News

Given the growing public conversation about Christian Nationalism and divergent understandings of the meaning of the term, in this edition of A Public Witness we learn from scholars studying Christian Nationalism in order to consider what we actually know about this dangerous ideology. Then we hear the witness of committed followers of Jesus denouncing the “Christianity” that animates this belief system. Finally, we suggest practical ways of joining the growing pushback against the false prophets spreading this bad news.

A group of United Methodist bishops in Africa announced Thursday that it will no longer work with the Africa Initiative or the Wesleyan Covenant Association, accusing the groups of spreading misinformation. The bishops claim the Africa Initiative, which was formed in 2008 to give African clergy and laity a stronger voice in the global denomination, has “lost its original goal of helping The United Methodist Church in Africa.”

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy makes the case that if ever a Bible story reads like our national mythology, it’s Jesus’s story of the rich farmer in Luke 12. In America, we don’t recognize the farmer's actions as greed — we call it a vision, a game plan, a business strategy, good sense. Kennedy suggests that this means we have lost the ability to see how greed possesses our lives.

Fuller Theological Seminary, the nation’s largest interdenominational seminary, has chosen as its new president David Emmanuel Goatley, the first Black person to hold the office. Goatley comes to Fuller from Duke Divinity School, where he was hired in 2018 to direct the Office of Black Church Studies and to teach theology. He will take the helm at Fuller in January.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews "Encountering Mystery: Religious Experience in a Secular Age" by Dale C. Allison Jr. This book seeks to help those who have had spiritual experiences that are not easily explained by sorting these occurances out instead of demythologizing our faith. This combines an open mind with a critical one and ultimately assists in pastoral responses to religious experience.

An arson investigation is under way after fire destroyed Victory Baptist Church, a historic church in South Los Angeles early Sunday, authorities said. The Los Angeles Times said Victory Baptist has played a major role in the spiritual and political history of South LA.

After a sometimes tense week that included passionate exchanges, the 11th assembly of the World Council of Churches approved a statement regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that denounces the war but does not single out the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, who has been widely criticized for outlining what is seen as the spiritual foundation for the invasion.

Elizabeth II of England, Britain’s longest-serving monarch and official head of the Church of England, died Thursday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland at age 96. She came to the throne in 1952 and her two titles of Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England owe their existence to Reformation history.

Michael Flynn has used public appearances to energize voters, along with political endorsements to build alliances and a network of nonprofit groups to advance the movement, an investigation by the Associated Press and the PBS series “Frontline” has found.

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that required coverage of an HIV prevention drug under the Affordable Care Act violates a Texas employer’s religious beliefs and undercut the broader system that determines which preventive drugs are covered in the U.S. The ruling was handed down by Fort Worth-based U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, who ruled in 2018 that the entire ACA is invalid.