Tuesday's News & Ideas - 1/18/2022

The hostages escaped. But synagogues ask, How can they be more secure?*
The New York Times: The hostages whispered instructions and edged closer to the door — part of invaluable training that anxious congregations are using.
Religion News Service: As rabbi was held hostage, his interfaith clergy colleagues gathered to help end the standoff

An Oklahoma pastor has apologized after smearing his spit in a man’s eye during a sermon: ‘It got too live’*
The Washington Post: Clips of the sermon have gone viral, including one that had been viewed 1.7 million times as of Tuesday morning.

U.S. Supreme Court to consider Boston’s refusal to fly Christian flag at city hall
The Guardian: The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether the city of Boston violated the free speech of a Christian group who sought to fly a flag in front of city hall.

Christians are going back to church — but maybe not the same one
Christianity Today: Amid all the moves and changes of the past two years, many congregations saw turnover accelerate.

Recovering the female clerics of the early church
Los Angeles Review of Books: While most have viewed Pope Francis’s appointments of women as a progressive and novel move, there is broad historical precedent for female clerics that goes later into the period of Late Antiquity than most realize.

The Spark

Why the volcanic eruption in Tonga was so violent, and what to expect next
The Kingdom of Tonga doesn’t often attract global attention, but a violent eruption of an underwater volcano on January 15 has spread shock waves, quite literally, around half the world, says The Conversation.

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