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!

U.S. pastors are struggling with post-pandemic burnout: A survey indicates half considered quitting since 2020, The Associated Press’ Peter Smith reports.

U.S. attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions increased 360% in the three months that ended Sunday, according to Anti-Defamation League data cited by the Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner.

And online Bible reading continued to increase in 2023, Lifeway Research’s Marissa Postell Sullivan notes.

This is our weekly roundup of the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith. We start with the evangelicals supporting former President Donald Trump in Monday’s Iowa caucuses.

What To Know: The Big Story

2024 voting starts: What will happen Monday in the presidential campaign’s first formal test at the ballot box?

“Donald Trump seems to have locked down a majority of the evangelical Iowan vote in this year's Republican caucuses, even as local leaders have tried to steer them toward his competitor, Ron DeSantis,” Axios’ Linh Ta writes.

But who are these evangelicals?

“They are not just the churchgoing, conservative activists who once dominated the G.O.P.,” according to the New York Times’ Ruth Graham and Charles Homans.

The Times explains:

Being evangelical once suggested regular church attendance, a focus on salvation and conversion and strongly held views on specific issues such as abortion. Today, it is as often used to describe a cultural and political identity: one in which Christians are considered a persecuted minority, traditional institutions are viewed skeptically and Mr. Trump looms large.

“Politics has become the master identity,” said Ryan Burge, an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University and a Baptist pastor. “Everything else lines up behind partisanship.”

In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, scholar Thomas S. Kidd laments:

Some self-identified evangelical voters don’t even attend church. Many in the media seem to define “evangelicals” as white Republicans who consider themselves religious. Such a definition, in both a spiritual and a historical sense, is ludicrous.

‘Bob Vander Plaats is a kingmaker’: Reporting from Urbandale, Iowa, Christianity Today’s Harvest Prude interviews a key evangelical leader who is urging Christian voters to move on from Trump.

But are such voters still listening to his advice?

He remains confident, according to the magazine:

Vander Plaats is bullish that Iowa polling is getting it wrong, and that Trump’s support may be more fragile than it appears: “Iowa always, always, always breaks late. I believe they’re going to break late again,” he told CT.

Faith in Trump: Iowa’s Christian conservatives follow their faith when voting, and some say it leads them to Trump, according to The Associated Press’ Michelle L. Price.

“I think he’s an imperfect individual just like the rest of us, but I think God used that man to govern in godly principles,” Cliff Carey, a 73-year-old member of a Des Moines church, told AP.

His sister-in-law, Cindy Carey, offered a similar assessment to the wire service: “I wouldn’t vote for him as my pastor. I want him to lead our nation back to that city on a hill, shining city on a hill.”

ReligionUnplugged.com’s own Clemente Lisi details the faith backgrounds of the candidates, including Trump, DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Read more analysis on Trump and evangelical voters from GetReligion’s Richard Ostling.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Same-sex blessings: “The Catholic bishops of Africa collectively rejected one of Pope Francis’ most controversial liberalizations — permission for priests to bless same-sex couples — saying that such blessings ‘would cause confusion and would be in direct contradiction to the cultural ethos of African communities.’”

So reports the Wall Street Journal’s Francis X. Rocca.

The controversy reflects the doctrinal fault lines within Catholicism, according to Universal syndicate columnist Terry Mattingly.

It’s not just Catholics: How to deal with same-sex unions is a question fracturing multiple major Christian denominations, The Associated Press’ David Crary notes.

2. ‘Soldiers of Christ’ killing: “The gory details — covered widely in Korean news outlets in the U.S. — have shocked the large Korean community in metro Atlanta. Community leaders say the case is a wake-up call for Korean Americans to be more vigilant about religious cults and potential threats to new arrivals from South Korea.”

The Associated Press’ Sudhin Thanawala reports from Lawrenceville, Georgia.

3. Parable about America’s soul: “A new podcast version of ‘Witness’ is both thriller filled with so-called driveway moments and an insightful story of America’s crisis of faith.”

Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana goes behind the scenes.

More Top Reads

A group of Jewish students sued Harvard University, saying it allowed the school to become a bastion of antisemitism, the Wall Street Journal’s Alyssa Lukpat reports. … “God & Country,” a new documentary produced by Rob Reiner, spotlights the filmmaker’s view of Christian nationalism’s threat to democracy, the Washington Post’s Michelle Boorstein notes. … From a dump in Egypt to a criminal case in Oxford to a seminary in Texas, a tiny piece of papyrus traveled a strange path, Christianity Today’s Daniel Silliman explains. … Who was the revered rabbi whose New York synagogue was the scene of a brawl over an illegal tunnel? The Associated Press’ Peter Smith offers insight. … A prominent Black church in New York has been sued for gender bias by a woman who sought to be its senior pastor, AP’s Darren Sands reports. … Some Christian homeless shelters are strict, and some are loose, but they’re all trying to address a growing problem, Marvin Olasky writes at The Dispatch. … David French’s church small group immediately started organizing meals when his wife, Nancy, was diagnosed with a highly aggressive form of breast cancer, the New York Times columnist shares in a moving personal reflection.

Inside The Godbeat

Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, The Forward has hired its first full-time Israel correspondent in nearly seven years: Susan Greene.

The Colorado journalist won a Pulitzer Prize as part of the Denver Post team that covered the 2000 Columbine High School massacre.

Charging Station: ICYMI

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

“Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud — one of this season’s rising stars in the NFL — isn’t just known for throwing touchdown passes and getting his team into the playoffs,” ReligionUnplugged.com’s Clemente Lisi notes.

“Stroud also made headlines for his faith after thanking Jesus following his team’s 23-19 win over the Indianapolis Colts this past Saturday, earning the team a spot in the playoffs that start this weekend.”

Read the full story by Lisi.

The Final Plug

I spent the first part of the week on a reporting trip to Nashville, Tennessee.

A funny thing happened at the airport rental car counter: I learned that my Oklahoma driver’s license expired Dec. 31.

Thankfully, friends and kind Uber drivers were happy to take me where I needed to go — and I always enjoy my time in Middle Tennessee.

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.