👑 Faith And The Coronation Of King Charles III: What To Know About A Changing Britain🔌

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Weekend Plug-in 🔌

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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.

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Related: Religious Lessons And Symbolism From A King’s Coronation

Now let’s focus on the news: Almost eight months ago, Queen Elizabeth II’s death at age 96 ended her remarkable 70 years on the British throne.

This weekend all eyes — billions of them anyway — turn to the coronation of her son, King Charles III. We’ve got all the pertinent details, as always, as we round up the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith.

What To Know: The Big Story

Protecting all faiths: “Prayer and contemplation will accompany pomp and celebration on Saturday when King Charles III is anointed with vegan holy oil consecrated in Jerusalem and the Archbishop of Canterbury places the St. Edward’s Crown on his head for the first time,” the Washington Times Mark A. Kellner notes.

Saturday’s coronation “will not be the ‘woke’ mash-up some conservatives feared but will be unprecedented in its inclusivity,” the Washington Post’s William Booth reports from London.

“The new king wants to present himself not only as the ‘Defender of the Faith,’ meaning the Church of England, but all faiths, here and across the realm,” the Post adds.

Emphasis on diversity: “Religious leaders representing the Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh traditions will for the first time play an active role in the ceremonies,” according to The Associated Press’ Danica Kirka.

More from AP:

At a time when religion is fueling tensions around the world — from Hindu nationalists in India to Jewish settlers in the West Bank and fundamentalist Christians in the United States — Charles is trying to bridge the differences between the faith groups that make up Britain’s increasingly diverse society.

Achieving that goal is critical to the new king’s efforts to show that the monarchy, a 1,000-year-old institution with Christian roots, can still represent the people of modern, multicultural Britain.

King Charles III will be crowned on May 6 in an ancient ceremony at Westminster Abbey, echoing biblical ideas of kingship. However, the England he will reign in is vastly different from that of his mother, over 70 years ago.https://t.co/NXvdRFELQo

— Religion News Service (@RNS) May 1, 2023

At Religion News Service, Catherine Pepinster offers details from Britain’s 2021 decennial census:

The ethnic diversity is matched by changes in the country’s religious makeup. Just 46% said they were Christian on census day — a drop of 11 percentage points in 10 years. Meanwhile, other faiths, including Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Sikhism, grew by 100,000 adherents in a decade. 

But the most significant difference is the growth of those who said they have no religion — an increase of 8.5 million, bringing those with no faith to 22 million, or a third of the population.

More details: An 8-pound Bible was specially hand-bound for Charles’ coronation, Kellner points out.

At the Deseret News, Kelsey Dallas outlines the relationship between religion and the coronation, scheduled for 6 a.m. EDT.

On Saturday, King Charles III will become the 40th Sovereign to be crowned at Westminster Abbey, with The Queen Consort crowned beside him.@WAbbey has been the setting for every Coronation since 1066, with William the Conqueror being the first monarch to be crowned there. pic.twitter.com/4daqSOVYM7

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 3, 2023

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Vital but shrinking: “The wide empty spaces in pews between parishioners at a Sunday service at Zion Baptist Church in South Carolina’s capital highlight a post-pandemic reality common among many Black Protestant churches nationwide.

“At its heyday in the 1960s, more than 1,500 parishioners filled every seat at Zion. But membership at the historic church — a crucial meeting point for many during the Civil Rights Movement — dwindled over recent decades.

“The trend has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which infected and killed Black Americans at a disproportionate rate.”

In a multimedia report for The Associated Press, Luis Andres Henao and Jessie Wardarski delve into the trend.

A Pew Research survey reports that attendance at U.S. Black Protestant churches is down 15% after the COVID-19 pandemic — more than any other religious group in the country.

Meanwhile, virtual church attendance is at an all-time high. https://t.co/c6FoWQFzTe pic.twitter.com/LXqKhb6bTj

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 2, 2023

2. Faith and firearms: The Covenant School shooting “activated Christians in Middle Tennessee who for the first time are publicly joining calls for gun reform,” The Tennessean’s Liam Adams reports.

Here’s what makes this so newsworthy: “Their churches are part of conservative traditions, and the membership is majority white, Republican-leaning, and supportive of Second Amendment rights.”

Some great reporting by @liamsadams https://t.co/3wcJxWyXCd

— Bob Smietana (@bobsmietana) May 3, 2023

3. Christian music superstar: Lauren Daigle, the 31-year-old singer and songwriter, “is ready for a bigger tent.”

Daigle “is releasing a self-titled album on a major label — and bracing for the potential backlash,” Rob Tannenbaum writes for the New York Times.

“It’s not to say that criticism and animosity doesn’t hurt,” she concluded, “but I do have that confidence piece that will always get me back up on my feet.”

Nice profile of Lauren Daigle https://t.co/CjsED4vTqH

— Daniel Silliman (@danielsilliman) May 4, 2023

More Top Reads

Dust to dust? Folks in New Mexico are fighting to save old adobe churches, as The Associated Press’ Giovanna Dell’Orto details. … Mike Pence has made his devout religious beliefs the center of his identity, but does that matter anymore in presidential politics? Michael J. Mooney profiles the former vice president for the Deseret News. … Conservative Christians want more religion in public life, and Texas lawmakers are listening, the Texas Tribune’s Robert Downen reports. … A glut of underutilized church properties offers a solution to the severe shortage of affordable housing for newly arrived refugees, Religion News Service’s Yonat Shimron explains. … What’s the deal with the federal government taking issue with a Catholic hospital’s chapel candle? The Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner has the details. … An evangelical university professor cited Jemar Tisby on her syllabus and then lost her job, according to RNS’ Bob Smietana. … Remember when politics saved 25 million lives? Christianity Today’s Emily Belz recounts the remarkable moment of unity 20 years later. … Pope Francis’ abuse commission is meeting amid turmoil and calls for greater transparency, the National Catholic Reporter’s Christopher White reports. … And in a think piece for Lifeway Research, Sandra Peoples lists five things special needs families need from their house of worship.

The fight to save centuries of faith rooted in New Mexico, for @AP with photos & video by @rosalesquique produced by @LatDesk and @JKayWardarskihttps://t.co/nAlU9Qy630

— Giovanna Dell'Orto (@GDellortoREM) April 29, 2023

Inside The Godbeat

Religion News Service’s Alejandra Molina is featured in a report on a recent reporting seminar in Los Angeles.

“The full day of training allowed journalists from all beats to better understand the ways in which faith traditions infuse our lives, and to consider how better to cover our communities with a faith-informed perspective,” Poynter.org’s Barbara Allen notes.

“At the core, what you’re reporting on is people who follow a faith, and you’re going to try to help us understand the dimensions of that faith," @alyco said. https://t.co/yQmaI2Ytmc

— Poynter (@Poynter) April 19, 2023

Charging Station: ICYMI

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

Why has St. John Paul II become a media target?

ReligionUnplugged.com senior editor Clemente Lisi explores that question.

(ANALYSIS/@ClementeLisi) Many religion stories receive zero coverage. Yet the mainstream press likes the sensational news on the late Pope John Paul II and accusations that he was not the saint the church makes him out to be.https://t.co/0i4zteHYzr #CatholicTwitter

— Religion Unplugged (@ReligionMag) May 3, 2023

The Final Plug

When I visited the Hopelight Medical Clinic in Longmont, Colorado, I expected to find a little office with a doctor or nurse and a patient or two.

Instead, I discovered something much bigger, as I wrote for The Christian Chronicle. Please check out my column on what one doctor calls “God’s clinic.”

‘God’s clinic’ cares for thousands

My latest @christianchron column from Longmont, Colo. https://t.co/sxTT2ZrrTR

— Bobby Ross Jr. (@bobbyross) April 26, 2023

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.