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On Monday, the top federal judge in Minnesota issued a blistering critique of three Trump administration officials for repeatedly violating court orders. One of the three is David Easterwood, the acting director of the St. Paul ICE field office. Easterwood is also a pastor at Cities Churches in St. Paul.

Sequola Dawson, senior pastor of St. Mary African Methodist Episcopal Church and a bereavement chaplain, offers a helpful discussion of death rituals, with a focus on honoring the environment while also acknowledging the traditions and needs of families.

This issue of A Public Witness highlights important voices of opposition to imperial plotting from a variety of religious groups, ranging from Lutherans to Baptists, Anglicans, Catholics, and others.

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Videos

Church

'I felt like we were kind of misled as a task force in terms of level (of) engagement,' said one member of a reparations task force of the diocese's efforts.

ACNA Archbishop Steve Wood allegedly engaged in sexual harassment, bullied staff members, and plagiarized sermons.

Dissenting former evangelical Christian women are forging a path different from those who have left the church in the decades-long decline in institutional faith.

Nation

The faith leaders, who hail from across the country and represent a range of religious traditions, deployed to neighborhoods with significant immigrant populations, where DHS agents have been most active.

Viral video of the protest shows activists standing up during the middle of a service at Cities Church and calling for the ousting of David Easterwood, a pastor at the Southern Baptist church who is also acting director of the St. Paul ICE field office.

During the first Christian worship service at the Pentagon in 2026 — and the first since the operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — the Secretary of War framed that U.S. military action as a godly mission.

World

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople has long been critical of the Russian Orthodox Church and its support for the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

‘It’s not just about Palestinian heritage or Christian heritage, it’s something important to the world heritage here, protected by UNESCO,’ explained Kevin Charbel, the emergency field coordinator for Première Urgence Internationale.

Composed of original pipes from the 11th century, the instrument emitted a full, hearty sound as musician David Catalunya played a liturgical chant.

Editorials

Brian Kaylor reflects on state executions during Christmastime and the modern parallels with a biblical character we often leave out of our nativity sets and pageants.

Lawmakers are arguing that if the federal government can restrict structures in the Rio Grande, then they could use the same Act everywhere because of Noah’s flood. Putting aside the legal silliness of the appeal to Genesis, this issue of A Public Witness joins the 22 Republican representatives in their

Focusing almost entirely on the SBC not only minimizes the theological (and political and racial) diversity of Baptists, but it also privileges a patriarchal body over others.

Word&Way Voices

As wannabe tyrants arise and the authoritarian logic of empire finds purchase among Christian Nationalists, sincere followers of Jesus should listen afresh to Mary this Christmastime.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy makes the case that the best approach to this question is investigating how Jesus interacted with the Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, and Zealots throughout the Gospels.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell reflects on the tragic juxtaposition of running in the beautiful Charlotte Marathon while ICE agents racially profiled and terrorized neighbors over the weekend.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness looks at the DoL’s use of religion in its recent propaganda posters that push Christianity as part of a vision of a patriarchal, White nation.

On Veterans Day, we honor and lament the lives lost in violent wars. We cherish the freedoms we have today. We strive to heal those wounded by battles. But we must also pray and work for peace.

This issue of A Public Witness unpacks the House speaker’s latest attack on church-state separation and a surprising voice singing some opposition to his Christian Nationalist worldview.

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Recent Episodes

Books

Old Testament scholar Michael B. Shepherd explores the world of ancient exegesis, focusing on how early Jewish and Christian readers understood the Hebrew Bible’s prophetic literature.

This book is ideal for Jews, Christians, and Muslims who wrestle with the moral dilemmas of our time while drawing wisdom from the most challenging and inspiring stories in the Bible’s first five books.

Longtime pastor Austin Carty makes the case that the power of a sermon is found not in novelty, but in the mandate it gives preachers to collect their thoughts every week and put them down in a succinct, coherent fashion.

In her new book, ‘Spellbound,’ the historian of religion traces the mysterious force that is charisma from the Puritans to Donald Trump.