Bobby Ross Jr.

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Plug-In: At least six dead, plus unborn child, in Jehovah's Witnesses shooting In Germany

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Plug-In: At least six dead, plus unborn child, in Jehovah's Witnesses shooting In Germany

Good morning, Weekend Plug-in readers!

Among the stories we’re following this week: A South Carolina church held a prayer vigil after two members of its community were abducted and killed by a Mexican drug cartel, as WPDE-TV’s Jenna Herazo reports.

Here in my home state of Oklahoma, voters trounced — somewhat surprisingly — a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana. Given the millions of dollars spent by the pro-marijuana side, a faith coalition leader who fought the initiative calls the outcome a “David beats Goliath” victory. I report that story at ReligionUnplugged.com.

Every weekend, Plug-in rounds up the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.

We start this edition with tragic news out of Germany.

What to Know: The Big Story

Mass shooting at house of worship: “A former member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses shot dead six people at a hall belonging to the congregation in the German city of Hamburg before killing himself after police arrived, authorities said Friday. Police said an unborn baby also died, without clarifying whether the baby’s mother was among the dead. Eight people were wounded, four of them seriously.”

That’s the lede at this hour from The Associated Press’ Pietro de Cristofaro and Geir Moulson.

The shooting is “a rare kind of attack in a country where gun ownership is severely restricted,” the Wall Street Journal’s Georgi Kantchev notes.

More from the Journal:

The Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany association said the community was “deeply saddened by the horrific attack on its members.” 

Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Christian denomination, have some 175,000 members in Germany, including 3,800 in the state of Hamburg, according to the organization. 

The attack took place around 9 p.m. on Thursday at a Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall building in the northern part of the city after a service.

Motive emerging: Authorities are investigating the background of the shooting, according to news reports.


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Plug-In: No Separation Of Church And State? New York City Mayor Sparks A Furor

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Plug-In: No Separation Of Church And State? New York City Mayor Sparks A Furor

Good morning, Weekend Plug-in readers!

Among the religion news happening now, Catholics in Los Angeles are remembering slain Auxiliary Bishop David G. O’Connell. See photos by Los Angeles Times staff photographer Francine Orr from Thursday’s vigil Mass, before the funeral Mass the next day.

As always, we have a bunch of best reads and top headlines in the world of faith to highlight. Let’s jump right in.

What To Know: The Big Story

Big Apple, big controversy: “Don’t tell me about no separation of church and state. State is the body. Church is the heart. You take the heart out of the body, the body dies.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that at an interfaith breakfast this week — remarks called “unhinged and dangerous” by a rabbi quoted by the New York Times’ Dana Rubinstein.

More from the New York Times:

He went on to suggest that his path to the mayoralty was divinely ordained, saying that when he implements policies, he does so in a “godlike approach.”

At another point, Mr. Adams seemed to suggest that it was a mistake for the Supreme Court to ban mandated prayer in public schools, as it did in 1962. “When we took prayers out of schools, guns came into schools,” he said.

The phrase “separation of church and state” is not in the Constitution, but the First Amendment’s statement that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” has been widely interpreted to dictate such a separation.

‘God bless Mayor Adams’: But not everyone criticized the comments.

In fact, Adams won “a new group of fans: Orthodox Jews and evangelical Christians, whose leaders lauded the liberal Democrat,” according to the Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner.


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Plug-In: Latest Asbury revival is big news, from the New York Times to Christianity Today

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Plug-In: Latest Asbury revival is big news, from the New York Times to Christianity Today

Good morning, Weekend Plug-in readers!

It’s the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

This week’s roundup features news about former President Jimmy Carter’s faith and Saddleback Church’s exit, for now, from the Southern Baptist Convention.

But we start with a story Plug-in already covered last week.

I explain why in 3, 2, 1 …

What To Know: The Big Story

Asbury revival, again: When the New York Times, Christianity Today and Terry Mattingly (IYKYK) all jump on the same story, it must be a big deal.

Such is the case with the spiritual phenomenon that drew thousands to a small Christian college in Kentucky.

The spontaneous, 16-day gathering that ended Thursday was like “‘Woodstock’ for Christians.” So declares Times religion writer Ruth Graham’s front-page story today.

Behind the scenes: “Chocolate chip cookies. ‘All the Chick-fil-A.’ Meetings in a storage closet. Flow charts.”

Christianity Today’s Daniel Silliman goes in depth to explore how Asbury University officials tried to “honor what is happening.”

‘Like deja vu all over again’: In his “On Religion” column for the Universal Syndicate, Mattingly delves into the history of past Asbury revivals.

They go all the way back to 1908, as alumnus and professor Stephen A. Seamands notes in Mattingly’s column:

“The wildness of these events is that they’re actually un-wild. The atmosphere is serene, deep and at times rather quiet,” he said. “It’s like a veil is pulled back and students see Jesus for the first time — Jesus manifested in a new and powerful way.”


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Plug-In: A $50 million shrine dedicated to honor Catholic farm boy who became a martyr

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Plug-In: A $50 million shrine dedicated to honor Catholic farm boy who became a martyr

Most weeks, I send out a “live” version of Weekend Plug-in.

This week, though, I expected to be on an airplane as this e-newsletter began arriving in readers’ inboxes. So if any UFOs got shot out of the sky this weekend, don’t look for the religion angle right here, right now.

But please do enjoy this prescheduled roundup of the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.

What To Know: The Big Story

Blessed Stanley: A dedication Mass for a $50 million shrine honoring the Catholic Church’s first U.S.-born martyr was held in Oklahoma City. I wrote about the life — and death — of slain missionary Stanley Francis Rother for The Associated Press.

My story notes:

The Spanish colonial-style structure incorporates a 2,000-seat sanctuary as well as a visitor center, gift shop, museum and smaller chapel that will serve as Rother’s final resting place.

The shrine grounds also will feature a re-creation of Tepeyac Hill, the Mexico City site where Catholics believe the Virgin Mary appeared to an Indigenous Mexican man named Juan Diego in 1531. An artist created painted bronze statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego — each weighing thousands of pounds — for the Oklahoma site.

Life and ministry: For the best in-depth coverage of Rother and the shrine, be sure to follow The Oklahoman’s faith editor, Carla Hinton, who has covered this story for years.

Among her features this week: a detailed look at the shrine museum and an exploration of how “Rother’s heart has remained with his beloved Guatemalan parishioners.”

A final shrine note: I first wrote about Rother in 2001 during my time as religion editor for The Oklahoman. In 2017, I did a Religion News Service feature on the love for “Father Stan” in his hometown of Okarche, Oklahoma.


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Plug-In: Around 100 Million Super Bowl viewers saw new commercials -- about Jesus?

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Plug-In: Around 100 Million Super Bowl viewers saw new commercials -- about Jesus?

Good morning!

After a week on the road that took me from Oklahoma to Texas to Arkansas to Tennessee, I’m back in the driver’s seat at Weekend Plug-in.

The Big Game was this weekend and it included some prominent religion-news stories. With that in mind, let’s kick off our scrimmage of the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith.

What To Know: The Big Story

‘He Gets Us’: Jesus is coming to the Super Bowl — to the commercials, that is.

Two ads. Ninety seconds. A $20 million price tag.

The Associated Press’ Holly Meyer, Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana and the Washington Times’ Mark Kellner delve into the pricey campaign and its backers.

The bottom line, as AP explains:

They hope to counter the notion that religion is used to divide people, spending about $20 million to reach more than 100 million viewers at a time when the nation’s Christian population — and religious affiliation of any kind — are in decline.

Because religion is a touchy subject and prime-time advertising is so expensive, it is rare for faith to be promoted alongside the Super Bowl ’s perennially buzzed about beer and fast-food commercials. But the backers of the “He Gets Us” campaign see it as a great opportunity to reach so many people at once.

Faith and football: For the first time, two Black quarterbacks — Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs — will face each other during a Super Bowl.

Hurts and Mahomes have something else in common: They’re both “practicing Christians not afraid to publicly talk about their faith and how it helps them succeed at the highest levels,” as Clemente Lisi explains at ReligionUnplugged.

‘God of Sod’: George Toma is preparing the field for the Super Bowl for the 57th straight year. “When I’m in heaven, I’ll be looking at your beautiful field,” the 94-year-old Toma tells the New York Times, “or I’ll be in hell looking up what kind of root system you have.”

A final football note: Lifeway Research’s Aaron Earls provides four guidelines to keep your church Super Bowl party legal.


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Plug-In: The funeral of Tyre Nichols -- grief, prayers and more calls for police reform

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Plug-In: The funeral of Tyre Nichols -- grief, prayers and more calls for police reform

It seems appropriate that Weekend Plug-in should be “Livin’ on a Prayer“ this time around.

That’s especially true this past week as Bon Jovi’s classic single topped 1 billion views on YouTube. As Christianity Today’s Kate Shellnutt put it, “Oo-oo he's all the way there.”

Enjoy the music as we get down to business, reviewing the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith.

What To Know: The Big Story

Tyre Nichols: In Memphis, Tennessee, loved ones celebrated the 29-year-old police beating victim’s life — and called for reforms — Wednesday at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church.

“We have come with heavy hearts that can only be healed by the grace of God, full transparency, accountability and comprehensive legislative reform,” the Rev. J. Lawrence Turner said, as reported by the Commercial Appeal’s Lucas Finton, Katherine Burgess and Laura Testino.

The funeral featured messages of faith from Vice President Kamala Harris and the Rev. Al Sharpton, Religion News Service’s Adelle M. Banks notes.

Grief and goals: RNS’ Banks talks to faith leaders about Nichols’ death.

At Christianity Today, Russell Moore writes that “Scriptures denounce officials who abuse their authority to harm rather than protect the people they serve.”

‘No excuse’: As a teen, longtime Memphis minister and politician John DeBerry Jr. witnessed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final speech before his 1968 assassination. I interviewed DeBerry about Nichols’ death:

“I think it is a systemic issue and that it is not a new issue. While we focus on violations of law and protocol and civil rights, and we especially focus on it when it crosses racial lines, this is especially concerning to a lot of us because all five of these officers (charged with murder) are Black.


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Plug-In: Listening to the voices of Holocaust survivors -- while we still can

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Plug-In: Listening to the voices of Holocaust survivors -- while we still can

Good morning, my friends!

I’m your Weekend Plug-in columnist, and I need to let you know I’ve checked all my files. I didn’t find any classified documents from that time I toured the White House. Whew!

So let’s dive right into the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith.

What To Know: The Big Story

It’s Jan. 27, which is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Today’s commemoration marks the 78th anniversary of the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The United Nations “urges every member state to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism.”

Telling their stories: Toby Levy, now 89, was one of only 31 survivors in the town of Chodorow — then a part of Poland, now Ukraine.

“Like my father said, ‘God needed witnesses’” to the horror, Levy tells the Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner. “That’s why I don’t say ‘no’ to anybody, as tired as I am,” she says of opportunities to relate her experience.

Like Levy, David Schaecter, 93, knows he is running out of time, Religion News Service’s Yonat Shimron reports:

So this week he agreed to a weeklong recording of his life story using a new technology that will allow future generations to interact with a hologram-style likeness of him.

That story will form the base of an exhibit at Boston’s future Holocaust museum, which is scheduled to open in 2025.


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Plug-In: Yes, the March For Life faithful gathered, marking a new era after fall of Roe

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Plug-In: Yes, the March For Life faithful gathered, marking a new era after fall of Roe

Good morning, Weekend Plug-in readers! We open with Dolly Parton, who celebrated her 77th birthday Thursday and gave the world a gift — a new song.

“I had a dream about God standing on a mountain, looking down on us, saying ‘Don't make me have to come down there,’” she said of her inspiration.

Give it a listen as we dive into the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith.

What To Know: The Big Story

Yes, opponents of abortion gathered for the annual March for Life on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Click here to see a research file on the mainstream coverage of this year’s event.

Fifty years after Roe v. Wade — and seven months after its overturning — the anti-abortion movement has “multiple reasons to celebrate — and some reasons for unease.”

That’s the assessment of The Associated Press’ David Crary. The movement has reached a crossroads, as The New York Times’ Ruth Graham notes. And since last year’s ruling, the fight has moved to statehouses, as noted in this report from Religion News Service.

Stand for Life: A new organization with Southern Baptist ties “will bridge anti-abortion groups … as the larger movement redirects focus in a major way,” The Tennessean’s Liam Adams points out.

More: In Missouri, religious leaders who support abortion rights filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging the state’s abortion ban, AP’s Jim Salter reports. At the same time, Indiana’s top court is weighing a challenge to that state’s abortion ban.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Family slain in Utah: “The seven caskets sat in a neat row at the front of the quiet chapel.”

That’s how The Salt Lake Tribune’s Courtney Tanner begins her sensitive, nuanced coverage of the funeral for a Latter-day Saint family — five children, their mother and their grandmother.

The man who killed his family had been investigated two years prior for child abuse, according to AP’s Sam Metz.


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Plug-In: Texas synagogue hostage-crisis anniversary and a new anti-Semitism report

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Plug-In: Texas synagogue hostage-crisis anniversary and a new anti-Semitism report

We have seen another Friday the 13th come and go.

Well, I’m still your Weekend Plug-in columnist and I’m not at all superstitious about dates.

But I am totally shameless, so look for two of my own stories in today’s roundup of the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith. Let’s jump right in!

What To Know: The Big Story

Think hostility or prejudice toward Jews is fading in America? Think again.

“Classical fascist” anti-Semitic views are widespread in the U.S., according to a new survey by the Anti-Defamation League. Veteran religion writer Michelle Boorstein details the findings for The Washington Post.

At the same time, rising anti-Semitism in the U.S. is seeping into the workplace, according to Bloomberg’s Arianne Cohen.

“It’s not just high-profile incidents,” Cohen’s story notes. “Jewish workers say they’re experiencing more overt discrimination.”

Hostage anniversary: Sunday marks one year since the FBI gunned down a pistol-wielding captor at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas.

“Let’s be blunt: We’re healing. We’re not healed,” Jeff Cohen — who was taken hostage along with Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker and two others — told me in an interview for The Associated Press.

More: The Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner — a former GetReligion team member — delves deeper into the Colleyville anniversary, while The Washington Post’s Danielle Paquette profiles a Chicago street artist who painted a mural of Kanye West — and then heard from a rabbi.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Controversial prayers: A sacred Jerusalem site has become a flashpoint with Israel’s rightward shift, The Wall Street Journal’s Shayndi Raice and Aaron Boxerman report.

Jewish activists are “gaining more support for praying at the Temple Mount, called the Noble Sanctuary by Muslims, who have controlled the site for centuries,” according to the Journal.


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