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This issue of A Public Witness looks at Lance Shockley’s extensive history of Christian leadership while in prison, as well as the role restorative justice should play in our criminal legal system.

Some Christians today argue that empathy is wrong, even calling it a sin and unbiblical. For Angela Parker, associate professor of New Testament and Greek at the McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, this idea is absurd.

Despite potential danger, religious leaders and faith activists have been a visible presence at Chicago-area ICE protests, some waving signs with slogans such as ‘Love thy neighbor’ and ‘Who would Jesus deport?’

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Church

Across the country, faith groups are gearing up for Juneteenth celebrations that weave spirituality and history.

The Rev. Charles Graves IV is part of a younger, more diverse generation of Episcopal priests who believes the denomination can thrive — as long as it continues to evolve.

Overall, besides worship services, participation in other religious activities and programs has increased or remained the same in the last five years.

Nation

In life and in death, Charlie Kirk represented the worst of American politics. He stoked dangerous conspiracies, attempted to silence voices he disagreed with, and utilized violent rhetoric mixed with a godly veneer. Then, someone decided to respond with evil by picking up a gun to silence a life.

The Republican plan, urged on by Trump, would crack the city’s urban core into three districts — with all of them converging at Independence Boulevard Christian Church.

'Those verses were not about the United States military,' said Brian Kaylor, a Baptist minister and author. 'They weren't really even about any imperial military force, and quite the opposite.'

World

On this somber anniversary, many are remembering the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians who have been killed in fighting over the last three years. But the president of the United States is instead trying to rewrite the facts of the war.

Pro-Israel evangelicals and some members of Congress want to use the biblical names Judea and Samaria for what is now known as the West Bank.

Adding to the many voices in the U.S. and around the world criticizing President Trump’s proposal, the patriarchs and heads of the churches in Jerusalem issued a powerful joint statement on Friday.

Editorials

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.

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor argues that as the delta variant of COVID-19 fuels a new spike in cases in some parts of the U.S., conservative Christians who refuse vaccination are putting people at risk and undermining the teachings of Jesus.

In a guest piece for Americans United, Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor writes why on the Fourth of July, which falls on a Sunday this year, he won’t be attending church.

Word&Way Voices

Exploring Advent in a time of dangerous pregnancies, Angela Denker reflects on how pregnancy is both incredibly vulnerable and incredibly powerful.

For our first devotional on Advent in a time of dangerous pregnancies, Susan M. Shaw reflects on how John and Jesus’s births did not come without cost to the women who carried and bore them.

Reflecting on Advent in a time of rulers clinging to power, Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons explores the connections between “Wicked” and the story of Christmas.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness opens a Bible and a (digital) newspaper to consider Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s roaring use of scripture to start a war.

While a few sprinkles dampened Trump’s birthday military parade, millions of Americans across the country showed up at rallies to declare “No Kings” and show opposition to the administration’s authoritarian rule.

This issue of A Public Witness heads to “the land of 10,000 lakes” to consider Christian Nationalism and how it can emerge on the left as well as the right.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In “Dancing with Metaphors in the Pulpit,” Word&Way contributing writer Rodney Kennedy explores how the hard work of preaching takes place in the thinking, reading, and writing.

For this issue of A Public Witness, we briefly highlight 15 of our favorite books — beyond those from our monthly giveaway reviews.

In “Budding Lotus in the West: Buddhism From an Immigrant's Feminist Perspective,” author Nhi Yến Đỗ Trần unveils the complexities of Buddhist teachings woven into the American fabric.

In "Simplicity, Spirituality, Service: The Timeless Wisdom of Francis, Clare, and Bonaventure," Bruce Epperly shows us how the lives of three saints from the thirteenth century offer wisdom, insight, and practical solutions to our challenges.