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Symbolically and spiritually, the river is of mighty significance to many. Physically, the Lower Jordan River of today is a lot more meager than mighty. By the time it reaches the baptismal site, its dwindling water looks sluggish, a dull brownish green shade. Its decline is intertwined with the decades-old Arab-Israeli conflict and rivalry over precious water in a valley where so much is contested.

The Wesleyan Covenant Association is calling for churches to stop paying dues to regional annual conferences it believes are making disaffiliation for churches difficult to impossible amid the United Methodist Church’s slow-moving schism, largely over the ordination and marriage of LGBTQ members. Those apportionments fund bishops’ salaries and support the work of the mainline Protestant denomination around the world.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we look at politicians citing Ephesians 6 in ways that don’t fit with the meaning of the passage. Then we consider how this rhetoric adds to a political environment already filled with violence.

Last year, the U.S. branch of the Jesuits pledged to raise $100 million for a reconciliation initiative in partnership with descendants of people once enslaved by the Catholic order. On Tuesday, a leader of those descendants expressed deep dissatisfaction with the order’s lack of progress since then.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews Azusa Reimagined: A Radical Vision of Religious and Democratic Belonging by Keri Day. The book explores how the Azusa Street Revival that began in Los Angeles in 1906 served as the foundation of Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement. Revisiting this history helps us understand, and possibly embrace, its critique of American religion and culture.

Frederick Buechner's theme “listen to your life” was constant across more than six decades in his career as an ordained evangelist in the Presbyterian Church (USA) who inspired Christians across conservative and progressive divides with his books and sermons. Buechner died peacefully in his sleep on Monday, according to his family.

Religion News Service reached out to more than 50 House and Senate Republicans seeking their response, questioning whether they support calls to make the RNC the party of Christian nationalism. The list ranged from hardline conservatives to more moderate Republicans who recently voted to codify the legalization of same-sex marriage into federal law.

Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention said Friday that several of the denomination’s major entities are under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice in the wake of its multiple problems related to clergy sex abuse.

On Friday, a group of religious leaders met outside First Baptist Church in Batavia, New York, to denounce the arrival of General Michael Flynn’s ReAwaken America Tour. What made this different from previous events put on by the group Faithful America is that the leaders speaking out against Christian nationalism came from both within and outside of Christianity.

The feuding that the Partition initiated between Indian and Pakistani Hindus and Muslims has not ceased. Increasingly it is fueled by governments on both sides that stoke religious nationalist feelings among their citizens. But in this 75th anniversary year of the Partition, many Indians and Pakistanis are looking to oral history to preserve the memory of interfaith collaboration as an essential part of their two countries’ histories.