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 afternoon, Weekend Plug-in readers!

Is it time for fall yet? We’re enduring yet another triple-digit day in my home state of Oklahoma, and I’m ready for cooler temperatures.

But you signed up for religion news, not a weather report, so let’s start with this: Belief in the prosperity gospel is on the rise among churchgoers, according to a Lifeway Research report by Marissa Postell Sullivan.

Meanwhile, yet another Roman Catholic diocese in California has filed for bankruptcy, the Washington Post’s Paulina Villegas reports.

“The San Francisco Archdiocese is the third Bay Area diocese to file for bankruptcy after facing hundreds of lawsuits brought under a California law approved in 2019 that allowed decades-old claims to be filed by Dec. 31, 2022,” The Associated Press’ Olga R. Rodriguez notes.

And at Christianity Today, Kate Shellnutt explains how the Christian Standard Bible has found its place in a crowded evangelical market.

This is our weekly roundup of the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith. Our big story concerns Monday’s 60th anniversary of the Aug. 28, 1963, March on Washington.

What To Know: The Big Story

Evolution of activism: “The March on Washington of 1963 is remembered most for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s “I Have a Dream” speech — and thus as a crowning moment for the long-term civil rights activism of what is sometimes referred to as the ‘Black Church.’”

That’s the lede from The Associated Press’ David Crary, who adds important context:

At the march, King indeed represented numerous other Black clergy who were his colleagues in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. But the march was the product of sustained activism by a broader coalition. Black and white labor leaders, as well as white clergy, played pivotal roles over many months ahead of the event.

Moreover, the Black Church was not monolithic then — nor is it now. Many Black pastors and their congregations steered clear of civil disobedience and other nonviolent confrontational tactics in the civil rights era, just as some now steer clear of the Black Lives Matter movement and shun progressive Black pastors’ engagement on behalf of abortion rights and LGBTQ+ rights.

An oral history: An estimated 250,000 Americans came by bus, train and foot to participate in the March on Washington, and a Washington Post team led by Clarence Williams spent the summer interviewing participants.

“The role of the faith groups was well represented on the dais,” Raymond Kemp, then a 22-year-old seminary graduate, tells the Post. “The Black church and the White churches didn’t really know each other until that march. The amazing thing for me was that they all got together.”

At Religion News Service in 2013, Adelle M. Banks and Corrie Raye Mitchell asked 10 participants to reflect on their experiences and how the 1963 march shaped their faith. More recently, Banks interviewed women who were at the march, including a secretary, a future bishop and a marshal.

Female voices: Also at RNS, Yonat Shimron reports on an attempt to correct a gender gap in the March on Washington:

Women weren’t entirely absent. Rosa Parks, the first lady of the Civil Rights Movement, gave words of welcome — 29 words, to be exact. Daisy Bates, an NAACP chapter president who strategized the integration of Little Rock, Arkansas, schools, delivered a few more. Renowned singer Mahalia Jackson performed the national anthem.

But on the anniversary of the march this year, the absence of substantive speeches by women at what is considered one of the most famous political rallies in U.S. history is now getting a due corrective.

Finally, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Shelia Poole covers a recent gathering of faith leaders at Ebenezer Baptist Church focused on ways to honor King’s speech.

Poole notes:

Congregations in metro Atlanta and around the nation are encouraged to designate Aug. 27 as “Share the Dream Sunday.” They want to spread King’s message to younger generations and build a community around the principles of love, conscience, freedom, justice, perseverance and hope.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. GOP debate takeaways: Leading Republican presidential contenders — minus former President Donald Trump, who did not attend — made faith and family a central issue at this week’s debate in Milwaukee.

ReligionUnplugged.com’s own Clemente Lisi wraps up the first debate of the primary season.

See additional coverage of the GOP faith angles by The Associated Press’ Tiffany Stanley and Christianity Today’s Jonny Williams.

2. Purging vestiges of Russian influence: “For centuries, Orthodox Ukrainians saw the traditional Julian calendar as one of the anchors of their church’s identity. Now many are switching to the Gregorian calendar.”

Reporting from Ukraine for Religion News Service, Meagan Saliashvili details a restructuring of religious life in that war-torn nation.

3. Addiction in Appalachia: “Drugs — methamphetamines, oxycontin, heroin, fentanyl — were hiding everywhere in the prayers of the people.”

That realization inspired a faith-based response to the opioids crisis, as congregations provide recovery, medical care and redemption, S.J. Dahlman reports at Christianity Today.

At the Wall Street Journal, Marvin Olasky shares a Christian approach for treating fentanyl addiction, detailing how a California rescue mission rehabilitates people through the love of God and fellowship.

More Top Reads

A difference in rules surrounding property in the Methodist Church — and a change in a provision to allow churches to leave — is at the source of current conflicts in Oklahoma, according to The Oklahoman’s Carla Hinton. … The Maui fires renewed centuries-old tensions over streams considered sacred by Hawaiians, The Associated Press’ Jennifer Sinco Kelleher and Jae C. Hong write. … In a federal court, a Baptist judge is weighing the future of U.S. immigration, Christianity Today’s Andy Olsen reports. … The only freestanding seminary among Churches of Christ will leave Memphis, Tenn., The Christian Chronicle’s Cheryl Mann Bacon notes. … A Birmingham church that hosted a key civil rights meeting is getting a preservation grant, AL.com’s Greg Garrison reports. … A federal judge ruled against religious parents who wanted to opt their children out of LGBTQ lessons, the Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner explains. … And in a think piece for the Wall Street Journal, Ryan Burge makes the case that houses of worship shouldn’t mirror the class divide.

Inside The Godbeat

The Religion News Association announced the finalists Thursday for the 2023 RNA Awards for Excellence in Religion Reporting.

Check out the full list, including first-time nominee Liam Adams of The Tennessean.

Charging Station: ICYMI

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

Pope Francis — the first Latin American leader of the Catholic Church — has become a political lightning rod in his native Argentina.

ReligionUnplugged.com’s own Clemente Lisi explains why.

The Final Plug

I shared my in-depth piece on faith nights at Major League Baseball games last week.

The second and final part of that project — featuring Los Angeles Dodgers star pitcher Clayton Kershaw and his wife, Ellen — was published this week. Check it out.

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.