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⛪︎ 5 Key Takeaways From The Southern Baptist Convention's Annual Meeting In New Orleans 🔌


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!

Making headlines at this hour: A tornado has devastated the Texas Panhandle town of Perryton, killing three people and injuring at least 75. As always, look for the “faith-based FEMA” to be among the helpers.

In Rome, Pope Francis has left the hospital where he had abdominal surgery nine days earlier. His surgeon says the pontiff is “better than before,” The Associated Press’ Francis D’Emilio reports.

This is our weekly roundup of the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith. We start with five key takeaways from the Southern Baptist Convention’s big annual meeting in New Orleans.

What To Know: The Big Story

1. No women pastors: As nearly 19,000 people — including 12,737 registered messengers — attended the SBC meeting, the nation’s largest evangelical denomination expanded restrictions on women in leadership.

See coverage by the New York Times’ Ruth Graham and Elizabeth Dias, Religion News Service’s Adelle M. Banks, the USA Today Network’s Liam Adams and Katherine Burgess, the Wall Street Journal’s Francis X. Rocca and the Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner.

2. Saddleback out: The SBC rejected an appeal by Rick Warren to reinstate the California megachurch that he founded.

The reason for its ouster: It has women pastors. Also denied reinstatement: a smaller church with a female pastor in Louisville, Kentucky.

See coverage by The Associated Press’ Peter Smith, Christianity Today’s Kate Shellnutt, the Oklahoman’s Carla Hinton, RNS’ Banks and Bob Smietana and the Washington Post’s Michelle Boorstein.

3. Sex abuse reform: The debates about women’s roles threatened to push the issue that dominated last year’s meeting to the background.

But the slow work to address the abuse issue plodded on, as Christianity Today’s Kate Shellnutt explains.

4. Bart Barber reelected: The small-town pastor from Farmersville, Texas, will serve a second one-year term as the SBC’s president.

RNS’ Smietana notes:

Barb­­­er received 7,531 votes, 68% of the 11,014 vote total, beating out Georgia Baptist pastor Mike Stone, a more conservative challenger, who received 3,458 votes, or 31%.

(Barber came to New Orleans a grieving man. His mother, Carolyn Ann Barber, died Sunday. She was 78.)

See additional coverage by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Frank Lockwood.

5. What it all means: Beyond the decisions on women pastors and abuse reforms are “more fundamental questions … such as what it means to be an autonomous church and still affiliate with the denomination.”

That’s the big picture, via the Tennessean’s Liam Adams and the Memphis Commercial Appeal’s Katherine Burgess.

Finally, at least one other major question was left unanswered in New Orleans. Kudos to Christianity Today’s Shellnutt for seeking answers.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Battle for Oak Flat: How did Apache opposition to a copper mine become a religious liberty test?

Reporting from Arizona, the Los Angeles Times’ Kevin Rector delves into that intriguing question.

2. Slavery and reconciliation: In a Georgia farming community, “family friends grapple with a difficult truth: One ancestor was enslaved by another.”

That’s the compelling subject of a Christianity Today cover story by Melissa Morgan Kelley.

3. First full pilgrimage after COVID-19: “Millions of Muslims from around the world will start converging next week on Mecca in Saudi Arabia to begin the several days of rituals at holy sites in and around the city. For pilgrims, it is the ultimate spiritual moment of their lives, a chance to seek God’s forgiveness for their sins and walk in the footsteps of revered prophets like Muhammad and Abraham.”

The Associated Press interviews several pilgrims from far-flung places as they prepare for the landmark Hajj.

More Top Reads

While the Baptists were in the Big Easy, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops headed to Orlando, Florida. The Associated Press’ Peter Smith and Religion News Service’s Jack Jenkins both have stories from that meeting. … As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis woos GOP Christian voters, he stays tight-lipped on his own Catholic faith. In her first major piece since joining AP, Tiffany Stanley reports from Greenville, South Carolina. … Here are four ways United Methodist churches are leaving the denomination, as outlined by Emily McFarlan Miller and BeLynn Hollers at RNS. … Belarusian evangelicals fear growing isolation, Ken Chitwood writes for Christianity Today. In Connecticut, the Catholic Church is investigating a possible miracle, according to the Washington Post’s Marisa Iati. … Faith helped a COVID-19 patient and his family survive life support, a double lung transplant and nearly a year in the hospital, The Christian Chronicle’s Calvin Cockrell reports. … Franciscan chaplains have returned to Walter Reed hospital, ending a two-month contracting dispute, the Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner notes. The Presbyterian Church in America has an abuse crisis, too, Christianity Today’s Emily Belz points out. Finally, at Gallup, Frank Newport addresses “The thorny challenge of defining evangelicals.”

Inside The Godbeat

Two of Religion News Service’s national correspondents — Chicago-based Emily McFarlan Miller and Los Angeles-based Alejandra Molina — announced their departures this week.

Both have done exceptional work with RNS and will be missed.

Charging Station: ICYMI

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

“At least 25 Iranian citizens face death sentences since Iranian authorities started dealing with the cases of the thousands of citizens detained during the 2022 protests that swept the country.”

That’s the chilling news from Tehran, via a journalist whose name is being withheld because of the perils of reporting in an authoritarian country.

The Final Plug

In an extremely personal reflection, I wrote about my wife Tamie’s battle with autoimmune diseases.

This week’s column was inspired by a feature I did on Broken & Mended, a ministry for people with chronic pain. I’d invite you to check out both the column and the 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.