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) Good morning, Weekend Plug-in readers!

Among the stories we’re following this week: A South Carolina church held a prayer vigil after two members of its community were abducted and killed by a Mexican drug cartel, as WPDE-TV’s Jenna Herazo reports.

Here in my home state of Oklahoma, voters trounced — somewhat surprisingly — a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana. Given the millions of dollars spent by the pro-marijuana side, a faith coalition leader who fought the initiative calls the outcome a “David beats Goliath” victory. I report that story here at ReligionUnplugged.com.

Each Friday morning, Plug-in rounds up the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.

We start this edition with tragic news out of Germany.

What to know: The big story

Mass shooting at house of worship: “A former member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses shot dead six people at a hall belonging to the congregation in the German city of Hamburg before killing himself after police arrived, authorities said Friday. Police said an unborn baby also died, without clarifying whether the baby’s mother was among the dead. Eight people were wounded, four of them seriously.”

That’s the lede at this hour from The Associated Press’ Pietro de Cristofaro and Geir Moulson.

The shooting is “a rare kind of attack in a country where gun ownership is severely restricted,” the Wall Street Journal’s Georgi Kantchev notes.

More from the Journal:

The Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany association said the community was “deeply saddened by the horrific attack on its members.” 

Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Christian denomination, have some 175,000 members in Germany, including 3,800 in the state of Hamburg, according to the organization. 

The attack took place around 9 p.m. on Thursday at a Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall building in the northern part of the city after a service.

Motive emerging: Authorities are investigating the background of the shooting, according to news reports.

A BBC News team quotes police:

They say the gunman acted alone in Thursday's attack, and later took his own life. His motives are unknown.

The suspect, named only as Philipp F, 35, is a former member of the religious community, who had "ill-feelings".

Dramatic footage has now emerged that appears to show the suspect firing many rounds through a window of the hall.

Past shootings: While rare, shootings in Germany are not unheard of, as Reuters’ Fabian Bimmer explains:

Germany has been shaken by a number of shootings in the last few years. In February 2020, a gunman with suspected far-right links shot dead nine people, including migrants from Turkey, in the western town of Hanau before killing himself and his mother.

In October 2019, a gunman killed two people when he opened fire outside a synagogue in the eastern city of Halle on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.

Stay tuned for more developments.

Power up: The week’s best reads

1. Faith in the round barn: With so much depressing news, the world could use more stories like this one by the Los Angeles Times’ Hailey Branson-Potts.

“He calls it his round barn, but it’s more of a prairie cathedral,” Branson-Potts writes about the structure her great-uncle is building in his backyard in Oklahoma.

Round barns have a long history in the U.S., the writer points out. She also notes: “Religious folks liked them because, it was said, the devil couldn’t hide in the corners.”

2. Tracking gay priests: “A group of philanthropists poured money into a Denver nonprofit that obtained dating and hookup app data and shared it with bishops around the country,” the Washington Post reports.

Religion reporter Michelle Boorstein teamed with technology reporter Heather Kelly to investigate this story.

On a quasi-related note, “a group of lay U.S. Roman Catholics has launched a mass-mailing campaign to persuade clergy to deny Communion for pro-abortion politicians,” according to the Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner.

3. ‘Not the real Jesus’: How did “The Chosen” star Jonathan Roumie become a poster child for Christian causes?

Religion News Service’s Kathryn Post and Jack Jenkins delve into “an elite club of creatives who have starred in widely known portrayals of Jesus.”

Looking for more coverage of entertainment and religion? Mennonites can’t get enough of Oscar nominee “Women Talking,” according to the Los Angeles Times’ Bonnie Johnson. At The Associated Press, religion writer Mariam Fam explores the “love after hate” story behind Oscar nominee “Stranger at the Gate.”

More top reads

With the ouster of churches, the Southern Baptist Convention faces an existential debate related to women pastors: Why now? That’s the latest SBC deep dive by The Tennessean’s Liam Adams. … Need a Lenten fish fry? There’s an interactive map for that, The Associated Press’ Ted Anthony explains. … Arkansas’ largest United Methodist Church is splitting three ways, and it’s amicable, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Frank Lockwood reports. … Speaking of Lockwood, don’t miss his feature on people who have attended Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, to hear former President Jimmy Carter teach Sunday school. … Fear and anxiety have followed Nicaraguan faith leaders into exile, AP’s María Teresa Hernández reports from Costa Rica. … An arson fire destroyed a Black church, and now the congregation is working to “rise from the ashes,” as detailed by the Los Angeles Times’ Thomas Curwen. … The Miami faith community is straining to help new exiles and migrants, according to AP’s Giovanna Dell’Orto. … Sexual abuse victims of a former Church of Christ youth minister shared emotional testimony at a federal sentencing hearing in Tennessee, the Jackson Sun’s Sarah Best reports. … And finally, in a think piece for Christianity Today, Paul D. Miller makes the case that “people are still confused about Christian nationalism.”

Inside the Godbeat

It’s difficult to imagine Christianity Today without Ted Olsen.

Olsen, the evangelical magazine’s executive editor, has left CT after 27 years to, as he put it, “find out what’s next for me.”

As I wrote on his Facebook page, “CT won’t be the same without you. God bless your next adventure!”

Charging station: ICYMI

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

Kenneth E. Frantz interviews Bradley Onishi, author of “Prepping for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism — and What Comes Next.”

“Christian nationalism is a lot older than 1960, but I wanted to give people a kind of modern history that would allow them to see how … the past few generations have really contributed to the current situation in the United States,” Onishi tells Frantz.

The final plug

I traveled to Cozumel, Mexico, a couple of weeks ago to tell the story of Ciudad de Ángeles — “City of Angels” in English.

That Christian ministry cares for orphaned, abandoned and abused children in that Caribbean resort city. If you get a few minutes, check out my story.

Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend.

Bobby Ross Jr. writes the Weekend Plug-in column for ReligionUnplugged.com and serves as 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 18 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.