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.

PITTSBURGH — Good morning, Weekend Plug-in readers!

I’m filing this week’s edition from the 75th anniversary conference of the Religion News Association, meeting in the Steel City through Saturday. Follow the hashtag #RNA2024 for live updates.

Among the week’s big news: After just a few months on the job, a prominent Dallas pastor stepped down as head of the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s civil rights organization. Read coverage by Religion Unplugged’s Hamil Harris, Religion News Service’s Adelle M. Banks and The Associated Press’ Sophia Tareen.

Today marks the 29th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, the first big story of my journalism career. My alma mater Oklahoma Christian University broke ground Thursday on a survivor tree memorial plaza to commemorate twin tragedies — the OKC bombing and 9/11, as The Christian Chronicle’s Erik Tryggestad reports.

This is our weekly roundup of the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith. We start with the United Methodist Church’s big schism.

What To Know: The Big Story

Delayed for years because of COVID-19, the United Methodists’ long-awaited General Conference begins next week in Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s set for April 23 to May 3.

In advance of the big event, here are five questions to consider:

1. Will the big split in the U.S. spread globally, specifically to Africa?

The Associated Press’ Peter Smith reports:

The United Methodist Church lost one-fourth of its U.S. churches in a recent schism, with conservatives departing over disputes on sexuality and theology.

Now, with the approach of its first major legislative gathering in several years, the question is whether the church can avert a similar outcome elsewhere in the world, where about half its members live.

The question is particularly acute in Africa, home to the vast majority of United Methodists outside the U.S. Most of its bishops favor staying, but other voices are calling for regional conferences to disaffiliate.

2. How much has the massive exodus cost the denomination, dollarwise?

The Tennessean’s Liam Adams reports:

The United Methodist Church losing a quarter of its churches in five years is just the start.

The proposed budget to the upcoming UMC General Conference — the denomination’s top legislative assembly, which meets every four years — is $23.8 million less than the last spending plan.

The proposed budget recommends 17 fewer bishops, so that one of the denomination's seven general funds doesn’t run a deficit. Meanwhile, the regional conference staff that those bishops oversee has already faced cuts and a consolidation of administrative duties.

3. What has the loss of traditionalists meant for the UMC's diversity?

Religion News Service’s Yonat Shimron reports:

After the departure of thousands of traditionalist United Methodist churches from the denomination over the past five years, it might stand to reason that those congregations remaining in the fold are more progressive and open to ordination and marriage of people in same-sex relationships.

But the picture is far more mixed.

A new report from the Religion and Social Change Lab at Duke University that looked at disaffiliating clergy from North Carolina’s two United Methodist conferences or regions found that even after the departures, 24% of North Carolina clergy remaining in the denomination disagree with allowing LGBTQ people to get married and ordained within the denomination.

4. Should those who've left the mainline body be characterized as evangelicals?

Christianity Today’s Daniel Silliman reports:

Religious historians have often divided American Protestantism into two neat camps: mainline and evangelical.

Mainliners are seen as more liberal, more ecumenical, and more concerned with ministerial education. They belong to the National Council of Churches, their pastors read The Christian Century, and they’re often very invested in denominational institutions. Evangelicals, on the other hand, like revivals and conversion experiences. They like Billy Graham. They are theologically conservative but also entrepreneurial, starting new organizations and innovating with a focus on outreach. They belong to the National Association of Evangelicals and read Christianity Today.

But new traditionalist denominations — formed through splits from mainline churches including the Episcopal Church USA, the Reformed Church in America, and now the United Methodist Church — may challenge the simple sorting method.

5. Will the UMC finally settle the big issue that has caused all the conflict?

Religion Unplugged’s Richard Ostling reports:

The UMC has just suffered America’s worst schism since the Civil War, with 7,658 traditionalist congregations, a quarter of the former total, departing as of New Year’s Eve. The Charlotte gathering will once again deal with the central problem that has plagued this prominent denomination for most of the 56 years since it was founded through a merger. 

At issue is the authority and interpretation of the Bible, always crucial for Protestants, with the focus on sexual morality. Amid epochal liberalization in western culture, should the church allow actively gay clergy and same-sex marriages, which would also implicate heterosexual morality? 

For insight into how the split has affected specific U.S. regions, see these stories by AL.com’s Greg Garrison and the Dallas Morning News’ Joy Ashford.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Amid the rubble, churches build foundations in Turkey: “When an earthquake leveled residential buildings last year, Christians helped pull survivors from the rubble. Now they're creating communities.”

Audrey Jackson traveled to Antakya — the biblical Antioch — to report this story for The Christian Chronicle and Religion Unplugged.

2. ‘Antisemitism is everywhere’: USA Today tracked it across all 50 states.

Read the special report by Leora Arnowitz, David Oliver and Krystal Nurse.

3. Can a Christian community close the beach on Sunday mornings?: “In Ocean Grove, N.J., a conservative religious organization sets the rules. The state has challenged its right to keep sunbathers off the sand.”

Sarah Pulliam Bailey delves into the details for the New York Times.

More Top Reads

Haitians are ministering at the end of the world, Christianity Today’s Andy Olsen writes. … Unfazed by danger and power, a Guatemalan cardinal keeps up the fight for migrants and the poor, according to The Associated Press’ Giovanna Dell’Orto. … Could this be the most meaningful Holocaust memorial in New York? The Forward’s Andrew Silverstein reports. … What can ‘Green Islam’ achieve in the world’s largest Muslim country? The New York Times’ Sui-Lee Wee investigates. … The ongoing saga of Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock took another dramatic turn with a former volunteer’s arrest, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Frank Lockwood notes. … An influential rabbi calls it a ”just war” but mourns the loss of innocent lives in Gaza, the Los Angeles Times’ Jeffrey Fleishman writes. … And Nancy French has a new tell-all book called “Ghosted,” as Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana explains.

Inside The Godbeat

I’m enjoying seeing old friends and making new ones at the RNA conference.

If I started naming all of them, I know I’d miss someone.

But I want to make a special shoutout to Scott Thumma, director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, who told me Thursday how much he enjoys reading Weekend Plug-in.

Thank you, Scott, and everyone who supports this column/newsletter every week.

Charging Station: ICYMI

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

As India’s elections draw near, Bollywood mobilizes to promote Hindu nationalism.

Shadab Farooq reports from New Delhi.

Also interesting: The Associated Press’ Krutika Pathi and Sheikh Saaliq explain why Hindu nationalism — “once a fringe Indian ideology” — “is now mainstream, thanks to Modi’s decade in power.”

The Final Plug

Here’s some good news for people of faith, via the Wall Street Journal’s Clare Ansberry:

Active religious practice, such as going to churches, synagogues and mosques, is linked to mental well-being, according to a growing body of research.

One possible explanation for the link, researchers and clergy say, is that places of worship can provide community and belonging, which are big drivers in mental well-being, and help counter isolation and loneliness.

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.