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A group including leaders from the World Council of Churches, the Anglican Communion, the World Methodist Council, and the PCUSA recently paid a solidarity visit to Cuba, aimed at highlighting Cuban suffering and condemning U.S. sanctions.

In his new book, acclaimed sociologist Robert Wuthnow seeks to both illuminate what has been hidden and to add complexity where a story has been too simply told.

Set in modern-day Tehran, the new film premiering in Chicago this weekend is both a forbidden love story and a depiction of the steadfast faith of the Baha’i community amidst ongoing oppression.

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Church

Methodists, Presbyterians, Catholics, Jews, and yogis have not just found common ground in human suffering and loss, but have learned how to lean on one another in a time of dire need.

Membership fell by nearly 400,000 people, continuing a nearly two-decade decline in what is still the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S.

After President Trump took office, a Presbyterian church retreated underground — abandoning their sanctuary for the basement in response to the administration’s decision to allow ICE officers to enter places of worship.

Nation

This issue of A Public Witness considers how the Department of Homeland Security Secretary under Mullin continues to do violence to Scripture even after Kristi Noem was ousted.

Bills have been signed into law in Republican-dominated Idaho, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. In Kansas, a bill is becoming law without the signature of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.

In the hours after the shooting, interfaith leaders and allies crowded vigils to stand in solidarity with the San Diego Muslim community.

World

The alleged pipeline is a sign that the Russian state is leveraging its national church’s expansion into Africa.

U.S. President Donald Trump has alleged without evidence that Christians are the primary targets in Nigeria. While Christians have been among those targeted, analysts say the majority of victims of armed groups are Muslims.

The worldwide Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church in the U.S., has no formal head, but the archbishop traditionally has been seen as its spiritual leader.

Editorials

During a recent debate in the Missouri Senate over a proposal to create rape and incest exemptions to Missouri’s abortion ban, one lawmaker argued against such exceptions by defaming God.

For the final devotional exploring Advent in a time of bloodshed in Israel, Brian Kaylor reflects on how Gaza is significant in a biblical story that doesn’t explicitly mention the place.

This devotional poses a question ringing through the ages: Will we choose to adopt the values of Herod or the way of Jesus?

Word&Way Voices

Jesus often appeared in places where he was unexpected. He hung out with supercilious religious folk, sinners, and publicans. But he would undoubtedly say some confrontational things to the crowd.

Jesus didn’t say ‘peace’ because the disciples were safe or because the soldiers went away, but precisely because they were waiting outside and yet peace was still possible.

As Christmas approaches and the world gazes once again toward Bethlehem, a fundamental choice emerges: Will Christians justify oppression and exclusion, or will they stand with the local Christian community?

E-Newsletter

In addition, ‘The Surprising Story of How Speaker Johnson Read a Fake Jefferson Prayer’ won the magazine feature category and Best in Class for Writing for Periodicals and our Unsettling Advent devotionals won the editorial series category and Best in Class for Specialized Writing.

Pete Hegseth, who likes to call himself ‘secretary of war,’ read a prayer during the latest government worship service that echoes a scene written by Quentin Tarantino calling for ‘great vengeance and furious anger.’

This issue of A Public Witness considers some dangerous voices against climate action and then the Christians working to love their neighbors and the Creator by addressing our pressing environmental crisis.

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Recent Episodes

Books

Writing in a clear and accessible style, scholar Mark Goodacre takes a unique approach to showing that John knew and used the narratives of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

This new book from Diana Butler Bass offers an essay for every week in the seasons of the Christian year — from Advent and Christmas to Lent and Easter, through the entire calendar.

William Schultz, a historian of American religion at the University of Chicago Divinity School, makes a compelling argument that there was a moment where Colorado Springs was a place of enormous cultural influence.

In this distinctive introduction to the Bible, minister and theologian Jonathan Linebaugh illuminates Scripture’s dual capacity for revealing human sinfulness and imparting divine love.