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.

NEW YORK — Live from New York, it’s … Friday morning.

I’m filing this edition of Weekend Plug-in from my temporary, 38th-floor apartment in Midtown Manhattan. I’ve spent the week enjoying a mix of work and fun in Metropolis.

As I type this, Pope Francis has arrived in Mongolia, “becoming the first pope to visit the vast country with one of the world's smallest Catholic populations, nestled between Russia and China — two nations with complicated Vatican relationships,” as the National Catholic Reporter’s Christopher White reports.

Francis has long expressed an interest in visiting Russia and China, but Mongolia might be as close as he gets, the Wall Street Journal’s Francis X. Rocca explains.

As Mongolia Catholics welcome Francis, the nation’s evangelicals wrestle with growing pains, according to Christianity Today’s Angela Lu Fulton.

This is our weekly roundup of the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith. Our big story concerns the return of a Washington state high school football coach who won a school prayer case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

What To Know: The Big Story

God on the gridiron: “Joe Kennedy — also known as the “praying coach” — is back as an assistant coach for the first time since the Supreme Court ruled that the Bremerton School District in Kitsap County had violated his religious freedom.”

That’s the synopsis from veteran religion writer Julia Duin, who goes in depth on Kennedy’s return for The Free Press.

Readers may recall that Jovan Tripkovic interviewed Kennedy for ReligionUnplugged.com after the coach’s SCOTUS victory in 2022.

Friday night lights: The Seattle Times’ Nine Shapiro sets the scene for Kennedy’s return:

This much we can say for sure: Bremerton High assistant football coach Joe Kennedy will pray after Friday night’s opening game of the season, as the U.S. Supreme Court said he could.

“I’ll just go over to mid-field, like I always do, face the scoreboard, take a knee, and thank God for being here,” the 54-year-old coach said, sitting in the grandstands after practice Wednesday, having returned to coaching the Knights in early August following an eight-year absence.

What’s unknown: Will others join him in the postgame prayer? If so, will people get worked up about it? And perhaps the biggest question of all: Will Kennedy stick around after the first game?

On the last question, he’s not saying. Everything’s been leading up to Friday’s game, he said, “the fine bow” on top of his Supreme Court victory, which overturned lower court rulings and the public school district’s directive against overt activity while on duty that could be taken as an endorsement of religion. He insisted he can’t think further ahead than Friday.

Full house expected: “As many as 10,000 spectators, 20 times the 500 who usually attend BHS games, are projected to be in the stands to support Mr. Kennedy’s return — or to protest,” according to the Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner.

How does Kennedy feel about being back?

Not as excited as one might expect, as The Associated Press’ Ed Komenda details:

But after fighting to be rehired for seven years, Joe Kennedy isn’t sure he wants it anymore, and the thought of kneeling in the spotlight again makes him queasy.

On Friday night, he is due to coach his first game since 2015, when he last pressed his knee to the turf at Bremerton High School’s Memorial Stadium. Everyone will be watching for him to pray again, he said.

“Knowing that everybody’s expecting me to go do this kind of gives me a lot of angst in my stomach,” said Kennedy, standing near midfield, where he intends to kneel when the game clock expires Friday. “People are going to freak out that I’m bringing God back into public schools.”

For the full background on the case, see the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. ‘Can’t get deep fried Oreos, though’: “Faith offerings are plentiful and deep-rooted at the late-summer agricultural fairs that, nationwide, bring together 4-H children parading their prize animals and political candidates unleashing their ambitions.”

The Associated Press’ Giovanna Dell’Orto finds such fun and enlightening stories on the religion beat. This one about clergy dishing up “meatball sundaes, pickle ice pops and a little faith at the Minnesota State Fair” is one of her best.

2. Christian moms lose gun fight: “They hoped the Tennessee legislature would listen to them. They hoped the elected representatives would do something — something — to make their kids safer.

“But at the end of the special session in Nashville on Tuesday, The Covenant School parents’ hopes were dashed. The legislature didn’t even vote on the bills that the families of children who survived a Nashville school shooting in March wanted to see made into law.”

Christianity Today’s Daniel Silliman delves into the parents’ fight — and frustration at how it turned out.

But the parents vowed that they’ll be back when lawmakers return in January, as The Tennessean’s Angele Latham explains.

3. Revival through ritual: “On an island where Christianity and Buddhism are also prominent, many are finding strength in traditional Hawaiian spirituality and culture.“

The New York Times’ Ruth Graham and Damien Cave speak with hula teachers and others on Maui about spiritual recovery following the wildfires.

More Top Reads

In Nicaragua, alumni are grieving for a Jesuit-run university seized by the government, The Associated Press’ María Teresa Hernández reports. … Illinois pastor Stephen Lee — indicted in Georgia along with former President Trump and others — was back in church on Sunday, according to Christianity Today’s Kate Shellnutt. … White Christians think too many people see racism when it’s not there, Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana writes, citing a new survey. … This is the story of two houses, three pastors and “toxic” allegations for a nonprofit leader, as detailed by NonDoc.com’s Tres Savage and Bennett Brinkman. … The United Methodist Church is demanding a $4 million “exit fee” from a Maryland congregation, a pastor tells the Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner. … What lessons did testimony in two United Methodist civil cases in Oklahoma provide? The Oklahoman’s Carla Hinton has the answers. … And in New York, Redeemer Presbyterian members are carrying on the late pastor Tim Keller’s small church vision, Christianity Today’s Emily Belz explains.

Inside The Godbeat

ReligionUnplugged.com has a new executive editor: Clemente Lisi.

A senior writer and editor at the award-winning nonprofit news organization since its founding in 2019, Lisi previously served as deputy head of news at the New York Daily News and a longtime reporter at the New York Post.

He succeeds Paul Glader, who left to become a senior editor overseeing companies coverage for CNN Business. Glader will remain a member of the board of The Media Project, which oversees ReligionUnplugged.com.

Charging Station: ICYMI

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

France is banning the “abaya” — a full-length robe used by some Muslim women to convey modesty — in public schools.

In light of that news revealed Monday, ReligionUnplugged.com’s Clemente Lisi offers a history of the Islamic garment.

The Final Plug

At a Christian worldview conference in Little Rock, one speaker had a simple piece of advice for those involved in public policy debates.

“Be nice,” he suggested, as quoted by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Frank Lockwood.

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.