Unsettling Advent 2022, Day 28
Brian Kaylor reflects on the 1914 “Christmas truce” during World War I and why it he does not find it to be an inspiring take on what “peace on Earth” could look like today.
Identity is Complex for Lebanon’s Christian Palestinian Camp
Tucked away in the hills north of Beirut below a Maronite monastery, Lebanon’s only remaining Christian-majority Palestinian camp gives few outward clues to its identity.
Unsettling Advent 2022, Day 27
Social worker Sophie Day writes that this Advent, she has not had the luxury of looking away from the hurt in this world as an execution date looms for another one of her clients on the Tenth Day of Christmas. In her work, but especially
Judge Grants Injunction Keeping Longtime Agape Director off Missouri Child Abuse Registry
Agape Boarding School’s longtime director won a court order Wednesday keeping his name off Missouri’s central registry for child abuse and neglect. The state has been trying to shut the school down over mounting allegations from former students that staff physically, psychologically, and sexually abused
The Bible According to Cavity Sam
Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell believes we are teaching our young people a version of reading the Bible that resembles the game Operation. They often have little concept of “connective tissue” and can only pluck out quotations like the stylized versions of body parts in the
A War with Christmas
Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on Russian pro-war propaganda dressed up like a Christmas decoration, which he calls a sacrilegious assault on celebrations of the birth of the Prince of Peace.
Unsettling Advent 2022, Day 25
Professor Greg Carey writes that hope is an essential strategy for Christians. As the apostle Paul said, three things abide: faith, hope, and love. Love may be the “greatest,” says Paul, but hope stands in the top three.
German Churches Save on Heat, Still Help the Needy Warm Up
Churches have joined in Germany’s efforts to save on heating costs this winter, forcing their congregations into ever more layers of clothing. But at the same time, they are providing warm spaces for the homeless and for people who are struggling to pay their bills.
Review: Unruly Saint
Robert D. Cornwall reviews "Unruly Saint: Dorothy Day's Radical Vision and its Challenge for Our Times" by D.L. Mayfield. This book recognizes a degree of saintliness about Day's life but fears she might get domesticated by a church that might use her memory in ways
Lessons from Unsettling Advent
In this issue of A Public Witness, we want to share some of what we’ve learned from our Unsettling Advent series this year. We hope these insights will be meaningful in these last few days before we celebrate the birth of Jesus.