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Minneapolis-area AME Church officials stated Renee Good’s death ‘never should have happened’ and listed more than a dozen ways they have tried to meet community needs there.

‘Jesus — who they claim to worship — went into the so-called houses of God, he flipped over tables. … So that’s what we did today,’ said minister and organizer Nekima Levy Armstrong.

Amid an internal investigation into Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the Department of Labor held its second monthly worship service featuring the rightwing anti-abortion activist niece of MLK.

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Videos

Church

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.

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.

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

West Virginia’s school vaccination policy has long been heralded by medical experts as one of the most protective in the country for children.

With Pentagon prayer services continuing into the Christmas season, this issue of A Public Witness peeks inside Pete Hegseth’s monthly effort to establish his brand of rightwing Christianity inside the government.

The third installment of the ‘Knives Out’ series examines the spiritual warfare within American Christianity and looks at writer-director Rian Johnson’s struggle with the essence of faith.

World

In Africa’s most populous nation, a deadly cycle of violence has unfolded for several years, with Christian clergy and laypeople as well as moderate Muslims falling victim to murder and kidnapping.

One theologian said Africa’s celebrations of the Christian framework would exhibit the continent’s rich theological heritage and highlight new ways of thinking about faith unbound by colonial legacies.

Most Greenlanders are proudly Inuit, having survived and thrived in one of the most remote and climatically inhospitable places on Earth. And they’re Lutheran.

Editorials

Russell Moore deserves many of the accolades he received recently, but Brian Kaylor argues the hagiographers miss the real lesson of this morality tale. As Southern Baptists gather this week for their annual meeting in Nashville, it is important to see there is more to the story.

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor responds to Paige Patterson claiming during a sermon that a “lynch mob” was out to get him. Kaylor notes that not only is Patterson inaccurately using the metaphor, but Patterson’s words are an injustice to real victims.

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on recent violence between Israel and Hamas to argue that a ceasefire will not actually bring peace and justice to the people living in Gaza. Kaylor adds insights learned from Arab and Palestinian Christians.

Word&Way Voices

Biblical scholar Greg Carey makes the case that in a time of conspicuous Christian Nationalism, the rest of us need to articulate our most basic Christian values in ways that are affirmative rather than defensive.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy makes the case that the story of Titus in Crete is the best metaphor for what has happened to America since Donald Trump was elected again.

The event included a keynote presentation by Rev. Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre, who highlighted the dangers of using religious texts to justify oppression.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness recommends two films and one miniseries exploring important issues of Christian Nationalism and religious abuse.

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.

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.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In his latest book “Religion for Realists: Why We All Need the Scientific Study of Religion,” Samuel Perry challenges some of our most cherished assumptions.

In “This Is Going to Hurt: Following Jesus in a Divided America,” Bekah McNeel analyzes the narratives surrounding six hot-button issues — immigration, COVID, abortion, critical race theory, gun violence, and climate change.

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.