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In the first month of direct state aid for Missouri’s K-12 scholarship program, 98% of funds went to Christian, Jewish, and Islamic institutions.

Anyone trying to build a bridge between faiths is liable to invoke Abraham — revered as a founding figure in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism — as someone they hold in common.

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.

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Church

Newly strained finances are just one reality that Latino immigrant churches are adjusting to as the Trump administration accelerates a promised mass deportation campaign and other aggressive changes to immigration policy.

At sessions focused on social justice, PNBC leaders and guest speakers urged greater response and a unified front to address impacts of the new federal budget.

The election of Varghese, a queer woman of Indian descent, as dean of America’s largest Episcopal church represents a number of historic firsts.

Nation

The superintendent of public instruction, who recently pledged to put a Turning Point USA chapter in every high school to honor Charlie Kirk, will now ‘destroy the teachers unions’ from the private sector.

Many Black pastors in the largest African American Christian denominations linked the veneration of Kirk — who used his platform to denigrate Black people, immigrants, women, Muslims, and LGBTQ+ people — to the history of weaponizing faith to justify colonialism, enslavement, and bigotry.

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.

World

The 69-year-old Chicago-born missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and belongs to the Augustinian religious order caught the world by surprise when he was elected to be the 267th pope.

While Trump attended Francis’s funeral, he and JD Vance have clashed with U.S. bishops in general and Francis in particular over the administration’s hard line stance on immigration and its efforts to deport migrants en masse.

Following the funeral, preparations began in earnest to launch the centuries-old process of electing a new pope, a conclave that will begin on May 7.

Editorials

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor responds to comments by Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Al Mohler, who attacked Americans United for Separation of Church and State while he advocated for government prayers in public schools.

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.

Word&Way Voices

It’s not too late for Christians to see that those who lead us into violence, greed, dehumanization, and Earth destruction are not leading us on good and fruitful paths.

The promise of Christmas is this: as many of us experience the bleakest time of year, we remember a baby who was born to be our light and our warmth.

Exploring Advent in a time of violence in Lebanon, Jeremy Fuzy reflects on how we should pay attention to the ways we interpret the world around us.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness looks behind the unmarked cars to see the chilling impact of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on pastors, churches, and communities.

This issue of A Public Witness opens up DHS’s social media in one hand and an actual Bible in the other to consider the competing faiths.

Warren Throckmorton is concerned about the rise in citing pseudo-historian David Barton this year and next as we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In “Evangelical Idolatry: How Pastors Like Me Have Failed the People of God,” Jeff Mikels is concerned by the evangelical church’s embrace of cultural and political idols.

In her new book, journalist and pastor Angela Denker ventures into contested spaces to help readers understand what is going on with the radicalization of American boyhood.

In “The Fearless Christian University,” sociologist and educator John Hawthorne laments the fact that fear has become a defining characteristic of many Christian schools today.

In “Pilgrim: A Theological Memoir,” Tony Campolo traces his evolution as a believer, scholar, and evangelical leader who continually sought to engage thoughtfully with the challenges of his time.