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Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday (Aug. 30) that he stands by remarks he made at a political fundraising event last week — that he believes Christians are “a little less scared” of COVID-19 because of their belief in eternal life.

Services at an influential Nashville-area megachurch were disrupted Sunday after the wife of the church’s founding pastor stood up and accused his successor of conspiring against him.

Trustees for Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, last week dropped their proposed new governing documents amid a five-month court challenge. But before they did, SBU’s attorney filed several motions, including an attack on Word&Way.

Less than a year after approving new governing documents to give greater legal control to the Missouri Baptist Convention, the trustees at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, pulled the new articles of agreement. The move leaves the school’s older articles in place and ends a six-month legal conflict.  

The spokesman for a major evangelical nonprofit was fired for promoting vaccines on the MSNBC “Morning Joe” cable news show. Daniel Darling, senior vice president of communications for the National Religious Broadcasters, was fired Friday after refusing to recant his pro-vaccine statements.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we take a closer look at the injustices of Lamar Johnson’s case and what is needed to secure his freedom. We also introduce you to Johnson through an exclusive interview with this brother in Christ as he speaks from behind prison bars. 

As the U.S. continues its evacuations of American citizens and Afghans who have worked for the U.S. over the past 20 years, faith-based refugee resettlement organizations are leading efforts to help Afghans settle into the country.

The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maine mandated Monday that all clergy and staff in the diocese be vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of September. It is one of the first COVID-19 vaccine mandates for clergy in the United States.

Calling the COVID-19 vaccines a “great miracle that God blessed us with,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) urged clergy to encourage vaccination. Cleaver spoke to Word&Way for the Dangerous Dogma podcast as the delta variant sparked a rise in cases in Missouri and across the country in recent weeks.

A Catholic school in Lansing has lost an appeal over a Michigan policy that required masks on young kids earlier in the pandemic. Although the statewide mandate ended, some counties are stepping in and requiring masks in schools when the 2021-22 year starts.