January 2021 story “Charismatics are at war with each other over failed prophecies of Trump victory.”

Other ReligionUnplugged.com honorees were Jillian Cheney for her February 2021 critical review “‘Minari’ finds faith in fertile, Arkansas soil” and Weekend Plug-in in the e-newsletter category.

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.