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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.

Faith leaders from a range of religions are teaming up with WHO officials to help prevent monkeypox as outbreaks of the disease occur across the globe. Religions for Peace Secretary-General Azza Karam said “theologies of compassion” that developed in response to HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and COVID-19 are shaping the plans being put in place to address the latest disease.

At the close of its recent term the Supreme Court ruled on the cases of Carson v. Makin and Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, rekindling controversy over one of the most enduring issues in American history: religious liberty. Another of this term’s blockbuster decisions, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, underlines the fact that religious beliefs and actions in the public realm matter.

Archaeologists in Virginia began excavating three suspected graves at the original site of one of the nation’s oldest Black churches on Monday, commencing a monthslong effort to learn who was buried there and how they lived. 

Robert D. Cornwall reviews Rethinking the Dates of the New Testament: The Evidence for Early Composition by Jonathan Bernier. This fascinating book is written in a way that does not get too caught up in academic language and is accessible to clergy and those who have a moderate background in biblical studies.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we take you on a road trip to Maryland to understand the dynamics of an internal fight for the soul of the Republican Party. Then we look at the efforts to strengthen Christian Nationalism’s political potency by Republicans and Democrats from other states.