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While arrests of protesters at the Capitol is not unusual, the response to Barber’s prayer was unusually dramatic: After issuing verbal warnings, dozens of officers expelled everyone in the Rotunda — including credentialed press.

President Donald Trump ran on a campaign promise to ‘bring back religion.’ The NEH grants he canceled include several that advance understanding of Judaism and Christianity.

Our ‘A Public Witness’ newsletter also garners two Best in Class awards in the Specialized Writing and Artwork categories, and Unsettling Advent wins top editorial series for the fourth straight year.

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Videos

Church

The statement is signed by a coalition representing a broad theological spectrum, from Mennonites to Methodists, Baptists, and Lutherans.

For the past 25 years, Southern Baptists have officially banned women pastors. That hasn’t stopped churches from having women serve in that role.

‘This year we celebrate Lent amidst a growing crisis in America, driven by the political accumulation of wealth, power, and control,’ reads one of the letters from faith groups.

Nation

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is ending a half-century of partnerships serving refugees and migrant children, saying the “heartbreaking” decision follows the Trump administration’s abrupt halt to funding.

The clergy-led gathering stood in defiance of ICE policies, drawing on shared interfaith values and representing Jewish, Mennonite, Catholic, Baptist, and Unitarian congregations.

Fleck, a former probation officer turned pastor, was one of the leading voices against efforts to put Trump Bibles in schools.

World

Homes were set ablaze, claiming the lives of two children, ages 2 and 4, of the overseer of a United Methodist school and nursery. Another 10 church members were reported injured.

The small Christian community has begun to fracture under pressure from forces they say threaten them and the multifaith character of the Old City.

A letter with more than 200 signatories, organized by Churches for Middle East Peace in the United States and Embrace the Middle East in the United Kingdom, was provided to A Public Witness ahead of its formal release today.

Editorials

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on starting a third year of a global pandemic. Looking at coverage of this pandemic and the flu pandemic of a century before, he offers some lessons to consider.

Brian Kaylor reacts with satirical humor and sharp criticism to Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filing lawsuits against dozens of public school districts after school officials enacted mask rules to keep children and teachers healthy amid the omicron surge.

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on comments made about school prayer as the U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear a significant church-state case. Some conservative Christian groups are wrongly calling public prayer just a “private” act.

Word&Way Voices

Reflecting on Advent in a time of rulers clinging to power, John Sianghio explores the key to understanding biblical leadership and leadership transition.

For this devotional entry, Karrie Gaspard-Hogewood considers how the pursuit of power is often accompanied by significant collateral damage — harm imposed on the most vulnerable communities among us.

Reflecting on Advent in a time of rulers clinging to power, Beau Underwood explores how the proclamation that ‘Jesus is Lord’ is still a radical statement today.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness cracks opens the books to study problems with the new social studies standards where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain.

Joe Blosser’s recent book is challenging because it takes seriously the idea that the only way to love God well is to love our neighbors more by re-evaluating how much we’ve fallen in love with ourselves.

A debate in the Oklahoma Senate yesterday over the use of corporal punishment against children with disabilities turned into a lesson about how not to read the Bible.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In “Another Gospel: Christian Nationalism and the Crisis of Evangelical Identity,” Joel Looper communicates an insider’s perspective on how a false gospel has colonized American evangelicalism.

In “Defiant Hope, Active Love: What Young Adults Are Seeking in Places of Work, Faith, and Community,” scholars investigate how faith communities can be more hospitable to the next generation of Christians.

Matthew Taylor makes a compelling case that the New Apostolic Reformation, whose leaders and ideas have migrated from the fringes to the center of American evangelicalism, is a dangerous threat to democracy.

In “The Quest of the Historical Muhammad and Other Studies on Formative Islam,” scholar Stephen J. Shoemaker attempts to approach the figure of Muhammad in a manner comparable to efforts to recover the historical figure of Jesus.