A decade on the beat
-
- March
- 20
Ten years ago today, I started on the religion beat.
Bill Cary, a city editor at the time (lucky for him, he now writes about gardening) called me over to ask me if I knew anything about Presbyterian Church (USA).
The AP was reporting that the Presbyterians had taken some sort of action to ban the ordination of gays and lesbians.
I don’t know what I told Bill, but I knew nothing about Presbyterians. I had probably never heard of Presbyterian Church (USA).
The truth is…I knew next to nothing about Protestants, having grown up in a section of Brooklyn (between Coney Island and Brighton Beach) where my fellow apartment dwellers were either Jewish or had pictures of the saints on their living room walls. When I walked to school through a largely Italian neighborhood, I passed dozens of plaster statutes of the Virgin Mary.
It had been only days since I was asked to take on the religion beat  to create one, really. I was reasonably excited about it, but very nervous. I had no idea how much I didn’t know.
Anyway, Jim Vande Berg, the since-retired executive presbyter of the Hudson River Presbytery, the regional branch of PCUSA, was kind enough to walk me through the very basics: How do you pronounce pres-by-ter? What was a presbytery? How did PCUSA make decisions? What did the vote mean? What would happen next?
He explained to me that the Hudson River Presbytery had voted overwhelmingly against “Amendment B,” a proposed change to church law that would ban gay clergy. But a majority of all the presbyteries across the country had voted the other way.
My lead in the newspaper read like this: “Disappointment drifted through the ranks of local Presbyterian clergy yesterday after learning that an amendment barring the ordination of homosexuals was passed. Clergy in the region had overwhelmingly rejected it.”
Little did I know that the story would never die. The theological conflict over homosexuality, already raging at the time across denominations and traditions, would remain one of the most enduring issues in religion. And it’s not going away.
All in all, it’s been a fast 10 years. A new publication from my friends at the Religion Newswriters Association is called “Reporting on Religion: A Primer on Journalism’s Best Beat.”
It really is. Religion cuts across all beats and all geographic boundaries. It brings people together  and tears them apart. It’s part of the national fabric, even though no one can agree on the role that religion should play in national life. In New York, we have just about every faith around, sometimes on the same block.
On to year 11.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, March 20th, 2007 at 10:06 am by Gary Stern.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Print
| 
Email
The world of religion, we don't have to tell you, is vast. The purpose of this blog is for Stern to note, flag and comment on some of the more interesting religious developments on the scene – weighty and quirky, somber and laughable, far away and just down the road. He won't interpret Scripture, take sides in conflicts or judge anyone. But he will take advantage of the journalist's license to observe.
Happy Anniversary, Gary. You have really moved the JN coverage from half page on Saturday “with the truss ads” to Page One. Thanks for your clear reporting and ongoing efforts to understand all the different groups. The Blog is great – I am sure there are a lot more people who read (and count on) the blog, but don’t leave comments.
Congratulations! Awesome blog! And I think it’s super cool that you created a niche for yourself, that’s what this country is all about. Bravo! Keep up the good work! Be blessed.