Church

A new report on critical race theory only added fuel to the dispute that has engulfed the Christian college. Stakeholders for Grove City College in Pennsylvania have both celebrated and balked at the report and its listed “remedial actions.”

In this issue of A Public Witness, we look at the few protests at churches that actually occurred over the weekend. Then we recall more significant political protests in sanctuaries in the past before considering what all of this might portend for free speech in sacred spaces during this charged cultural moment.

Critics say the college’s Racial Reconciliation Commission’s report is flawed, making it an inadequate foundation for conversations about the school’s past and future.

The departure of any church or clergy from the denomination is not instantaneous, but must first go through its annual conferences. Florida’s annual conference will meet June 9-11 in Lakeland — the first time it’s gathered in person since the COVID-19 pandemic began two years ago.

In this edition of A Public Witness, we highlight some of her greatest hits and consider what wisdom her own pastor might have for the conspiracy theories she promotes and the divisions she sows. 

Morris Brown College has regained full accreditation after a 20-year journey that its leaders hope will ultimately prompt higher enrollment. Morris Brown was founded in 1881 by the Georgia Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and named for one of its bishops.

Grove City College insists it’s not “going woke.” A new report from the conservative Christian college in Pennsylvania denounced school-sponsored courses and trainings they say promoted “CRT concepts” and characterized inviting historian Jemar Tisby to speak at a 2020 chapel service as a “mistake.”

Marymount California University, a 54-year-old Catholic private institution in the coastal Los Angeles County city of Rancho Palos Verdes, will permanently close this summer, after years of financial struggle.

When a former student asked Calvin University professor Joe Kuilema to officiate her wedding last fall, he said yes right away — despite a school policy that views same-sex marriage as sinful. That decision will likely cost him his job.

Earlier this month, the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Committee held a special-called Zoom meeting and approved the creation of a “Plan B” giving option where churches can choose which SBC entities (such as seminaries and mission boards) they don’t wish to fund.