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!

After a week away, it’s nice to be back.

Making headlines this week: A U.S. senator is demanding to know if the Christian aid organization World Vision is funding terrorism, Ken Chitwood reports for Christianity Today.

Pope Francis is going to Marseille to talk migration, but will Europe listen as it scrambles to stem an influx? The Associated Press’ Nicole Winfield, Trisha Thomas and Sylvie Corbet tackle that question.

And Jerry Falwell Jr.’s latest legal battle with Liberty University — and his brother — has escalated, according to Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana and Jack Jenkins.

This is our weekly roundup of the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith. We start with the latest news — and there’s a lot of it — from the Southern Baptist Convention.

What To Know: The Big Story

Is sin a private matter?: A lawsuit filed by Johnny Hunt, a former Southern Baptist Convention president, against the SBC’s Executive Committee and Guidepost makes that claim, Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana reports.

But legal experts are skeptical, Smietana notes.

The longtime megachurch pastor is upset over the disclosure that he covered up his sexual misconduct for a decade, according to the RNS story.

Moments that made Bart Barber: The Conservative Resurgence that the SBC’s current president defied is now shaping his leadership, The Tennessean’s Liam Adams writes.

In other coverage, Adams notes that a top SBC committee documented a former CEO’s “professional fraud” but won’t pursue legal action.

And Southern Baptist leaders are promoting strength even as a top committee faces increased instability.

Blackface controversy prompts dismissal: “The Southern Baptist Convention has ousted an Oklahoma church whose pastor defended his blackface performance at one church event and his impersonation of a Native American woman at another.”

That’s the lede from The Associated Press’ Peter Smith. The AP religion writer talked to the pastor, who told him it’s “repugnant to have people think you’re a racist.”

The Oklahoman’s Carla Hinton delves deeper into the controversy.

The future of the denomination: “The SBC was a train wreck 100 years ago and found a way through. Can it do so again?” RNS’ Smietana explores that question.

And in a separate piece, Smietana profiles the head of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. The main peg: “Once a baby-faced conservative revolutionary, Al Mohler is now an SBC institution.”

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Faith and fraud: Why are Mormons — and people of faith in general — more likely to be fraud victims?

Emma Penrod explains the reasons in a piece here at ReligionUnplugged.com.

2. Revisiting the Asbury revival: A spontaneous, 16-day spiritual phenomenon that drew thousands to a small Christian college in Kentucky in February was big news. It even made the front page of the New York Times.

But Asbury University refused to use the revival as a marketing tool, Daniel Silliman writes in an update at Christianity Today.

3. Lift Our Voices founder speaks: Prayer and faith were key when Gretchen Carlson took on Fox News in an epic lawsuit, the Washington Times’ Mark Kellner reports.

Kellner interviews Carlson, who has a new book on combating workplace abuse, “Be Fierce: Stop Harassment and Take Your Power Back.”

More Top Reads

In Chile, justice eludes victims of Catholic clergy sex abuse years after the crisis exploded, The Associated Press’ María Teresa Hernández reports. … Faith-based schools fell dozens of spots on this year’s best colleges list. What happened? The Deseret News’ Kelsey Dallas details the controversy. … Indonesia imprisoned a woman for saying a Muslim prayer before eating pork in a TikTok video, according to AP’s Muhammad Hatta and Edna Tarigan. … A preacher to death row inmates says he wants to end executions. Critics warn he’s only seeking fame, AP’s Sean Murphy reports. … And finally, Orthodox Jews are finally having their pop culture moment, as the Wall Street Journal’s Chavie Lieber describes it.

Inside The Godbeat

The Religion News Association’s executive director, Christine Di Pasquale, is leaving to pursue other opportunities after two years in that role.

The Associated Press is hiring a religion writer to cover Black faith and other minority religious communities.

And the Deseret News’ Kelsey Dallas is back from maternity leave. We missed you, Kelsey!

Charging Station: ICYMI

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

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, accused “agents of the government of India” of carrying out the assassination of a Sikh leader in British Columbia this past June.

ReligionUnplugged.com’s Clemente Lisi offers details on that story.

The Final Plug

Baseball is a religion, right?

Given that, let’s all pray for my beloved Texas Rangers as they fight for a playoff spot over the next 10 days.

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.