#PandemicPastoring Report Documents a ‘New Era in Ministry’
As the COVID-19 pandemic stretched from that first spring into summer, researcher Eileen Campbell-Reed said, she realized its impact on ministry wasn’t going to be short-lived.
Profaning Pulpits is a Bipartisan Affair
In this issue of A Public Witness, we take you to church to hear from Democratic gubernatorial nominees Charlie Crist in Florida, J.B. Pritzker in Illinois, and Stacey Abrams in Georgia. And then we consider the problems emerging from this campaign tactic.
Bringing the Culture War to the Pulpit
In this issue of A Public Witness, we introduce you to the man behind the microphone of the Todd Starnes Show before listening to his sermon Sunday. Then we offer a warning about risking the Church’s witness by elevating partisan voices like Starnes in pulpits.
Evangelical Group Releases Climate Change Report, Urges a Biblical Mandate for Action
The National Association of Evangelicals unveiled a sweeping report Monday on climate change, laying out what its authors call the “biblical basis” for environmental activism to help spur fellow evangelicals to address the planetary environmental crisis. But the authors admit persuading evangelicals is no small
Bishop Slams ‘Negative Rhetoric’ as Conservative Methodists Declare End to Moratorium
In his first presidential address as president of the United Methodist Church’s Council of Bishops, Bishop Thomas Bickerton called on conservative groups encouraging churches to leave the denomination to stop the negative rhetoric. He accused the Global Methodist Church and the Wesleyan Covenant Association of
Meet Imran Siddiqui, the First Asian American Vice President of the ELCA
Siddiqui lives in Atlanta and attends St. John’s Lutheran Church, but he grew up in New Jersey and was raised Muslim — like a “Christmas and Easter Muslim,” he joked. By the time he graduated college, he considered himself an atheist. Siddiqui said he doesn’t
The US Department of Justice Is Investigating the SBC. What Does It Mean?
More than four decades after sexual abuse claims against a Catholic priest first made national headlines, spurring accusations, lawsuits, a series of newspaper investigations and billions in settlements, the DOJ is investigating a religious group’s handling of sexual crimes by clergy and church staff. This
The Other DOJ Investigation
In this issue of A Public Witness, we look at what’s known about the new DOJ investigation, how people are responding in divergent ways, and what these responses illuminate about how Christians are thinking about issues of politics and legal accountability.
WCA Calls on Conservative Churches to Withhold Dues From United Methodist Church
The Wesleyan Covenant Association is calling for churches to stop paying dues to regional annual conferences it believes are making disaffiliation for churches difficult to impossible amid the United Methodist Church’s slow-moving schism, largely over the ordination and marriage of LGBTQ members. Those apportionments fund
Lag in Slavery Reparations from U.S. Jesuits Irks Descendants
Last year, the U.S. branch of the Jesuits pledged to raise $100 million for a reconciliation initiative in partnership with descendants of people once enslaved by the Catholic order. On Tuesday, a leader of those descendants expressed deep dissatisfaction with the order’s lack of progress