By Bobby Ross Jr. My Top 10 bylines of 2012: 10. I’m going to Disney church! KISSIMMEE, Fla. — At a hotel a mile west of Walt Disney World’s main gate on U.S. Highway 192, aspiring princesses and little boys with Mickey Mouse ears fill up on scrambled eggs and cereal on a Sunday morning. In a banquet room next to the breakfast buffet, children … Continue reading 2012 in review: My Top 10 bylines of the year
By Bobby Ross Jr. Some of my best and/or favorite stories for The Associated Press between 2002 and 2005: Presidential campaign • President Bush caps final day of 2004 campaign with Dallas rally (reporting from Dallas) • Crawford, Texas, rallies behind President Bush after hometown paper endorses John Kerry (reporting from Crawford, Texas) • People of faith ask: How would Jesus vote in 2004 presidential … Continue reading My top stories for The Associated Press: 2002-2005
Pass the syrup, but religion gets sticky: Faithful persevere in secular Vermont (reporting from Springfield, Vt.). Page 1 lead. SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — Folks in the Green Mountain State like their economy syrupy sweet. The rural, thickly forested New England state produces 39 percent of the United States’ maple syrup. The state’s 626,000 residents are less sweet on religion: Vermont ranks as the nation’s most secular … Continue reading Pass the syrup, but religion gets sticky in Vermont
For some reason, someone forgave someone else. Published Dec. 4. Who’s feeding the starving people? Published Dec. 6. The Southern Baptists’ scarlet ‘A.’ Published Dec. 10. Ho ho ho and Merry F-word. Published Dec. 12. Pod people: Forgiveness is such a simple word. Published Dec. 15. Coming soon to a TV near you: ‘The Bible.’ Published Dec. 17. Bring your swords, and guns, to church. … Continue reading December 2012: GetReligion
By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle I drive a minivan, not a truck. I drink Diet Coke, not beer. I wear a baseball cap, not a cowboy hat. I don’t cheat on my wife, dance in the neon light or party all night with my rowdy friends. On my best days, I don’t intentionally do somebody wrong. But I do love country music, … Continue reading Modern-day parables: This is country music
From Rhode Island to Liberia, with love: Immigrant church in the U.S. has big dreams for bringing hope and healing to its war-torn homeland (reporting from Providence, R.I.). Page 1 lead. PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In the bustling core of Rhode Island’s capital, Liberian immigrants crowd into a simple white building with “Providence Church of Christ” painted in fading red letters above the front door. On … Continue reading From Rhode Island to Liberia, with love
Risking lives to save souls in Mexico. Published Nov. 2. God, gang graffiti and gunfire in L.A. Published Nov. 6. The ghost of Prince William County. Published Nov. 8. When Bible Belt atheists go to church. Published Nov. 10. A red state American in her natural habitat. Published Nov. 13. Ready, set, barf: an evangelical football feature. Published Nov. 15. Pod people: Red America and … Continue reading November 2012: GetReligion
The Trouble with TBN Amid a flurry of scandalous accusations, ministries again face the question of whether to abandon or reform the broadcaster. From Christianity Today November print issue. Amid the latest drama surrounding the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), should mainstream ministries seek reform or pull their programming? Brittany Koper, the granddaughter of TBN founders Paul and Jan Crouch and its chief financial officer until … Continue reading The trouble with TBN
By Bobby Ross Jr. Matt Curry, a former colleague of mine with The Associated Press in Dallas and now a Presbyterian pastor, tweeted last night: Sick of this election but will miss my former profession tomorrow — election night is BEST time to be in a newsroom. And there's pizza. — Matt Curry (@PresbyMatt) November 6, 2012 “What he said,” I immediately replied. For the … Continue reading Election night: Reflections of a career journalist
Faith. Family. Fastballs. 