Bobby Ross Jr

🏛️ #RNA2023: The News That Has Religion Writers' Attention This Week 🔌

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…

🇩🇪 At Least Six Dead, Plus Unborn Baby And Gunman, In Jehovah's Witnesses Shooting In Germany 🔌

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…

‘David Beats Goliath’: Faith Coalition Celebrates Oklahoma’s Defeat Of Recreational Marijuana

Speaking at the Oklahoma Faith Coalition’s recent news conference were the Rev. Darryl Wootton, superintendent of Oklahoma Assemblies of God; Paul Abner, the coalition’s executive director; the Stephen Hamilton, a priest in the Catholic Archdiocese…

Flight delays and new friends: My trip to Cozumel

COZUMEL, Mexico — When I told friends I was traveling to Cozumel on a reporting trip for The Christian Chronicle, they chuckled. “Uh huh,” their responses seemed to say, as if I might have ulterior motives. “No, really,” I insisted. I flew to the…

The Asbury Revival Sparks Prayer, Reflection At Other Christian Universities

Students sing during a chapel assembly at Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City. Photo by Audrey Jackson. “Nothing good happens after midnight. Except for this.” So proclaims the Facebook page for Midnight Worship, a weekly gathering hosted…

In a Mexican resort city, Christians care for homeless ‘angels’

For two decades, a ministry supported by Churches of Christ has served orphaned, abandoned and abused children in Cozumel. By Bobby Ross Jr. COZUMEL, Mexico — Scott Eller steered a rented Nissan March through Cozumel as his wife, Andrea, talked about…

Asbury revival sparks prayer, reflection at Christian universities

‘Nothing good happens after midnight. Except for this.” So proclaims the Facebook page for Midnight Worship, a weekly gathering hosted by the Highland Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas. More than 1,000 miles from Asbury University in Wilmore, Ky. —…

🇺🇸 No Separation Of Church And State? New York City Mayor Sparks A Furor 🔌

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…

God And Pot: Both Sides Cite Faith In Oklahoma’s Recreational Marijuana Fight

By Bobby Ross Jr. OKLAHOMA CITY — Michelle Tilley says faith drives everything she does, including her fight to legalize recreational marijuana in her home state. Baptized at age 7 in the First Baptist Church of Comanche, Oklahoma, the longtime…

📰 Surprise! Spiritual Revival Is Big News, From New York Times to Christianity Today 🔌

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…

⛪︎ $50 Million Shrine Honors Catholic Farm Boy Who Became A Martyr 🔌

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…

Bible conferences, Love’s Travel Stops and time on the road with Dad

Flying is faster, but an interstate journey can be full of adventure. HENDERSON, Tenn. — I love road trips. Except for all the driving. And the long days on the highway. And the would-be NASCAR stars weaving in and out of traffic. Seriously, I like…

$50M shrine to honor slain priest, first US Catholic martyr

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The birth of Stanley Francis Rother was by all accounts ordinary, aside from the weather. The Catholic farm boy came into the world during an Oklahoma dust storm. But in life – and in death – he was extraordinary. The 46-year-old…

For Christians In Memphis, Tyre Nichols’ Death A Cause For Concern, Action

The citizens of Atlanta protest the murder of Tyre Nichols. He was, unarmed and beaten to death in Memphis Tennessee by 5 police officers. Shutterstock photo by Christopher V Jones. MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A picture of Tyre Nichols in his hospital bed…

🏈 100 Million Super Bowl Viewers Expected To See Jesus — And Two Christian Quarterbacks 🔌

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…

💔 ‘Heavy Hearts That Can Only Be Healed By The Grace Of God’ 🔌

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…

Building up the kingdom — one small, rural church at a time

Colorado outreach effort aims to equip and encourage ministers, leaders and their families. By Bobby Ross Jr. CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — Matthew Morine’s friends in ministry keep quitting. The job, tough in normal times, became insurmountable during the…

On A Mission To Fill Empty Pulpits: A Couple Addressing The Preacher Shortage

John and Carla Moore both serve on the staff of Bear Valley Bible Institute in Denver. They are pictured in the library of the preacher training school. Photo by Audrey Jackson. DENVER — Low pay and benefits. Overly demanding leaders. Unrealistic…

For Christians in Memphis, Tyre Nichols’ death a cause for concern, action

Like the 29-year-old victim in the nation's latest high-profile police brutality case, the five officers charged with murder are Black. By Bobby Ross Jr. MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A picture of Tyre Nichols in his hospital bed greeted a recent assembly of the…

🌎 On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, listening to the survivors while we can 🔌

By Bobby Ross Jr. 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…