2020 RNA Virtual Conference

Betsy Shirley is managing editor of sojo.net. She has served on the RNA board since 2017 and joined the board of the Religion News Foundation in 2019. She lives in Washington, D.C. As of Thursday, she is also RNA's newest president.

It's widely known that White American evangelicals make up a core part of President Trump's base, but most reporting doesn't go beyond the "81%" exit poll stat. Evangelicals of other races represent a large percentage of voters in the U.S.; surveys show that non-Trump factions would outnumber many classic Democratic voting blocs. Data experts, faith leaders, and academics will bring us beyond that 81% to understand how and why various faith communities vote the way they do and how Christians of color and religious minorities are responding to highly public debates over race, national identity and the country's history of inequity.

Religion News Association created its charitable arm, the Religion News Foundation, more than two decades ago to broaden its ability to support members through training and resources. Since then, RNF has secured millions of dollars in grants that provided scholarships for the RNA Annual Conference; brown bag newsroom trainings; religion courses at accredited universities; ReligionLink story idea and source repository; the Religion Stylebook; the Reporting on Religion Primer; a fellowships program; day-long and regional trainings; and relief funds for journalists in financial distress. New RNF CEO Deborah Caldwell will share current programs and other new opportunities for religion reporters in the year ahead.

What does lobbying look like from a faith community perspective? What are the issues driving various groups, particularly minority faith groups? What are their goals and strategies for influencing policy and lawmakers? How do faith-based organizations find collaborators across ideological and political spectra?

As the demographics shift in key battleground states, political experts predict that minorities such as Muslims, Latinos, Hispanics and blacks determine the outcome of the election. Grassroots faith-based organizations — including churches, mosques, and temples — have been harnessing the power of their communities to "get out the vote" and to ensure they are counted in the census. Now, COVID-19 and a burdened postal service have only furthered that challenge, forcing groups to reimagine their strategies and adjust their respective policy agendas.

Join RNA on YouTube as we celebrate the 2020 RNA Lifetime Achievement Winner — Ari Goldman — and the winners of the 2020 RNA Awards for Religion Reporting Excellence.

George Floyd’s death sparked a national reckoning with racism—and (this time) religious groups were not exempt. Our panelists will talk about the creativity and resilience of minority religious groups as they navigate through the coronavirus pandemic, which has amplified racial inequities, and a national conversation about systemic racism. They will also address how faith communities are playing a part in helping bridge inequities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced mourning practices to change across religious communities. Clergy are adapting, offering counseling over the phone, sitting shiva on Zoom and holding off on traditional funerals. All of this has also taken a toll on clergy members' mental health as they seek to walk with their community members through times of grief but often must remain isolated themselves. Our panelists will discuss how they have altered mourning practices due to social distancing and how the pandemic has impacted their own mental health.

When the pandemic shut down non-essential services, it fired up a debate about the First Amendment as some governors did not deem religious meetings as "essential." While most religious institutions turned to virtual services, some kept their doors open in defiance. Although the Supreme Court has sided so far against calls to overturn state restrictions, the debate rages on with the end of the pandemic nowhere in sight. Where are the lines in a conversation about public health risks and religious liberty?

Welcome & Opening Remarks with Peter Smith Religion Editor, RNA President Peter Smith is the religion editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He previously covered religion for The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., and Religion News Service. He is an RNA board member and is completing his term as RNA president.