World

Kyiv, bracing for a potentially catastrophic Russian attack, is the spiritual heart of Ukraine. Among the sites at risk in the Ukrainian capital are the nation’s most sacred Orthodox shrines, dating back nearly 1,000 years to the dawn of Christianity in the region.

Baptist churches and missionaries in Poland have jumped in to help assist refugees from neighboring Ukraine fleeing the attacks from Russia. Some of those the Baptists have met coming out of Ukraine include Ukrainians the Polish Baptists met during summer camps in previous years.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we listen to numerous calls for prayer from Christian leaders, denominations, and parachurch organizations. And we meditate on what it means to prophetically pray for peace instead of uttering generic calls that coddle the ones who broke the peace.

Metropolitan Epiphanius I of Ukraine, leader of the independent Orthodox Christian Church based in Kyiv, celebrated Ukrainians’ defense of his country against Russian invaders on Sunday while likening Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Antichrist and deriding the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, religious leaders prayed for peace and asked God to watch over civilians. This included various Christian groups in the U.S. and elsewhere.

This edition of A Public Witness looks at the troubling entanglement between the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox Church. For U.S Christians, this close association is a cautionary tale about the dangers of Christian Nationalism for both democracy and the vitality of our Christian witness.

More than a dozen faith leaders offered prayers for a peaceful resolution to the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine during an online vigil Wednesday hosted by the Episcopal Church and the Friends Committee on National Legislation.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we take you inside the Unification Church, its unusual religious teachings, and its quest for political influence. Then we listen to what U.S. politicians said at the most recent event to offer a word of warning about this heretical movement. 

Part of the “freedom convoy” occupying Ottawa are White Christian Nationalists. White Christian Nationalists are people who combine American-style White evangelicalism with Canadian Nationalism to declare themselves as the only authentic Canadians.

Religious leaders and members of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States are growing increasingly concerned over the threat of a dramatic escalation of the nearly decade-old conflict and have stepped up efforts to show support for family members and their Eastern European homeland.