⛪️ Tears And Faith After The Covenant School Shooting In Nashville 🔌
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!
Sorry, but it’s not actually Friday yet. I’m doing Plug-in a day early because I’m headed to Arlington, Texas, for Opening Day, and I’ll be tied up with that important national holiday.
My beloved Texas Rangers open the 2023 season against the Philadelphia Phillies this afternoon. Surely this will be my team’s best season ever!
But first, we focus on the week’s big, sad news from Nashville, Tennessee, a city close to my heart.
What To Know: The Big Story
Three children, three adults slain: Once again, a mass shooting at a school shocked all of us and surprised none of us.
At a Wednesday night vigil in Nashville, “Each speaker echoed the names of those who did not return home earlier this week.”
The children who died were Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney and Hallie Scruggs, all 9 years old. The adults who died were Mike Hill, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60; and Cynthia Peak, 61.
The victims were people of strong faith with the children characterized as “feisty” and a “shining light,” according to an Associated Press team, including Nashville-based religion news editor Holly Meyer.
Peaceful day shattered: Monday started with a normal chapel assembly at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian elementary, Christianity Today’s Daniel Silliman and Kate Shellnutt report.
Within a few hours, though, the school, which is all about “celebrating” children, became a killing scene, as Reuters’ Sharon Bernstein describes it.
Traumatized survivors were taken to a nearby Baptist church that served as a reunification site for children and parents, as The Tennessean’s Molly Davis explains.
For ongoing coverage, follow religion reporter, Liam Adams.
Making sense of it: In the face of tragedy, petitioning God is an act of faith, New York Times columnist David French writes.
After the Nashville shooting, moral numbness is our enemy, Christianity Today editor-in-chief Russell Moore declares.
And in a piece titled “Weeping in Nashville,” published by Religion News Service, Presbyterian pastor Scott Sauls contemplates the “Why?” of the shooting.
Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads
1. Revisiting Sutherland Springs: For years for the San Antonio Express-News, Silvia Foster-Frau provided sensitive, nuanced coverage of the 2017 massacre at a Baptist church in Texas.
Now with the Washington Post, Foster-Frau — with colleague Holly Bailey — explores how the Sutherland Springs survivors “endure lifelong disability and trauma left behind by a gunman’s use of an AR-15.”
2. Faith-based disaster relief: Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana catches up with volunteers serving after weekend tornadoes killed dozens in the Deep South. The Christian Chronicle’s Calvin Cockrell offers more details.
Churches are providing solace in the twister-ravaged Mississippi Delta, according to The Associated Press’ Michael Goldberg. In the devastated town of Rolling Fork, helpers “just showed up with plywood and some hands” to save a century-old church, Mississippi Public Broadcasting reports.
3. Safety for refugees: Thanks to former President Jimmy Carter, a Christian group rooted in faith and compassion has hosted thousands of refugees in rural Georgia.
Allison Salerno reports that story for the Christian Science Monitor.
More Top Reads
Why do religious people fast for Ramadan, Lent and other holy days? The Associated Press’ Luis Andres Henao and Mariam Fam explain. … Meagan Saliashvili profiles “The Harlem Sunday school teacher who may prosecute Trump” for Sojourners. … ‘Prayer is our only weapon,’ say monks at a Kyiv monastery who are resisting their planned eviction, Saliashvili reports for Religion News Service. … A Houston GOP activist knew for years of child sex abuse claims against a Southern Baptist leader, according to the Texas Tribune’s Robert Downen. … This election season, Donald Trump is on the wrong side of the religious right, The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta suggests. … A Southern Baptist pastor has released a report noting 170 women in pastoral jobs in violation of the denomination’s men-only doctrine, the Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner writes. … At Toronto Life, Meagan Gillmore delves into a Canadian megachurch pastor’s “House of Lies.”
Inside The Godbeat
The Religion Communicators Council has announced the winners of its 2023 Wilbur Awards.
Congrats to all the recipients!
Charging Station: ICYMI
Here is where you can catch up on recent news and opinions from ReligionUnplugged.com.
Author, investor and pundit David L. Bahnsen talks about The King's College In New York with ReligionUnplugged.com’s executive editor, Paul Glader.
The Final Plug
Did you happen to catch the viral image recently of Pope Francis in a funny jacket?
In case you hadn’t heard, the picture was fake — generated by artificial intelligence. BuzzFeed’s Chris Stokel-Walker spoke with the guy who created it.
Happy Friday — er, Thursday — everyone! Go Rangers!
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.