It seems appropriate that Weekend Plug-in should be “Livin’ on a Prayer“ this time around.
That’s especially true this past week as Bon Jovi’s classic single topped 1 billion views on YouTube. As Christianity Today’s Kate Shellnutt put it, “Oo-oo he's all the way there.”
Enjoy the music as we get down to business, reviewing the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith.
What To Know: The Big Story
Tyre Nichols: In Memphis, Tennessee, loved ones celebrated the 29-year-old police beating victim’s life — and called for reforms — Wednesday at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church.
“We have come with heavy hearts that can only be healed by the grace of God, full transparency, accountability and comprehensive legislative reform,” the Rev. J. Lawrence Turner said, as reported by the Commercial Appeal’s Lucas Finton, Katherine Burgess and Laura Testino.
The funeral featured messages of faith from Vice President Kamala Harris and the Rev. Al Sharpton, Religion News Service’s Adelle M. Banks notes.
Grief and goals: RNS’ Banks talks to faith leaders about Nichols’ death.
At Christianity Today, Russell Moore writes that “Scriptures denounce officials who abuse their authority to harm rather than protect the people they serve.”
‘No excuse’: As a teen, longtime Memphis minister and politician John DeBerry Jr. witnessed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final speech before his 1968 assassination. I interviewed DeBerry about Nichols’ death:
“I think it is a systemic issue and that it is not a new issue. While we focus on violations of law and protocol and civil rights, and we especially focus on it when it crosses racial lines, this is especially concerning to a lot of us because all five of these officers (charged with murder) are Black.
“We’re concerned about the level of violence, the level of malice. They tased him and pepper-sprayed him and then beat him to death. There is just no excuse for it.”
Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads
1. Faith and fraud: “An alleged $500 million Ponzi scheme preyed on Mormons. It ended with FBI gunfire.”
With this story, the Washington Post’s Lizzie Johnson finishes what slain Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German started.
“It was an honor to do this reporting — to honor Jeff German and complete his work,” Johnson says. “I'm proud that his story lives on.”
2. Nikki Haley for president: South Carolina’s former governor, who served as President Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, will challenge her former boss for the GOP nomination.
Religion figures heavily in an in-depth profile of Haley by the Post and Courier’s Jennifer Berry Hawes, Avery G. Wilks and Caitlyn Byrd:
As a child, Haley felt the stares when her family walked into the area’s restaurants, her father wearing a turban, her mother in colorful saris.
When other families flocked to First Baptist and Trinity Methodist churches, the Randhawas were not part of the strong social networks that Sunday worship provides, especially in South Carolina’s small towns. The family practiced the Sikh faith; they had a room in their house for worship.
People in Bamberg didn’t know what to make of the strange new arrivals.
CONTINUE READING: “ ‘Heavy Hearts That Can Only Be Healed By The Grace Of God’ “ by Bobby Ross, Jr., at Religion Unplugged.