For today’s yearend edition, I asked some of the nation’s top religion-beat journalists to share their favorite or most important story they produced during 2023.
It’s a holiday week, so I didn’t catch up with everybody. But once again this year, I sure appreciate my Godbeat colleagues who responded — more than 60 in all.
Feel free to jump straight to the list, but I can’t resist a few quick notes:
• I’m wrapping up four years since launching this version of Plug-in. This column/newsletter goes to more than 10,000 subscribers via email before it’s published at ReligionUnplugged and then here at GetReligion. I’m so grateful for everyone who reads and shares Plug-in. Our goal is to provide the best roundup of religion news anywhere.
• I follow religion-news coverage and save interesting links throughout the week, but I typically write Plug-in early Friday morning. In other words, it’s a deadline labor of love with the typos to prove it. This part-time gig helps me stay on top of news and trends in the world of faith, but my full-time job is serving as editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. In 2023, I was blessed to report from a dozen states and four countries (Australia, Cuba, Mexico and Vanuatu). My story from Down Under will publish early next year.
• I’ve spent 33 years in full-time journalism, including nearly a quarter-century focused on religion news (starting with Pope John Paul II’s visit to St. Louis in 1999). I’m inspired by longtime Godbeat pros — such as Adelle M. Banks, Michelle Boorstein, Greg Garrison, Carla Hinton, Frank Lockwood, Terry Mattingly, Bob Smietana, Peter Smith and Peggy Fletcher Stack — who keep producing amazing journalism year after year. And those are just the ones I managed to reach this week. Besides the old-timers, I’m excited about the newcomers — including Joy Ashford and Eric Killelea — covering religion.
• Many of the journalists who shared links found it difficult to pick just one. Several submitted multiple possibilities and asked me to choose, which I was happy to do. Menachem Wecker wins the award for most stories shared with 10. I included two links from only one writer, Clemente Lisi. He is ReligionUnplugged’s executive editor and the boss, after all, and a longtime colleague here at GetReligion.
One Godbeat pro who had no difficulty with her pick was Sarah Pulliam Bailey. The former award-winning religion writer for the Washington Post is “taking a pause to hang out with my girls.” Thus, she quipped, “I wrote exactly one story so I guess this would be it!”
• A confession before we get to the list: I started this year-end approach years ago as a way to do a quick, easy post during the holidays.
What in the world was I thinking? The reality is that this takes much longer than a normal Plug-in, but that’s OK. I truly enjoy connecting with my fellow journalists and sharing their best work. Enjoy!
Power Up: The Year’s Best Reads
Journalists who write about religion pick their top story of 2023.
• Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service: Women at the first March on Washington: a secretary, a future bishop and a marshal, published Aug. 17.
• Sarah Pulliam Bailey, New York Times: A $96 million Hindu temple opens amid accusations of forced labor, published Oct. 21.
• Mark A. Kellner, Washington Times: Voice of reason: Senate chaplain part of ‘great conversation’ during 20 years on Capitol Hill, published June 27.
• Richard Ostling, GetReligion: New probe of origins of Islam's Quran resembles 200 years of New Testament conflict, published March 28.
• Clemente Lisi, ReligionUnplugged and GetReligion, of course: 'Vatican Girl' disappearance continues to baffle 40 years later, published June 20 (and this related May 16 GetReligion post, View from Rome: Italian press aims to inform, but loves tabloid-style Vatican scandals). Also, see ‘Miracle we got out alive’: Jews recall horror of Hamas attacks, published Oct. 14.
• Bobby Ross Jr. (hey, that’s me!), ReligionUnplugged: Jesus at the ballpark: Why MLB teams host faith nights, published Aug. 17.
• Terry Mattingly, Universal syndidate: Covenant pastor preached on death, grief and the tears of Jesus — weeks before the attack, published April 11.
• Liam Adams, The Tennessean: Scott Sauls envisioned Christ Presbyterian as a city on a hill. Why it didn't last, published Nov. 27.
• Joy Ashford, Dallas Morning News: Dallas’ Cathedral Guadalupe to celebrate its national shrine status, published Dec. 10.
• Cheryl Mann Bacon, Christian Chronicle: One hurricane, two churches, published Sept. 22.
• Emily Belz, Christianity Today: The young Christian who took Johnson & Johnson to court, published July 5.
• Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post: Catholic group spent millions on app data that tracked gay priests, published March 9.
• Gregg Brekke, Broadview: How nuns are helping displaced Ukrainians amid the Russian invasion, published Aug. 9.
• Sophie Carson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: WWII re-enactments draw dozens in Nazi uniforms — and one Jewish educator working to make sure the Holocaust is remembered, published June 15.
• Michele Chabin, Religion News Service: Stung by anti-Israel protests and hate, many Jews are reasserting their identity, published Nov. 22.
• Calvin Cockrell, Christian Chronicle: ‘Somebody has to die for me to live,’ published June 15.
• David Crary, Associated Press: Some critics see Trump’s behavior as un-Christian. His conservative Christian backers see a hero, published July 21.
• Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News: The law that changed religious freedom forever, published Nov. 15.
• Greg Garrison, AL.com: United Methodist split: changing signs reflect upheaval, published Oct. 30.
• Claire Giangravé, Religion News Service: Vatican summit tackles women’s ordination with a nod from Pope Francis, published Oct. 23.
• Paul Glader, ReligionUnplugged: Oslo’s hidden gem: Exploring the Nordic Bible Museum, published July 18.
• Ruth Graham, New York Times: ‘Woodstock’ for Christians: Revival draws thousands to Kentucky town, published Feb. 23.
• Hamil R. Harris, Christian Chronicle: Maryland Pilots for Christ on a higher mission, published Oct. 30.
• Carla Hinton, The Oklahoman: 'Let them go': How St. Luke's survived efforts to thwart its United Methodist exit plans, published April 25.
• Luis Andres Henao, Associated Press: Rastafari gain sacramental rights to marijuana in Antigua and Barbuda, celebrate freedom of worship, published June 2.
• María Teresa Hernández, Associated Press: In Chile, justice eludes victims of Catholic clergy sex abuse years after the crisis exploded, published Sept. 19.
• BeLynn Hollers, Religion News Service: In rural Texas, spending taxpayer money on private schools is a hard sell, published April 25.
• Joseph Holmes, ReligionUnplugged: How the sexual revolution killed the Hollywood rom-com, published Nov. 6.
• Rebecca Hopkins, The Roys Report: Woman says IHOPKC founder Mike Bickle used prophecy to sexually abuse her, published Nov. 30.
• Audrey Jackson, Christian Chronicle: ‘If they go into full-time ministry, they’ll go back to poverty,’ published Jan. 23.
• Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service: How big Christian nationalism has come courting in North Idaho, published Feb. 22.
• Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times: How antisemitism came roaring back into American life, published Dec. 14.
• Louis Keene, The Forward: The college is Christian. Its point guard wears a yarmulke, published Feb. 2.
• Tamarra Kemsley, Salt Lake Tribune: Calyann Barnett is smashing the mold of a devout LDS woman — simply by being herself, published Jan. 22.
• Sam Kestenbaum, Montez Press Radio: ‘The Old-Time Cosmic Revival Hour,’ aired Oct. 25.
• Eric Killelea, Houston Chronicle: What it's like to lose your religion in Houston — and where you go next, published Dec. 8.
• Sophia Lee, Christianity Today: How one family’s faith survived three generations in the pulpit, published April 19.
• Frank Lockwood, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: A fond farewell, then a sex case, published Dec. 17.
• G. Jeffrey MacDonald, The Living Church: Lay preachers meet growing need, published Oct. 4.
• Emily McFarlan Miller, Religion News Service: Adult egg hunts and kiddie pools full of gifts: Is Easter the new Christmas?, published April 7.
• Holly Meyer, Associated Press: How a South Dakota priest inspired 125 years of direct democracy — and the fight to preserve it, published Oct. 27.
• Chris Moody, ReligionUnplugged: Mark Driscoll’s safe space: How the embattled pastor built a new church, published Oct. 2.
• Kathryn Post, Religion News Service: Queer bars offer sacred space for LGBTQ community, published Jan. 23.
• Harvest Prude, formerly with The Dispatch, now with Christianity Today: ‘The worst of our worst nightmares,’ published Oct. 12.
• Francis X. Rocca, Wall Street Journal: Our many Jesuses, published April 7.
• Arno Rosenfeld, The Forward: Did everyone miss an antisemitic campus murder?, published Feb. 15.
• Julie Roys, The Roys Report: Analysis: Top 10 churches that participated in Hillsong Family’s ‘celebrity preacher’s scam,’ published April 6.
• Meagan Saliashvili, Religion News Service: Ukrainian Orthodox churches purge vestiges of Russian influence, published Aug. 18.
• Katie Collins Scott, National Catholic Reporter: Catholic clergy abuse survivors of color endure compounded trauma, published Sept. 12.
• Kate Shellnutt, Christianity Today: At McLean Bible, Mike Kelsey is reimagining the multiethnic church, published Nov 30.
CONTINUE READING: “Weekend Plug-In Year In Review — The Best Religion Journalism Of 2023” by Bobby Ross, Jr., at Religion Unplugged.
FIRST IMAGE: Uncredited graphic at this feature — “Do You Really Know How to Read?” — at InspirationalPerspective.com website.