Is Nashville The Center Of The Religion News Universe? For Today, Let's Say So
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.
(ANALYSIS) Twenty years ago, I moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to work for The Associated Press.
I spent less than a year in Music City before transferring to Dallas, but oh, what a fun 11 months for a religion reporter (and country music fan).
I covered the fight over a proposed Tennessee lottery and a prayer service on the night the Iraq War began, but some of my favorite stories were less weighty:
The Tennessee staff of The Associated Press in 2003
• A profile of a man who paid children $10 each to learn the Ten Commandments (until 15,000 “memorization affidavits” from across the nation flooded his mailbox after my story ran).
• A feature on Gospel Music Week, when some of Nashville’s most popular bars and nightspots traded lying-and-cheating songs for hymns about prayer and redemption.
• An interview with the 104-year-old widow of a famous Black traveling evangelist.
Blame Liam Adams, The Tennessean’s religion reporter, for this trip down memory lane.
In a fascinating deep dive published this week, Adams and his colleague Cole Villena delve into “Williamson County, the suburban ‘new frontier’ for American evangelical Christianity.”
“An already heavily Christian area is on track to become a capital of evangelicalism in the U.S.,” the story asserts, referring to the fast-growing county south of Nashville.
I pointed out to Adams on Twitter that my family lived in Williamson County — Spring Hill, to be precise — in our brief time in the Nashville area.
“All religion reporting roads lead through greater Nashville apparently,” chimed in Christianity Today’s Kate Shellnutt, herself a former Nashville resident.
Then Lifeway Research’s Aaron Earls added, “Now I'm curious of all the current religion reporters who've been through Middle TN and which ones we still need to draw here for a stint.”
Me too!
And my nostalgic brain was off to the races. So here we are, talking about religion news in Nashville.
Speaking of which, congrats to Holly Meyer, The Tennessean’s former religion writer and now AP’s global religion news editor. She played a key role in Tennessee Press Association awards won by her former paper last week.
And congrats again to Bob Smietana, another former Williamson County resident and religion writer for The Tennessean. His book, “Reorganized Religion: The Reshaping of the American Church and Why It Matters,” came out this week.
In case you missed it, I interviewed the author — now a Religion News Service national reporter —in last week’s Plug-in. It’s probably no surprise, but Nashville figures prominently in the anecdotes shared in the book.
Is Nashville the center of the religion news universe? For today, let’s say so.
Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads
1. Watering while Black: anatomy of a pastor’s Alabama arrest: “Michael Jennings wasn’t breaking any laws or doing anything that was obviously suspicious; the Black minister was simply watering the flowers of a neighbor who was out of town.”
That’s how The Associated Press’ Jay Reeves begins this must-read tale.
Read additional coverage by the New York Times’ Eduardo Medina and NPR’s Jonathan Franklin.
2. Attacked at home, Afghan Sikhs find community on Long Island: “After losing three family members in an attack on his prayer hall in Kabul in 2020, Kulwinder Singh Soni has found refuge in Long Island,” an Associated Press tweet notes. “Sikhs and Hindus who were persecuted for their beliefs back home now live side by side.”
This is a powerful story by Deepa Bharath of AP’s global religion team.
3. Devout religious followers have better sex lives: This is news you can use — maybe? — by the New York Post’s Emily Lefroy.
Lefroy reports:
For good sex, turns out you’ve got to have faith.
People with strong religious beliefs have higher levels of sexual satisfaction, according to a new study published in the Journal of Sex Research.
Despite the fact that devout people ages 18 to 59 tend to get it on less frequently, the findings by the British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles indicate religious individuals enjoy the bedroom more.
BONUS: Serena Williams — who takes the court again tonight — is making major headlines this week.
That’s because she plans “to end her tennis career at the same tournament where she won her first major: the U.S. Open in New York,” as the Deseret News’ Kelsey Dallas notes.
Did you know Williams is a Jehovah’s Witness? Kimberly Winston has details on the tennis superstar’s faith in this 2015 piece she wrote for Religion News Service.
More Top Reads
• For a small Chicago church, closing down was an act of faith (by Bob Smietana, Religion News Service)
• ‘There will be surprises’ (by Joshua J. McElwee, Commonweal)
• Pastor Rick Warren delivers final Saddleback Church sermon (by Jeff Goertzen, Orange County Register)
• For exiled Uyghurs, United Nations report is long-awaited vindication (by Dake Kang, Associated Press)
• ‘Action on climate change … is an act of love’ (by Audrey Jackson, Christian Chronicle)
• Prominent evangelical pastor tearfully steps aside after ‘unwise’ relationship (by Elizabeth Dias and Ruth Graham, New York Times)
• At funeral Mass for former Archbishop Weakland, some pray for forgiveness while others slam legacy of abuse coverup (by Sophie Carson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• How Afghan women took on the Taliban, as told through their text messages (by Susannah George, Washington Post)
• Quake-hit Mexico church with iconic Virgin image gets rehab (by María Teresa Hernández, AP)
• The Anglican church’s ‘kick in the guts’ to gay parishioners (by Pete McKenzie, New York Times)
• Meet the apostle of right-wing Christian nationalism (by Tim Dickinson, Rolling Stone)
• How a far-right, Christian cellphone company ‘took over’ four Texas school boards (by Mike Hixenbaugh, NBC News)
• Kathie Lee Gifford wants you to meet her best friend, Jesus (by Mark A. Kellner, Washington Times)
• Mojave Desert tribes aim to turn a sacred mountain into a national monument (by Louis Sahagún, Los Angeles Times)
• Catholic dioceses’ pronoun, gender rules cheer conservatives, sadden transgender allies (by Mark A. Kellner, Washington Times)
• Think piece: Is student loan forgiveness biblical? (by Stefani McDade, Christianity Today)
• Think piece: Trump should fill Christians with rage. How come he doesn’t? (by Michael Gerson, Washington Post)
Inside The Godbeat: Behind The Bylines
Three Godbeat notes this week:
• A big change at the Catholic publication Crux: Longtime correspondent Inés San Martín is leaving her Rome post to join the Pontifical Missionary Societies USA, as editor John L. Allen Jr. explains.
• The Religion News Association’s mentorship program is starting another cycle. Members can apply to be either a mentor or a mentee via the RNA website.
I was honored to serve as a mentor during the past cycle. I really enjoyed connecting with Time magazine’s Madeleine Carlisle and learning more about her work.
Got questions about the program? Email Liam Adams at lajournalism@outlook.com.
• Congrats to ReligionUnplugged.com’s own Meagan Clark Saliashvili on her marriage! What an incredible photo in the tweet below.
Charging Station: In Case You Missed It
Here is where you can catch up on recent news and opinions from ReligionUnplugged.com.
• Afghan refugees claim Lutheran Social Services failed to deliver promised resettlement services (by Anne Stych)
• Wycliffe Bible Translators collaborates on project in Southeast Asia (by Kim Roberts)
• Churches of Christ are rapidly expanding in Ghana (by Jerry Mitchell)
• Salman Rushdie and the wider effects of blasphemy accusations (by Paul Marshall)
• The dangers of celebrity in the church: Q&A with Katelyn Beaty (by Dru Johnson)
• In India’s BJP-ruled states, Christians under attack for alleged forced conversions (by Naila Khan)
• Once again, an ‘act of God’ leaves us with more questions than answers (by Paul Prather)
• A religion, academic and business story: Is there a ‘best’ Bible to use and quote? (by Richard Ostling)
• Two Christian women reflect on their experiences placing a child for adoption (by Audrey Jackson)
• A Mennonite minister suggests we act as if what Jesus said and did mattered (by Paul Prather)
The Final Plug
He's 78. She's 30.
Sam Birmingham needed a kidney to save his life. Melissa McFerrin had a healthy one.
"I had a brother in need," the Christian woman says. So what if he was a total stranger?
I got to tell this cool story for The Christian Chronicle. I’d love for you to check it out.
Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the holiday 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.