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With the growth of worship services by leaders in a Christian Nationalist administration, it’s worth revisiting the most significant previous effort to craft religion within the federal government: the church of Nixon.

‘There was a request for clergy to show up’ at the scene, said one Minneapolis minister. ‘I was out the door.’

This issue of A Public Witness looks at criticism of the Trump administration’s actions in Venezuela by various Christian denominations and organizations, as well as pleas for peace by Venezuelan Christian leaders.

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Church

In the mid-1970s, a group of high schoolers and their former youth pastor started a church in a movie theater and named it Willow Creek. American religion hasn’t been the same since. The church celebrates its 50th anniversary Oct. 11-12.

Graham said the standards mandating a leader care plan ‘puts ECFA into the role of trying to be the moral police of the evangelical world.’

Curry succeeds the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, who served the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for 12 years and was the first woman to lead the mainline Protestant denomination.

Nation

This issue of A Public Witness looks at the truth behind the Christian Nationalist fable of George Washington praying at Valley Forge.

West Virginia’s school vaccination policy has long been heralded by medical experts as one of the most protective in the country for children.

With Pentagon prayer services continuing into the Christmas season, this issue of A Public Witness peeks inside Pete Hegseth’s monthly effort to establish his brand of rightwing Christianity inside the government.

World

The Lutheran church, called Kiruna Kyrka in Swedish, moved 3.1 miles east on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of Kiruna's relocation because the world’s largest underground iron-ore mine is threatening to swallow the town.

‘As an Armenian living in the Old City, it is deeply troubling to witness the gradual erosion of our Christian presence here,’ said Levon Kalaydjian, an Armenian Christian activist in Jerusalem.

Critics say the meeting conferred legitimacy on Putin, on top of his being hosted by Trump on U.S. soil despite an arrest warrant issued in 2023 from the International Criminal Court, accusing Putin of war crimes in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Editorials

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 Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on two memorials to an enslaved man on the campus of Samford University, and what this could teach us about telling the truth about the histories of our institutions and churches.

Brian Kaylor takes a moment to thank everyone for being part of our 2022 journey. This includes a quick review of the year — including a countdown of the top 10 most-read pieces we published in our award-winning newsletter A Public Witness in 2022.

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

While some scholars argue over which theological positions to include in a definition of “evangelical,” religious studies professor William Stell finds such “belief-based models” too vague and problematic.

With the execution of Lance Shockley approaching, this issue of A Public Witness unpacks the debate over his religious freedom rights for his final moments.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at Lance Shockley’s extensive history of Christian leadership while in prison, as well as the role restorative justice should play in our criminal legal system.

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Recent Episodes

Books

Claire Hoffman chronicles the dramatic rise, mysterious disappearance, and near-fall of Aimee Semple McPherson, America’s most famous woman evangelist.

In this collection of essays, leading historical theologian Brian E. Daley, SJ, surveys the early Church’s profound thinking about Christ.

In “Delivered Out of Empire: Pivotal Moments in the Book of Exodus,” Walter Brueggemann shows how Exodus consistently reveals a God in radical solidarity with the powerless.

In “Kingdom Racial Change: Overcoming Inequality, Injustice, and Indifference,” three authors combine personal narratives and sociological research to teach Christians how to work together for racial justice.