Editor’s note: Every Friday, “Weekend Plug-in” meets readers at the intersection of faith and news. Subscribe now to get this column delivered straight to your inbox. Got feedback or ideas? Email Bobby Ross Jr. at therossnews@gmail.com.
PITTSBURGH — It’s time for a reboot.
This column marks the start of something new.
I enjoyed visiting with Clemente Lisi, executive editor of Religion Unplugged, at last week’s 75th anniversary conference of the Religion News Association, held in the Steel City.
Lisi and I discussed the opportunity to take Weekend Plug-in to the next level. Thus, the change that I’ll explain in a moment.
But first, a little background: We launched Plug-in in January 2020 — almost 4½ years ago — as a weekly newsletter offering analysis, insights and top headlines from the world of faith.
During that time, Plug-in accomplished its goal (here’s the part where we won’t show a lot of humility) of becoming the best roundup of religion news on the internet.
We grew our list of Substack subscribers, who receive Plug-in directly in their inbox, to more than 10,000. And we relished our role of cheerleading for our Godbeat colleagues by highlighting the week’s best religion stories every Friday.
But here’s a confession: The newsletter itself got (here’s the part where we’ll show a whole lot of humility) too formulaic.
And well, did I mention that it’s time for a reboot?
So here’s what we plan to do: Turn Plug-in into more of a news column and less of a vehicle for what journalists call aggregation. For those interested in a religion newsletter, please make sure to sign up for Religion Unplugged’s Week in Headlines.
For those who’ve supported — and enjoyed — Plug-in, might I ask that you stick along for the ride?
Just like always, we plan to engage readers at the intersection of faith and news.
This column appears in the online magazine Religion Unplugged.
Photo by Bobby Ross Jr.
Faith. Family. Fastballs. 