News

Oregonians will be voting on one of America’s strictest gun control measures on the ballot this November. Spearheaded by interfaith leaders, more than 1,000 volunteers secured the necessary signatures to get the measure on the ballot.

Right before Mass began, two Indigenous women unfurled a banner at the altar of the National Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré that read: “Rescind the Doctrine” in bright red and black letters.

Ron Sider, an author, seminary professor, and evangelical social justice activist, has died, according to an online update from his son. A longtime professor at Palmer Theological Seminary, is best known for his 1977 book, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, and for founding Christians for Social Action.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we look at what led to a historic apology by Pope Francis before reflecting on what it means to offer a corporate apology and what steps must come afterward. 

In this issue of A Public Witness, we look at the enduring influence of White evangelicals within the GOP power structure, the early stages of the 2024 presidential campaign, and what it tells us to expect in the months and years ahead. 

Robert D. Cornwall reviews That We May Be One: Practicing Unity in a Divided Church by Gary B. Agee. In this book, Agee reminds us that unity is not easy to achieve and that shortcuts that avoid difficult conversations about issues such as race and gender won’t lead to true ecumenism within Christianity.

The Interfaith Alliance is one of a constellation of nonprofit organizations on the political left, promoting religious pluralism and democracy. This week the alliance announced that the Rev. Paul Raushenbush, an interfaith leader, journalist and American Baptist minister, would become its new president and CEO, replacing Rabbi Jack Moline.

With attention focusing on the former school in the prairie town of Maskwacis as Pope Francis visits Monday to apologize for abuses in a system designed to sever Native children from their tribal, family, and religious bonds, Indigenous Canadians are voicing a range of skepticism, wariness, and hope.

While Bart Barber has been involved with Southern Baptist Convention polity for years — he was the head of the resolutions committee that selected and shaped many of the proposed reforms — Barber is the first SBC president in nearly two decades not to emerge from an urban or suburban megachurch.

As theologians and politicians proudly declare this allegiance, it marks a critical shift in the public debate about Christian Nationalism and its dangers to democracy and Christianity. So, we look at the growing trend of people calling themselves a “Christian Nationalist” and consider why this is occurring.