American Baptists Confront Past and Present Injustices
This issue of A Public Witness treks to the Cornhusker State to consider a lost scroll that gained widespread news coverage and a denominational gathering that didn’t.
A Century After a Man Was Convicted of Teaching Evolution, the Debate on Religion in Schools Rages
As today’s Supreme Court leans right, there is an ongoing push to infuse conservative Christianity into taxpayer-funded education. Advocates of religious diversity and church-state separation are countering it.
New York’s Episcopal Diocese Launches $1M Racial Reparations Fund
‘New York was the center of the slave trade in the United States,’ said the Rt. Rev. Matthew F. Heyd, bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. ‘That evil is part of the fabric of the diocese, and we’re trying to repair this
The Gilded Salesman of Idolatrous Excess
Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy argues that Trump has outdone every shyster who ever told a tall tale, every con artist, every swindler, every unscrupulous insurance salesman, and every crooked televangelist.
Faith-Based Camps Like Those Hit by Texas Floods Are Rite of Passage for Many. They’re Now Grieving
Religious summer camps date back to two parallel movements in the 19th century — the revivalist religious gatherings in tents and the “fresh-air movement” after the industrial revolution — and boomed after World War II.
Churches Can Endorse Politicians, IRS Says in Court Filing
The IRS hopes to settle a lawsuit brought by a pair of Texas churches and a group of religious broadcasters over rules that bar houses of worship and other nonprofits from getting involved in political campaigns.
Review: Kingdom Racial Change
In “Kingdom Racial Change: Overcoming Inequality, Injustice, and Indifference,” three authors combine personal narratives and sociological research to teach Christians how to work together for racial justice.
A Volunteer Finds the Holy Grail of Abolitionist-Era Baptist Documents in Massachusetts
The resolution shines a spotlight on a critical moment in the history of the Baptist church, signed two years after the issue of slavery prompted southern Baptists to split from northern Baptists and form the SBC.
How to Challenge MAGA’s Biblical Authoritarianism
This issue of A Public Witness features a guest essay centered on four creative proposals to disrupt Christian Nationalism within a distinctively Christian vernacular.
When Humanitarian Aid Becomes a Death Trap: A Christian Response to the Betrayal of Gaza
The co-founder of the Prayers for Peace Alliance makes the case that Johnnie Moore, the recently appointed chairman of the embattled Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, is getting away with using the Gospel to justify genocide.