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Featured
While MAGA Preachers Cheer, Mainline Protestants Strongly Condemn Attack on Venezuela
This issue of A Public Witness looks at criticism of the Trump administration’s actions in Venezuela by various Christian denominations and organizations, as well as pleas for peace by Venezuelan Christian leaders.
US Faith Leaders Supporting Targeted Immigrants Brace for a Tough Year Ahead
President Trump has become harsher with his contemptuous rhetoric and policy proposals, blaming immigrants for problems from crime to housing shortages and demanding “REVERSE MIGRATION.”
Joy Moore Steps Down As Northern Seminary President After Months of Confusion Over Status
School officials say a misunderstanding and distrust led to Moore's departure.
Church
As Deportation Fears Keep Immigrants From Work, Their Churches Feel Financial Strain
Newly strained finances are just one reality that Latino immigrant churches are adjusting to as the Trump administration accelerates a promised mass deportation campaign and other aggressive changes to immigration policy.
Progressive National Baptists Pan ‘Big Ugly Bill,’ Strategize to Help Communities
At sessions focused on social justice, PNBC leaders and guest speakers urged greater response and a unified front to address impacts of the new federal budget.
‘She Is the Future of Our Church.’ Winnie Varghese Named First Woman Dean of St. John the Divine.
The election of Varghese, a queer woman of Indian descent, as dean of America’s largest Episcopal church represents a number of historic firsts.
Nation
Bible Sales Keep Growing, Even As Many Americans Lose Their Religion
About 18 million Bibles have been sold this year, part of a five-year boom in Bible sales.
As ICE Descends on Charlotte, Faith Leaders Draw on Other Cities’ Actions to Aid Immigrants
As many as 500 people, a mix of clergy and other volunteers, have appeared at the training sessions on how to counter ICE.
The Ten Commandments Are Up in Texas Schools. They’re Also Being Taken Down
Federal courts have ordered more than two dozen school districts to not hang the posters, including on Tuesday when a judge ruled that the mandate violates the First Amendment.
World
African Church Leaders Defend Migrants After Libya Bans Humanitarian Aid Agencies
Libya’s move signals its determination not to become a resettlement zone for migrants fleeing violence in East Africa.
Cloud of Witnesses Beneath the Sanctuary
Modern churches still gather on the traditions and teachings of the generations who went before us. This is important to remember in a time when some ‘prophets’ invent new theologies and ways of interpreting the Bible.
USCIRF Report Highlights Little Progress in Religious Liberty Struggles Globally
The religious freedom watchdog urged the new Trump administration to appoint a new ambassador-at-large to address religious restrictions and persecution around the world.
Editorials
Before Never Forget
Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on the call to “never forget” 9/11, as well as the ways we seem to struggle to even remember or acknowledge deaths today.
A Zacchaeus Moment for Southwest Baptist
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.
Messages from Hell
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.”
Word&Way Voices
Stop Flopping
Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell makes the case that the culture of flopping has spread beyond sports. Who are the biggest floppers right now? Christian Nationalists.
The Weird Evangelical Dance With Science
Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy addresses climate denial among a subset of Christians and how this demonstrates a surrender of truth.
Welcoming Palestinian Christians to Jackson: A Pastor’s Call for Justice and Peace This Lent
A delegation of young Palestinian Christian leaders are traveling through the American South to explore the deep parallels between racial injustice in the U.S. and the oppression Palestinians face in their homeland.
E-Newsletter
Literally Misreading the Bible
This issue of A Public Witness looks at how one Calvinist voice with connections to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is publicly doing violence to Scripture to justify some disturbingly unChristlike behavior.
Dallas Clergy ‘Bear Witness’ With Prayer Vigils Outside ICE Office
Mara Richards Bim, the new Justice and Advocacy Fellow at Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas, spoke about how to bridge what we talk about in church and political action.
Gerrymandering the Bible
The opening chapter to “The Bible According to Christian Nationalists,” which officially releases in eight weeks, is fortunately (and unfortunately) quite timely. We are sharing an excerpt from it here.
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198. American Christianity Divided in Responses to ICE
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 ICE actions in Minneapolis, how many clergy are leading protests against ICE while others are supporting ICE, and new research worried about the loss… -
197. Anna Piela and Michael Woolf on Confronting Islamophobia in the Church
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with American Baptist ministers Anna Piela and Michael Woolf on Islamophobia, immigration, and how Christians can better engage with interfaith efforts. Anna and Michael are coauthors of the new book, Confronting Islamophobia in the Church: Liturgical Tools for Justice. Watch a video version of this conversation here.… -
196. Martha Bardwell on Faith Communities Responding to ICE in Minneapolis
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with Martha Bardwell, pastor of Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on how faith communities are responding to ICE violence in the Twin Cities and the ICE killing of Renee Good. Watch a video version of this latest conversation here. The episode includes a discussion on… -
195. Attacking Venezuela & Gambling on Jesus
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 consideration of the U.S. attack on Venezuela and how Christians are responding, Pete Hegseth's pledge to change the military chaplaincy program, and how people are now… -
194. Dangers of Faith in the Pentagon & AI in Faith
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 consideration of U.S. strikes against Venezuelan boats, Pete Hegseth's Christian prayer services at the Pentagon, the use of AI in churches, and alarms about AI Christian… -
193. News Roundup: Elections, Government Shutdown, & Clergy Challenging ICE
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 consideration of religious attacks in elections this week, impacts of the ongoing government shutdown on churches, and clergy protesting against ICE. Watch a video version of… -
192. Hannah Kardon, United Methodist Pastor Arrested During Anti-ICE Protest
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with Hannah Kardon, a United Methodist minister in the Chicago area. Kardon was violently arrested during a protest outside an ICE facility on Oct. 17. Video of the incident can be viewed here. Other issues discussed in this episode include ICE actions at churches, the legal pushback… -
191. William Stell on Evangelicals & Antigay Christianity
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with William Stell, a religious studies professor and author of the forthcoming book, Born Again Queer: A History of Evangelical Gay Activism and the Making of Antigay Christianity. Kaylor is also joined by guest cohost Jared Burkholder, scholar in residence at Moravian Theological Seminary. This is the… -
190. Angela Parker on Evangelicals, Biblical Interpretation, & White Supremacy
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with Angela Parker, an associate professor of New Testament and Greek at the McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, the author of If God Still Breathes, Why Can't I?: Black Lives Matter and Biblical Authority, and coauthor of the Unsettling Lent devotional. This is the second… -
189. Randall Balmer on Evangelicals & Church-State Separation
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with Randall Balmer, a historian of American religion and author of the new book, America's Best Idea: The Separation of Church and State. Kaylor is also joined by guest cohost Jared Burkholder, scholar in residence at Moravian Theological Seminary. This is the first in a three-part series…
Books
Review: Journey to Eloheh
In “Journey to Eloheh: How Indigenous Values Lead Us to Harmony and Well-Being,” Randy and Edith Woodley help readers learn lifeways that lead to true wholeness and justice.
Review: The Anti-Greed Gospel
In “The Anti-Greed Gospel: Why the Love of Money Is the Root of Racism and How the Church Can Create a New Way Forward,” Black Christian historian Malcolm Foley explores racial capitalism.
Review: American Christianity Today
In “American Christianity Today: Establishment, Decline, and Revival,” Dyron Daughrity gives readers a panoramic view of current Christianity in the U.S. — its people, conflicts, differences, and common ground.
Review: John of History, Baptist of Faith
In “John of History, Baptist of Faith: The Quest for the Historical Baptizer,” James F. McGrath sheds new light on the historical John the Baptist and his world.