Welcome to Nashville, Liam Adams.
Enjoy the journalistic whiplash.
Adams, The Tennessean’s new religion writer, has received quite an introduction to the Godbeat in Music City.
Upon starting his new job last week, Adams immediately found himself covering two days of high-profile meetings by the Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee.
He’s back at it this week, reporting on the committee again delaying “action on a third-party investigation into the committee’s handling of sexual abuse claims.”
“So I’m going to take a guess that this isn’t normally what happens in the Southern Baptist Convention, right?” Adams joked on Twitter. “Asking for a friend who just so happens to be in his second week reporting the news on all of this.”
Elsewhere, Religion News Service’s Yonat Shimron and Bob Smietana report that the “presidents of all six Southern Baptist seminaries have issued statements or tweets expressing their dismay at the Executive Committee’s unwillingness to act at the convention’s direction.”
According to Baptist News Global’s Mark Wingfield, new details have emerged about the committee’s handling of the investigation, “as outrage mounts among other Southern Baptist leaders.”
Read additional coverage by The Associated Press’ Holly Meyer (Adams’ predecessor at The Tennessean) and Christianity Today’s Kate Shellnutt.
For more context, see our past Plug-ins — here, here and here — focused on the Southern Baptist controversy.
Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads
1. Some say COVID-19 vaccine is the 'mark of the beast.' Is there a connection to the Bible?: This is not a new question (I addressed it in a story back in January), but it’s a lingering one.
Scott Gleeson and Asha C. Gilbert of USA Today offer helpful insight from academic, theological and medical sources.
2. Gary Chapman doesn’t know he’s famous: Christianity Today’s Kara Bettis profiles the best-selling author of “The Five Love Languages.”
Spoiler alert: Oprah Winfrey makes a cameo appearance up high.
3. Bingo is back — with bouncers: “The pandemic forced many churches to close for more than a year. Now pastors have reopened their doors for services — and are also seeing pent-up demand for in-person bingo,” explains this front-page feature by the Wall Street Journal’s Kevin Armstrong.
You read that right. Bingo.
“In some spots, security guards and good Samaritans struggle to keep peace at the door,” the Journal notes.
BONUS: These days, it’s harder to read Peggy Fletcher Stack’s superb religion reporting for the Salt Lake Tribune because it’s hidden behind a paywall. That’s great for funding journalism (and I support the approach), but it’s bad for readers outside Salt Lake City who can’t afford to pay for every newspaper in the country.
Still, if you have access to a local library database, you might check out Stack’s in-depth coverage asking, “Is the LDS Church losing its identity?” Also an interesting read: “If porn isn’t an addiction, how can Latter-day Saints kick the habit?” by Stack’s colleague Kaitlyn Bancroft.
CONTINUE READING: “SBC Executive Committee's Handling Of Sex Abuse Probe Draws Criticism, Outrage,” bu Bobby Ross, Jr., at Religion Unplugged.