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‘I’m seeing almost a revival of Christianity through what’s happening at Broadview in Chicago,’ said Rev. David Black, a Presbyterian Church (USA) minister.

Federal courts have ordered more than two dozen school districts to not hang the posters, including on Tuesday when a judge ruled that the mandate violates the First Amendment.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at the not-so-immaculate conception of Christ the King Sunday and the theological conflict today between different visions of Christ as King.

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Church

This issue of A Public Witness covers a 1979 Sunday School lesson from President Jimmy Carter — with concerns eerily fitting for 2025 — taught at the First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D.C.

A new White House initiative encouraging people to pray for America claims to have the backing of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. But a spokesperson for the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee told Word&Way that’s not accurate.

Churches across Chicago braced for Trump’s threat of a National Guard deployment and apocalyptic force, even as Chicago’s rates of violent crime have dropped substantially in recent years as part of a national trend.

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.

Nonprofit leader Terence Lester is sitting on a fridge for 42 hours to raise awareness of the 42 million Americans who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

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.

World

The project has been criticized even by religious leaders in the East African nation.

Netflix released the documentary ‘Apocalypse in the Tropics,’ which seeks to understand how the far right mobilizes faith for political interest.

On a rare solidarity visit, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III and Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa asserted that Israeli authorities ‘facilitate and enable’ the presence of settlers who have intensified attacks.

Editorials

Brian Kaylor reflects on the 1914 “Christmas truce” during World War I and why it he does not find it to be an inspiring take on what “peace on Earth” could look like today.

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on Russian pro-war propaganda dressed up like a Christmas decoration, which he calls a sacrilegious assault on celebrations of the birth of the Prince of Peace.

Brian Kaylor writes that ten years ago today an armed man walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and opened fire. This massacre at Christmastime evokes memories of part of the biblical story we tend to leave out of our nativities and pageants.

Word&Way Voices

Systematic theologian and ELCA pastor Duane Larson reflects on some troubling religious parallels between the late Charlie Kirk and Nazi Youth leader Baldur von Schirach.

For decades, Western Christian leaders have avoided visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher — the most revered site in all of Christianity. So Vice President JD Vance’s recent visit stood out.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy makes the case that the quest for secular political power has led to a conservative evangelical rejection of the clear teachings of Jesus.

E-Newsletter

How do we make sense of our confusing political moment? Scripture is constantly warped to advance purely partisan agendas. The underlying goal is advancing power at seemingly any cost. Luckily, we have a new book that deciphers it all.

Before the memorial service started, two hours of songs from the biggest worship artists today served to frame everything that followed as part of a church service — sending the message that Kirk’s politics were from God.

This issue of A Public Witness takes you to the heart of Texas to consider the promise of public education and church-state separation.

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Recent Episodes

Books

Questions about slavery and abolitionism stand at the heart of Daniel Lee Hill’s book, "Bearing Witness: What the Church Can Learn from Early Abolitionists." Hill seeks to retrieve resources from America's abolitionists, while thinking theologically about the church's public witness

In the novel “Green Street in Black and White: A Chicago Story,” Dave Larsen takes us back to a 1960s summer of social upheaval, when youthful mischief collided with the weight of adult fears.

We’ve once again asked several Word&Way writers to recommend books perfect for wherever you find your happy place this summer.

In “In Accordance With the Scriptures: The Shape of Christian Theology,” Orthodox theologian John Behr reveals how the scriptural arc from Adam to Christ is recapitulated in our own growth as humans.