SIGNS AND WONDERS
Christian Boarding Houses, Planned Parenthood, and ‘60 Minutes’
EDITOR’S NOTE: “Signs and Wonders” is a column that shares thoughts on news items that either do not rise to the level of a news story for MinistryWatch or are slightly (even significantly) outside of our normal charity and philanthropy “beat.” My goal is to be punchy, opinionated, and not to worry much about being slightly off brand. If that is not for you, no hard feelings. But if it is…read on. 
Note To Worship Leaders. My friend Brant Hansen went full curmudgeon on X recently in his advice to worship leaders. I will not share the entire post. You can find it here. But I will summarize. He advised leaders to “1) Pick a singable key for the median person who doesn’t sing all the time. Don’t pick a key to highlight your voice. 2) Lower the volume so people can hear the voices of those around them, and themselves. 3) Let people sing the melodies that are familiar to them. While you may want to jazz up or do the latest CCM twist of “Hark the Herald” or “Silent Night”—people can’t follow you. They just want to sing the song.” All God’s people said, “Amen.”
Christian Boarding Houses. Writing for Christianity Today, Emily Belz has a fascinating story on Christian boarding houses. She features one in New York, Hephzibah House on the Upper West Side, where I have had the privilege of staying. She describes it in Christmas livery, saying it “looks like something out of a movie. The first level of the historic brownstone has a cozy parlor with a Christmas tree, fireplace, twinkle lights, garland running up the wooden banister to the bedrooms upstairs, and warm smells of baked goods and brewing coffee coming from the kitchen.” She goes on to say that such places, while once common, are increasingly rare — but they may be making a comeback. If you have one in your city, send me a note: [email protected]
Ryan Burge, Again. I know you folks are getting sick of me mentioning Ryan Burge in every column. About the time I resolve to give him a rest for a week or two, he publishes something I cannot ignore and want to share. This week, it is a compilation of all he has written recently on the 12 largest denominations in America. So much fascinating data here I won’t even try to summarize it, except to say that you should bookmark this column and refer to it every time you have a question about the state of organized religion.
Bari Weiss and “60 Minutes.” New CBS news chief Bari Weiss is taking heat for spiking a story about deportations. The segment’s reporter Sharyn Alfonsi, in an unusual move, went public with her concerns. But Weiss defended the move, saying the story did not “advance the ball” on this story and wasn’t ready to air. I have no idea what is in the story, and of course no matter what I say, it will cause some to believe I am either for Donald Trump or against him, since it’s his policies that are under review here. That said, I do want to defend Bari Weiss. We have an editorial meeting here at MinistryWatch every week, and we regularly hold stories that are not “fully baked.” We might hold a story to give someone more time to respond, or to check a fact, or because recent events, or anticipated events, have overtaken or might overtake the story. The reasons to hold a story are legion, and most of them are not nefarious or a compromise of journalistic ethics. In fact, the delays often make the story better. That is the way journalism works.
Measuring the Wrong Things. Operation Rescue reports that the number of abortion clinics in the U.S. is down and that it’s evidence we are winning the fight against abortion. That is not true. At least the second part is not true. The number of abortion clinics did decrease last year. But that is mostly because of telemedicine, the rise in chemical abortions, and a consolidation strategy announced years ago by Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. Anyone who thinks we are winning the fight against abortion is either uninformed or has a vested, financial interest in spreading this misinformation. The number of abortions is up more than 15% in the past four years. Government funding for Planned Parenthood has risen from $699 million during the 2022-2023 fiscal year to $792 million in FY 2023-2024. Funding for the current fiscal year is not yet available. Total revenue for Planned Parenthood has risen steadily since 2016, and it now exceeds $2 billion.
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