News

Jewish and Christian clergy have taken an active role in protesting what one advocacy group has called the “most dangerous” session of the Missouri Legislature for the LGBTQ community it has seen in years. All told, Missouri lawmakers have introduced 27 anti-LGBTQ bills — more than any other state.

A new exhibition at a London library explores the Anglican Church’s role in the 18th-cenury slave trade. It coincides with a new report setting out that role in hard facts and figures.

The Progressive National Baptist Convention plans to use a new $1 million grant to fund a five-year training program for ministers of the historically Black denomination as they adapt their preaching in an age changed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A court date has been set for a trial involving former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson, the school, and an alleged sexual abuse survivor. A former SWBTS student filed suit against them in March 2019 alleging negligence, violation of privacy, and liability.

Given the questions about the event throughout its seven-decade history, the National Prayer Breakfast deserves greater attention. So in this issue of A Public Witness, Brian Kaylor recalls its history and recent controversies before considering what this year's new changes could mean.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews "A Gift Grows in the Ghetto: Reimagining the Spiritual Lives of Black Men" by Jay-Paul Michael Hinds. This book reimagines the ghetto, a place of separation and abandonment, in terms of the wilderness that Ishmael experienced after Abraham expelled him and his mother from their home.

White conservative evangelicals, who make up most of the religious right movement, largely oppose government regulation to protect the environment, including efforts to curb human-caused climate change. Contrary to popular perception, however, this hasn’t always been the case.

Religious leaders reacted swiftly — with legislative appeals and collective grief — to the release of video footage of police officers beating Tyre Nichols, a Black man who died days after a traffic stop in Memphis, Tennessee. Some questioned whether the video of the police beating of Nichols should be watched.

This year’s Super Bowl will feature a $20 million pair of pro-Jesus ads promoting the idea that Jesus "gets us," part of the larger He Gets Us campaign. Organizers hope to spend a billion dollars in the next three years to redeem Jesus’s brand.

This issue of A Public Witness explores three examples of impactful denominational resolutions to show why it matters when Christians decide to speak with one voice. The model resolutions include two statements decrying the historic mistreatment of Indigenous peoples and a resolution about the war in Ukraine.