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A federal judge recently ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to report about any protected church where it has conducted an immigration enforcement action. But the agency told the court it had no idea how many incidents there may be, insisting it had no reasonable way to check its own records.

RNS found at least 25 immigrant pastors were detained, deported or otherwise separated from their churches. While Rev. Esdras Paredes ministers via video, his congregation sells tamales to raise funds and prays for a miracle.

Pope Leo XIV once again stressed that God does not promote war and called for the protection of human dignity and life, during the last day of his papal visit to France on Monday (Sept. 28).

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Church

Like other Haitians losing protection, they face an agonizing choice: try to stay in the U.S. and find underground work, constantly fearful of being caught by ICE. Or return to a nation so overwhelmed by gang violence and poverty that deportation is tantamount to a death sentence.

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside a hyperpartisan church for a taste of how the gospel of Jesus is being supplanted by an imperial lust for political power.

‘I feel like also seasoned adults complain about what we're wearing,’ said one teen about her historically Black denomination.

Nation

A new origami installation strings 2,977 paper cranes: one for each person killed in the attacks. The 'Ever Present' exhibition also features artifacts left there in the months after 9/11.

Religious language wasn’t always a mainstay of Turning Point. When Charlie Kirk first founded the organization in 2012, it focused on fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government.

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside a recent conference that celebrated America’s heritage of religious freedom, with a special Seventh-day Adventist flavor.

World

The increase in faith-fueled militaristic rhetoric is pitting the president against a growing list of faith leaders, ranging from local clergy to the pope.

Both Apollo 8 and Artemis II missions included public references to religion, but astronauts aboard the Artemis’ Orion spacecraft struck a broader, more global tone.

Restrictions imposed by Israel against large gatherings due to the Iran war is casting a long shadow on Easter celebrations, but Palestinian Christians may be feeling it most acutely.

Editorials

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

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

Word&Way Voices

While each aspect of the killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti has been dissected and analyzed under a microscope, contributing writer Rodney Kennedy takes a macro approach to examine how American Christians approach violence.

Comedian Druski’s latest viral church parody contains some truth in its critique, however uncomfortable it may be. The Church and the Christians within it should face that openly.

From the beginning, the U.S. has prided itself on being a haven for persecuted believers. But it has also demanded those believers demonstrate their loyalty in ways that blur the line between conscience and citizenship.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness treks to The Six to cover the recent gathering of the Baptist World Alliance.

Trump’s ‘Religious Liberty Commission’ is now receiving public comments that it will review before issuing a final report. While they will not repent of their Christian Nationalism, it can still be an important sign of how unpopular their agenda is if they are swamped with public opposition.

This issue of A Public Witness strikes at the heresy in Trump’s Fourth of July remarks and thunders some disapproval for similar rhetoric recently offered by Speaker Mike Johnson.

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Recent Episodes

Books

Mary, the mother of Jesus, has been historically revered throughout the Islamic tradition. This began in the Qur'an, where she is called by the name ‘Maryam.’

Kelley Nikondeha uncovers recent scholarship that points to Jubilee’s robust capabilities for resetting just economic systems — much more than the framing it typically receives as being impractical and aspirational.

Using the metaphor of cooking, scholars Jennifer Garcia Bashaw and Aaron Higashi explain how you, the chef (interpreter), can whip up meals (insightful interpretations) from the ingredients (chapters/verses) in your Bible.

Indigenous scholars Chris Hoklotubbe and Danny Zacharias explore what it means to read the Bible from the lens of Indigenous peoples in North America.