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Featured
Anti-Muslim Attacks Didn’t Help Republican Candidates. In Texas, They May Have Hurt.
From Georgia to Michigan, several candidates who campaigned on anti-Muslim rhetoric lost. In Texas, where the party went furthest, Democrats had a clean sweep.
Review: Gifts of the Mother
This six-week devotional for the Advent and Christmas season — or any time of transition — serves as a loving reminder that Scripture tells us God possesses both masculine and feminine attributes.
Feeling Old, and the Responsibility That Comes With It
Participating in the world and serving one another across generations is not optional if we truly care about fulfilling God’s purposes.
Church
Missouri Baptists Vote to Close Baptist Homes, but Transparency Lacking About Financial Troubles
After 113 years, a Missouri Baptist organization serving retried individuals will cease operations. Baptist Homes & Healthcare Ministries (formerly known as The Baptist Home) will close five retirement home facilities, transfer two of its facilities to another ministry, and then close as a ministry.
UMC Bishop Removes Ministers From Dallas’ Highland Park; Church Says They Will Stay
In yet another escalation, the bishop said he was removing the Rev. Matt Tuggle, senior minister, and the Rev. Paul Rasmussen, former senior minister, ‘from all positions’ at the church.
When Churches Bear False Witness in a Political Campaign
Numerous churches across Missouri have decorated their lawns for the political season this year. Yet the signs proudly posted by many are quite deceptive when it comes to abortion and transgender people.
Nation
Religious Democrats Prepare to Turn Election Victories Into Legislative Action
Newly elected lawmakers are setting their priorities as progressive faith groups press Congress to act on voting rights, healthcare, and economic inequality.
Bystanders Defend Seattle Diwali Celebration Targeted by Far-Right Agitators
Far-right agitators disrupted a Seattle Diwali celebration. Bystanders of all backgrounds banded together to push them out.
Clergy Candidates’ Message of ‘Love Your Neighbor’ Powers Democrats’ Midterm Election Gains
It was a striking midterm victory that demonstrated the strength of the religious left as a counter to the stalwart evangelical support for President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans.
World
120 Christian Leaders Urge Trump Administration Not to Withhold $1B in Global Health Funds
The group, which included a religious adviser to Trump, sent a letter to Trump officials — an unusual instance of evangelical leaders urging the administration to change course.
As Violence Escalates in Nigeria, Christian and Muslim Leaders Unite
Amid surging kidnappings and attacks on communities and places of worship, faith leaders are forming partnerships aimed at countering religious division and building peace.
In Germany, Right-Wing ‘Christfluencers’ Hope to Follow the US Religious Right
Radicalized by COVID-19 and anger over immigration, right-wing pastors like Tobias Riemenschneider in Germany hope to gain followers by promoting conservative Christian views and politics. They have looked to religious right leaders and conservative influencers in the US for inspiration.
Editorials
Pete Hegseth’s War Prayer
Editor-in-Chie Brian Kaylor reflects on a recent violent prayer by Pete Hegseth during a Christian worship service at the Pentagon and Mark Twain’s satirical work “The War Prayer.”
Doug Wilson’s Wrong on Why I’m ‘Whizzed Up’ About His Pentagon Sermon
Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor responds to Doug Wilson’s defense of Pete Hegseth holding Christian worship services in the Pentagon, including the one Wilson preached at earlier this month.
Michael W. Smith Worshipwashes Trump’s Profanity and Lies
After President Donald Trump rambled, lied, and cursed for 77 minutes at the National Prayer Breakfast, a prominent Christian musician went to the piano to bless it.
Word&Way Voices
The Trump Show’s Declining Ratings
Americans are obsessed with violence in our popular culture. And The Trump Show bears all the identifying marks of a TV drama increasing the brutality in an attempt to boost ratings and keep the program alive.
What’s in Ten Thousand Names? 250 Years of the Faithful Fight Against Religious Establishment
The executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society commemorates the 1776 Dissenters’ Petition of Ten Thousand Names and connects it to our religious freedom struggles today.
Finding the Love in God’s Apocalyptic Plan
Can we bypass the end times by becoming worthy of God’s love and presence — and does the Bible show that all prophecy is set in stone? Maybe we should ask Jonah.
E-Newsletter
Will ICE Show Up at Churches on Election Day?
This issue of A Public Witness explores the threats of federal immigration agents monitoring polling sites and how some pastors of churches covered by an injunction blocking warrantless DHS actions are preparing to respond.
When Churches Bear False Witness in a Political Campaign
Numerous churches across Missouri have decorated their lawns for the political season this year. Yet the signs proudly posted by many are quite deceptive when it comes to abortion and transgender people.
Sunday Night Rally at Church in Doug Wilson’s Denomination Targets Adam Hamilton’s Faith
Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall is a longtime mainline Protestant. But on Sunday, he joined numerous rightwing evangelical pastors in attacking the United Methodist Church.
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Faith & the 2026 Midterm Results
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about about the results of the 2026 midterms and the role religion played in various campaigns. You can watch a video version of the conversation… -
Claiming God's Name in Politics, War, & Sports
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about a botched execution in Tennessee, religious issues in political campaigns, and Pete Hegseth's misuse of the Bible. And Beau shows off his White Sox… -
Backslide with Robert P. Jones
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor and Robert P. Jones, author of the forthcoming book Backslide: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy. Jones is also the founder and president of PRRI. He previously appeared on Dangerous Dogma in 2023. You can watch a… -
DHS Spies on Churches & White Sox Honor Pope Leo
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about revelations that the Department of Homeland Security has been spying in churches, a controversial golf ad, and a White Sox night celebrating Pope Leo.… -
The State of the Senate, from SC to ME to TX to KS
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham as well as issues of faith and morality in Senate races in Maine, Texas, and Kansas. You can… -
Southern Baptists, the Pentagon, & UFC
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about the Southern Baptist Convention's push against women in ministry, the Pentagon changing how it codes the faith of military members, and the latest in… -
Southern Baptists, Women in Ministry, & a Billboard
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with Meredith Stone, executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry. The conversation includes discussion of efforts in the Southern Baptist Convention to further target women serving in churches and how BWIM is advocating for women (including with a billboard to greet SBC messengers next week in Orlando,… -
Divergent Visions for Rededicating the Nation
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about Rededicate 250, gerrymandering, Adam Hamilton's Senate campaign in Kansas, and the MAHA movement. You can watch a video version of the conversation here. Here are a few pieces… -
The Christian Past That Wasn't
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with Warren Throckmorton, a retired professor who has spent years debunking false claims by Christian Nationalist pseudo-historian David Barton. Throckmorton is the author of the new book, The Christian Past that Wasn't: Debunking the Christian Nationalist Myths that Hijack History. You can watch a video version of… -
Trump vs. Leo
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about President Donald Trump's attacks on Pope Leo XIV, Leo's witness against the Iran war, Trump's AI image of himself as Jesus, and the electoral…
Books
Book Recommendation: My Disability is Divine
As a scholar and disability rights advocate, Amy Kenny illuminates aspects of our own lives, our congregations, and our society that continue to harm our neighbors living with disabilities and hold all of us back from enjoying true community.
Review: Devils of Democracy
From the founding fathers to the rise of Christian Nationalism, this new book from Michael E. Heyes reveals how America's centuries-long obsession with evil has shaped — and endangered — the United States.
Review: Too Sick to Pray
C. M. Howell shows that the religious dimension of Outlaw Country is best understood as musicians involved in a mode of theological play.
Review: Live Each Season As It Passes
Daniel Cooperrider reminds readers that God continues to speak in the context of nature and the ebbs and flows of the seasons. It’s a witness we need to heed, considering the climate challenges we face as human beings.