Upper West Side Story
Diverse congregation in Manhattan counts members from five continents — but no Jets or Sharks. By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle NEW YORK — A rap song by Eminem played in the lobby of a hostel where guests from around the world stay while visiting this city of 8.5 million. In a nearby hallway, the hip-hop beat gave way to the four-part harmony of Christians singing … Continue reading Upper West Side Story
🏈 Time to kneel again: Football coach who won Supreme Court prayer case returns 🔌
By Bobby Ross Jr. | Religion Unplugged NEW YORK — Live from New York, it’s … Friday morning. I’m filing this edition of Weekend Plug-in from my temporary, 38th-floor apartment in Midtown Manhattan. I’ve spent the week enjoying a mix of work and fun in Metropolis. As I type this, Pope Francis has arrived in Mongolia, “becoming the first pope to visit the vast country with … Continue reading 🏈 Time to kneel again: Football coach who won Supreme Court prayer case returns 🔌
👣 March on Washington at 60: What the anniversary means for people of faith 🔌
By Bobby Ross Jr. | Religion Unplugged Good afternoon, Weekend Plug-in readers! Is it time for fall yet? We’re enduring yet another triple-digit day in my home state of Oklahoma, and I’m ready for cooler temperatures. But you signed up for religion news, not a weather report, so let’s start with this: Belief in the prosperity gospel is on the rise among churchgoers, according to a Lifeway … Continue reading 👣 March on Washington at 60: What the anniversary means for people of faith 🔌
For baseball star Clayton Kershaw and his wife, faith provides a foundation
By Bobby Ross Jr. | Religion Unplugged LOS ANGELES — “Blue Heaven on Earth,” declares a sign behind the center field pavilion at Dodger Stadium. That description seemed fitting as Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and his wife, Ellen, appeared on the stage before a recent Sunday afternoon game. A crowd clad in Dodgers blue cheered as the Kershaws reflected on their faith during a question-and-answer … Continue reading For baseball star Clayton Kershaw and his wife, faith provides a foundation
📝 Jesus didn’t lie on his resume, but this top Southern Baptist official did 🔌
By Bobby Ross Jr. | Religion Unplugged Good afternoon, Weekend Plug-in readers! It’s National Shameless Plug Day. Or maybe it’s really not, but I still want to share an in-depth feature I did on faith nights hosted by Major League Baseball teams. I traveled to San Diego and Los Angeles to report this story for ReligionUnplugged.com. But that’s enough shameless plugging for now. In major news … Continue reading 📝 Jesus didn’t lie on his resume, but this top Southern Baptist official did 🔌
Jesus at the ballpark: Why MLB teams host faith nights
By Bobby Ross Jr. | Religion Unplugged SAN DIEGO — At 8:15 p.m. on a recent Saturday, Texas Rangers catcher Mitch Garver swung and missed at an 86-mph slider from San Diego Padres closer Josh Hader. Garver’s strikeout secured a 4-0 victory for the home team in front of 42,677 fans at Petco Park. Three minutes later, an electric guitarist and a keyboardist from The Rock Church … Continue reading Jesus at the ballpark: Why MLB teams host faith nights
They were the foreigners
Brazil experience shapes former missionaries’ outreach to refugees and immigrants. By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle OKLAHOMA CITY — In the late 1980s, as four buddies neared graduation from Oklahoma Christian University, they talked about moving around the globe. Their hearts told them what they needed to do: Tell the story of Jesus Christ. God, they said, showed them where: a South American city where nearly half the … Continue reading They were the foreigners
Sharing love — and Christ — with refugees
Since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan two years ago, an Oklahoma church has worked to serve its new neighbors. By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle OKLAHOMA CITY — The chaos at the end of a long war. The frenzy to leave a troubled homeland. The challenge of a new and different culture. Hong Kluver identifies closely with the Afghan refugees she has worked so hard to … Continue reading Sharing love — and Christ — with refugees
How a grassroots ministry to Afghan refugees ‘snowballed’ into something big
A Texas church’s outreach started with one Christian couple compelled to ‘do something.’ By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle AN ANTONIO — Dan and Mary Huber were stuffed. They couldn’t eat any more. Or so they told their friends — an Afghan refugee family who fled their war-torn native land two years ago. “There’s no room,” Mary explained, patting her stomach. The children, who understand English better than … Continue reading How a grassroots ministry to Afghan refugees ‘snowballed’ into something big
Faith. Family. Fastballs. 