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Hundreds of clergy from around the country gathered in Minneapolis to learn from Minnesota faith leaders how to protest against ICE enforcement. Then they took to the streets and helped block the city’s airport.

In 1845, a group of pro-slavery Baptists created the Southern Baptist Convention to defend enslavers serving as missionaries. One hundred and eighty years later, SBC leaders defend a pastor serving as an ICE leader. Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on this through line.

Comedian Druski’s latest viral church parody contains some truth in its critique, however uncomfortable it may be. The Church and the Christians within it should face that openly.

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Videos

Church

Jahleel Hills, a 27-year-old filmmaker and sixth-generation member of Berean Baptist Church, has teamed up with church elders to ensure its story reaches and inspires the next generation.

Newell Presbyterian is part of a growing trend of declining congregations with underutilized space, excess land or deteriorating buildings that are selling or leasing some of their land for affordable housing.

The Rev. Yehiel Curry, a former lay church planter, will be installed as presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in October.

Nation

At the movies this fall, Josh O’Connor plays a hot priest with a complicated past, Keanu Reeves is an angel who lost his wings, and Elizabeth Olsen has a romantic dilemma in the afterlife. Hollywood, it seems, has found God.

At least six white clergy and one seminarian — some from evangelical Christian backgrounds and others from mainline Protestant denominations — have declared to run as Democrats in 2026.

Americans who had a good experience as children were likely to keep their faith. Those with bad experiences left, according to a new study from Pew Research Center.

World

This issue of A Public Witness looks at what’s happening with U.S. refugee resettlement and the South African Christians pushing back against the apartheid theology propping up the Trump administration.

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.

Editorials

In day 1 of our Unsettling Advent devotional series, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on starting Advent amid a second year of COVID surges and deaths.

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on the news that an actor who plays the part of Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar was arrested for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on the choice of Robert Jeffress as the keynote preacher for the 2021 Missouri Baptist Pastors’ Conference organized with the theme of Romans 12:2, a passage where Paul warned against conforming to the patterns of this world.

Word&Way Voices

A new film by Mike Flanagan, based on a Stephen King short story, deals with the power and significance of one life and points to the Story within the story.

The Trump administration often speaks of protecting Christians from discrimination worldwide. But that concern seems to vanish when Israel is involved — even with a Baptist pastor serving as the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy argues that if our democracy has a chance to return to a vibrant life in the future, its ambiguous and messy universal principles will need to be in fighting form.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness takes you to the heart of Texas to consider the promise of public education and church-state separation.

As Sen. Josh Hawley makes a push to require every federal building across the country to post “In God We Trust,” this issue of A Public Witness looks back at the real history of our national motto.

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.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In “Knock at the Sky: Seeking God in Genesis After Losing Faith in the Bible,” Liz Charlotte Grant interprets the Bible’s inspired book of beginnings as a work of art.

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.

In “Bring Back Your People: Ten Ways Regular Folks Can Put a Dent in White Christian Nationalism,” preacher and Poor People's Campaign leader Aaron Scott offers a practical guide to resisting and organizing.

In “Trust in Atonement: God, Creation, and Reconciliation,” Teresa Morgan offers a fresh exploration of what it means to restore a right relationship with God.