Home - Word&Way
logo
mobile-logo

Featured

In this luminous and deeply comforting collection, Fr. Joel W. Huffstetler, rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Cleveland, Tennessee, invites us to see life's upheavals through the steady light of grace.

Evangelicals have turned to various historical figures in an attempt to depict President Donald Trump as a fine Christian man. But the “Sun King” might be the best fit.

As a Christian minister with a Muslim father and a mother of Jewish heritage, Bishop Adam Shoemaker hopes to use his background to facilitate more reconciliation, integration, and 'the understanding that we are inextricably linked.'

No posts were found.

Videos

Church

For this issue of A Public Witness, we virtually trek deep in the heart of Texas to see how “God and country” too often looks more like country as god at Prestonwood Baptist Church.

‘We're a connector and a catalyzer, and not a denomination,’ its spokesperson said in an interview.

Nearly half of Americans who left religion cite the mistreatment or rejection of LGBTQ+ people as an important reason. But how do the LGBTQ+ people who stay find healing?

Nation

The leader of Pete Hegseth’s denomination recently said at a book promotion that ‘if America is a creedal nation, then you have to have creedal standards.’

An influential Southern Baptist pastor stood Wednesday (Aug. 19) in the headquarters of the world’s largest military and, with no sense of irony, preached a message of hope for Pentagon leaders by pointing to multiple biblical passages where God miraculously delivered people by defeating a large imperial military.

Civil rights advocates on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Texas law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments, teeing up a potential new test of state-sponsored religious expression in classrooms.

World

The worldwide Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church in the U.S., has no formal head, but the archbishop traditionally has been seen as its spiritual leader.

This issue of A Public Witness highlights important voices of opposition to imperial plotting from a variety of religious groups, ranging from Lutherans to Baptists, Anglicans, Catholics, and others.

Historic Christian churches representing the predominantly Arab Christian community and mostly U.S. evangelicals who support Israel are at odds with each other.

Editorials

MAGAchurch preaching occurs in sanctuaries across the country. But the prominence of First Baptist in Atlanta and his involvement in an important Senate campaign makes Rev. Anthony George a particularly important case study. So, in this issue of A Public Witness, I introduce you to George and his sermons before

This piece was originally published as the cover story of Word&Way magazine in October 2020, but which has never been published online. Read the piece online in our e-newsletter A Public Witness.

Word&Way Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on dangers of rhetoric by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the Republican politician misquotes Ephesians 6 to demonize his opponents.

Word&Way Voices

To launch our week reflecting on Advent in a time of soldiers in the streets, Rev. Jorge Bautista writes about getting shot in the face with a pepper round by a U.S. immigration agent while at a peaceful prayer vigil in Oakland, California.

Despite the tough-on-crime adage that prisoners enjoy 'three hots and a cot' during their time behind bars, this paints far too rosy a picture of the meager portions of low-quality and ultra-processed foods available.

When we have created — and allowed — a world where the fearmongering of scarcity is rewarded far and above the possibility of abundance, we are indeed facing Advent in a time of starvation.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness considers how the Department of Homeland Security Secretary under Mullin continues to do violence to Scripture even after Kristi Noem was ousted.

Matthew Sutton’s expansive new book is the perfect resource for understanding what the United States has been over the past 250 years, not what some people wish it would be.

The government service also featured a sermon about hope from Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, who is a former NFL football player and Southern Baptist pastor.

Sign up to receive full essays in your inbox!

Recent Episodes

Books

Two recent books, each co-authored by two pastors, offer insight to church leaders who feel stuck and congregations struggling to muster hope in a time where maintaining a successful religious community is more difficult than ever.

Through honest storytelling, spiritual reflection, and practical wisdom gained from a pilgrimage journey, Andy and Kara Root offer parents and pastors a refreshing alternative to the exhausting cycle of trying to control outcomes.

Leading Qur'anic scholar Gabriel Said Reynolds presents a revisionary account of how Islam emerged in dialogue with Christian traditions, challenging the dominant narrative that it came out of a predominantly pagan context.

Scholar Matthew Boedy exposes a dangerous plan driven by prosperity preachers, extremist politicians, and right-wing power brokers to destroy democracy and turn America into a Christian Nationalist state.