Home - Word&Way

Featured

Reviving a 1976 decision against a fundamentalist Christian school will likely fail, say legal experts. But if it succeeds, it could trigger conservative Christians’ ‘nightmare scenario.’

‘I think most of the major Black denominations, in terms of its membership, is divided,’ said Bishop Reginald Jackson, leader of mid-Atlantic African Methodist Episcopal churches.

For years, churches and separation of church and state activists have been frustrated at the way the IRS has handled allegations of church electioneering.

No posts were found.

Videos

Church

Spearheaded by Dr. Atasha Jordan, a Christian psychiatrist, the Christian Mental Health Initiative provides free mental health first aid trainings to churches.

The report was conducted by the investigative firm Firefly but overseen by Tikkun Global, a Messianic Jewish network that had previous ties to the International House of Prayer, based in Kansas City, Missouri.

This issue of A Public Witness seeks sanctuary to understand the history of how ICE interacts with houses of worship and the pushback against Trump’s changes from various Christian groups.

Nation

Why does Charlie Kirk, the new face of Christian Nationalism, say the church is in ‘wartime’ when Trump is in the White House and his party controls D.C.?

The U.S. Institute of Peace has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Government Efficiency, seeking a restraining order and injunctive relief to stop defendants from further dismantling USIP's leadership.

Since he was inaugurated in January, President Donald Trump has faced virtually constant pushback from faith groups, including in the courts.

World

Alice Kisiya leads an interfaith effort to defend her family’s land against encroachment by Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

In September, he said Israel's attacks in Gaza and Lebanon have been immoral and disproportionate and that its military has gone beyond the rules of war.

An investigation found that he failed to tell police about serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it.

Editorials

Now that the trustees at Southwest Baptist University dropped their push for new governing documents, Brian Kaylor offers six next steps that leaders of the school and the Missouri Baptist Convention should take.

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor responds to critics of a Word&Way clergy statement urging Christians to get a COVID-19 vaccine. And Kaylor challenges the anti-vaxxer message of “faith over fear.”

Editors Brian Kaylor and Beau Underwood outline the theological reasons for a COVID-19 vaccination outreach effort centered around clergy. Such an act is not only a matter of public health, it is also a witness to what we believe about the Gospel.

Word&Way Voices

Daoud Kuttab reflects on a gathering that took place as the war in Gaza — where at least 23 Christians have been killed — has alienated many Palestinian Christians, who feel their co-religionists around the globe have abandoned them.

Palestinian journalist Daoud Kuttab documents a recent sermon from an influential pastor of the leading Protestant church in Cairo.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy discusses what led him to write “Dancing with Metaphors in the Pulpit” covering lessons preachers can learn from novelists, poets, philosophers, and rhetoricians.

E-Newsletter

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’s refusal to defend her fellow Lutherans is quite telling for understanding how some politicians are prioritizing politics and religion today.

This issue of A Public Witness explores what Trump’s outburst about taking over the Gaza Strip reveals about the oligarchic values of the new administration as well as the immorality of prominent MAGA Christians.

In a month, the season of Lent will start and run through Easter on April 20. We have the perfect devotional book that calls for unsettling the biblical stories about Jesus’s teachings, ministries, death, and resurrection.

Sign up to receive full essays in your inbox!

Recent Episodes

Books

In "The Emancipation of God: Postmarks on Cultural Prophecy," Walter Brueggemann grinds away at biblical texts that have been muffled, silenced, and disabled to free the text from its cultural entrapments.

In the face of a rising threat to both church and democracy, “Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism” exposes the undercurrents of a dangerous ideology.

In "The Scandal of Leadership: Unmasking the Powers of Domination in the Church," JR Woodward outlines why church leaders often fail and offers a robust theology of power.

This issue of A Public Witness addresses the ways in which American Christians are part of the problem as explored in “The Religion of Whiteness: How Racism Distorts Christian Faith.”