On Tuesday, I made what I thought would be a quick trip to Fort Worth, Texas, to cover the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's board meeting for the Washington Post.
I arrived at noon for the meeting that started at 1:30 p.m. and figured the trustees' deliberations on embattled President Paige Patterson would last a few hours.
I fully expected to be back home in Oklahoma City in plenty of time to enjoy a full night's rest.
Wrong!
Suffice it to say that the "quick trip" turned into an all-nighter as the board's closed-door session stretched into the wee hours — finally ending, after more than 13 hours, just after 3 a.m. Wednesday.
For more details, be sure to read tmatt's post headlined "After midnight: Dramatic turn in Paige Patterson drama, with religion-beat pros on the scene."
Meanwhile, please forgive me if I'm still a little groggy as we dive into this week's Friday Five:
1. Religion story of the week: As I mentioned, I was honored to help on this piece, but Washington Post religion writers Sarah Pulliam Bailey (a former GetReligion contributor) and Michelle Boorstein did much of the heavy lifting: "Prominent Southern Baptist leader removed as seminary president following controversial remarks about abused women."
Beyond that breaking news report, Bailey had another must-read Patterson story Tuesday: "Southern Baptist leader encouraged a woman not to report alleged rape to police and told her to forgive assailant, she says."
And Boorstein had a must-read Patterson story of her own earlier Tuesday: "Amid a Southern Baptist scandal, some evangelical women say the Bible’s gender roles are being distorted to promote sexism."
Expect the Post and other major news organizations to keep devoting time and attention to this important story in advance of — and during — the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Dallas next month.
2. Most popular GetReligion post: tmatt's post titled "Pope worries about Europe 'hemorrhaging' priests, nuns: Spot big hole in short AP story?" occupies the No. 1 spot this week.
3. Guilt folder fodder (and more): After the royal wedding, Episcopal Bishop Michael Curry has a new title: celebrity.
On Thursday, CNN Religion Editor Daniel Burke caught up with Curry "less than a week after his star-making sermon."
4. Shameless plug: Former GetReligion contributor Dawn Eden Goldstein interviewed They Might Be Giants — the musical duo — on "joy, death and unlikely anagrams."
Her piece appears on Angelus News, the multimedia platform of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
A reminder that Goldstein used to be a nationally known rock music critic and journalist.
5. Final thought: James A. Smith Sr., a longtime GetReligion reader and a Southern Baptist, makes an excellent point, don't you think?
Let's all go with #SBC18 as the hashtag for the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting.
Amen!?