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Religious leaders with the Iowa Catholic Conference, Episcopal Diocese of Iowa, Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, and United Church of Christ of Iowa, argued the death penalty is immoral in all circumstances and underlined that we can deter and prevent horrific crimes without ending a person’s life.

Latino Christian leaders, as part of their faith-led effort dubbed “Evangélicos for Justice,” are urging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — who signed Dillbeck’s death warrant on Jan. 23 — to consider his disability and to offer him clemency.

The first Black woman to be ordained in the Episcopal Church, who was also a trailblazing lawyer, civil rights activist, and writer, will be honored on the U.S. quarter next year. Pauli Murray has been chosen as one of five honorees for the American Women Quarters Program.

Last Wednesday, students at Asbury University gathered for their biweekly chapel service in the 1,500-seat Hughes Auditorium. They sang. They listened to a sermon. They prayed. Nearly a week later, many of them are still there.

This issue of A Public Witness raises the alarm about political attacks on the importance of the local church and the role of pastors, warns how such attacks aid the decline of U.S. Christianity, and lifts up a different vision for discipling believers.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews "The Church After Innovation: Questioning Our Obsession With Work, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship" by Andrew Root. This book is a philosophical conversation about whether being innovative and creative is the best way to be faithful as Christians.

For students hoping to become pastors in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the exegesis exam is already stressful. But the most recent exam was made even more difficult when the committee developing the test chose one of Scripture’s “texts of terror.”

This issue of A Public Witness explores how Leonard “Raheem” Taylor was killed without a spiritual advisor at his side, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent record of requiring states to allow clergy in the death chamber, and the advocates who were pushing Missouri’s leaders to do better on Tuesday.

A new Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution survey finds that 10% of Americans are avowed Christian nationalists and an additional 19% are sympathetic to its ideals. Among both groups combined, nearly two-thirds are white evangelicals.

The Democratic National Committee has passed a resolution condemning “white religious nationalism,” declaring that “theocracy is incompatible with democracy and religious freedom.”