Weekend Plug-in 🔌

Editor’s note: Every Friday, “Weekend Plug-in” meets readers at the intersection of faith and news. Subscribe now to get this column delivered straight to your inbox. Got feedback or ideas? Email Bobby Ross Jr. at therossnews@gmail.com.

(ANALYIS) News doesn’t happen on a 9-to-5 schedule.

Particularly during the 24/7 era of social media, journalists find themselves on the clock pretty much all the time.

That includes religion reporters such as Christianity Today’s Kate Shellnutt, Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana and The Tennessean’s Liam Adams.

Shellnutt and her 6-year-old son were in South Carolina visiting her parents Monday night when the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission issued a statement announcing the termination of its president, Brent Leatherwood.

Shellnutt was checking her computer for news tips and watching the Atlanta Braves game with her family when she learned of Leatherwood’s reported firing.

“If I were at home, I could look at my husband and just say, ‘I got breaking news,’ and shut the door of my office and just go,” said Shellnutt, CT’s editorial director of news.

“But I was sitting on the couch,” she explained. “I was like, ‘I think I’m going to have to work on this story.’ … It’s like 8:15, and my kid still needs to brush his teeth and do the wind-down routine and read the books and go to bed.”

Despite the unusual circumstances, Shellnutt quickly got to work and filed CT’s breaking news report by 10 p.m., describing Leatherwood’s sudden job loss as “a historic and unprecedented move by trustee leadership.”

“A brief statement from ERLC gave no reasoning for Leatherwood’s termination, which came a day after he issued remarks applauding president Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race,” Shellnutt wrote.

At home in the Chicago area, Smietana had received a tip from a source that something was brewing in the SBC.

“I was trying to figure out what it was,” the RNS national writer recalled. “I was wondering if someone got indicted. I wondered if someone who pastored a big church had gotten fired or if they had found out something about the fire at the First Baptist Church in Dallas.

“I did not expect this to happen,” he said of the ERLC news.

Smietana’s quick-hit story offered this context:

The sudden removal came less than 24 hours after Leatherwood praised President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from the presidential race, publishing a column calling it the "correct" decision for the country. Leatherwood also made a separate statement to The Baptist Press calling Biden's decision "selfless."

“We should all express our appreciation that President Biden has put the needs of the nation above his personal ambition,” Leatherwood said. “Despite what some partisans will say, to walk away from power is a selfless act – the kind that has become all too rare in our culture.”

Though Leatherwood praised Biden's decision in the column, he was also critical of Vice President Kamala Harris' record and potential presidential run, writing she would be "cause for considerable concern among pro-life advocates and those who hold to a biblical definition of marriage."

Meanwhile, Adams helped cover the story from more than 5,000 miles away.

That’s right: The Nashville-based religion writer was enjoying his vacation in Sao Paulo, Brazil — or trying to — when the story broke.

“If you assumed the Baptists can’t drive you crazy from the other side of the Equator, think again,” he tweeted, thanking his Tennessean colleagues Melissa Brown and Duane Gang for jumping in to help with the story.

But by the next morning, the story had changed. Completely.

Did I mention that news doesn’t happen on a 9-to-5 schedule?

By 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, the ERLC issued a new statement. 

The gist of it: Whoops!

The Baptist entity retracted the previous night’s press release and said its Executive Committee had not acted on Leatherwood’s employment status. The committee’s chairman, Kevin Smith, who was responsible for the initial report, resigned.

Shellnutt quickly got to work — yet again — and updated her original report.

“My parents were, I think, especially confused about what this story was and why it was important,” she told me. “They don’t follow this news. And they were even more confused the next morning when I was like, ‘Oh, I’m still working on that because the whole thing has reversed.’”

By late Monday, Smietana had started hearing rumblings that there was more to the story than initially revealed. 

So he expected to do more reporting Tuesday. 

“I didn’t know he would be unfired,” Smietana said with a chuckle. “But I did know that there was going to be more news to come.”

“A head-scratching turn of events” is how his follow-up report characterized the ERLC’s about-face. 

The Tennessean’s Brown called it a “stunning reversal.”

At The Associated Press, veteran religion reporter Peter Smith boiled down the fast-changing storyline this way:

In under 48 hours, the head of the staunchly conservative public-policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention rankled fellow Baptists by applauding President Joe Biden’s “selfless act” of withdrawing his candidacy for re-election. Then, his agency reported he was fired — and now they have reaffirmed his leadership.

Even the New York Post’s Mark A. Kellner — who recently left his job covering religion for the Washington Times to follow presidential politics for the Big Apple tabloid — couldn’t resist reporting on the “Baptist political brawl.”

Down in Brazil, Adams quipped, “(A)fter more SBC madness, I definitely should take some time on the beach.”

Good luck with that, Liam.

Inside The Godbeat

Frank Lockwood, religion editor for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, was honored this week with the Charlotte Tillar Schexnayder Public Service Award.

The prize recognizes Lockwood’s exceptional in-depth reporting on a Little Rock church’s handling of a sex abuse case. As you may recall, Plug-in repeatedly praised Lockwood’s investigation.

Lockwood received the much-deserved honor during the 2024 Diamond Journalism Awards. The Arkansas pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists sponsors the regional contest, which celebrates journalistic excellence in Arkansas and six neighboring states

I was excited to win the Diamond Award for Religion Journalist of the Year for a portfolio of stories I wrote for The Associated Press, The Christian Chronicle and ReligionUnplugged.com.

The Final Plug

I finally got my ring.

My World Series ring, that is.

A two-hour wait in the Texas sun was a small price to pay to receive a replica championship ring at the Rangers’ game Tuesday night. (ICYMI: Yes, there’s a faith angle.)

Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend.

Bobby Ross Jr. writes the Weekend Plug-in column for Religion Unplugged 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.