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Civil rights advocates on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Texas law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments, teeing up a potential new test of state-sponsored religious expression in classrooms.

This issue of A Public Witness reports on how pastors are responding to news that undercover federal agents secretly spied on them, and includes updates about more incidents revealed at a Baptist church that is covered by a federal injunction blocking such warrantless DHS actions.

The Department of Defense is introducing a course centered on Western civilization and Christianity this fall in the schools it operates for military families, part of an effort by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to redirect the education system toward patriotic values and classical learning.

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Church

‘Throughout both of Trump’s terms, he’s done so many things that I thought were going to be over the line, and it never happens,’ said Matthew Sutton, a scholar of religious history at Washington State University. ‘But this moment, it does feel like a turning point.’

While some view the work of faith-based organizers and groups as part of a surge in activism by a new 'religious left,' others say the Black church and leaders rooted in its traditions don’t fit neatly within one pole or the other.

‘Just as Christ’s work on the cross was countercultural, this service is a counternarrative,’ said Bishop LaTrelle Easterling, who leads the Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware Episcopal Area.

Nation

Jonathan Morris, a former priest and current Fox News commentator, and Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams led the service in Pete Hegseth’s absence.

The chosen readings, to be voted on by the State Board of Education, draw heavily from Christian perspectives.

Jackson Lahmeyer, who founded Pastors for Trump and leads Sheridan Church in Tulsa, exchanged thousands of romantic text messages with a woman who is not his wife.

World

The audience marked the first by history’s first American pope with the Israeli head of state. Leo spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July after an Israeli shell slammed into the only Catholic church in Gaza.

The Lutheran church, called Kiruna Kyrka in Swedish, moved 3.1 miles east on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of Kiruna's relocation because the world’s largest underground iron-ore mine is threatening to swallow the town.

‘As an Armenian living in the Old City, it is deeply troubling to witness the gradual erosion of our Christian presence here,’ said Levon Kalaydjian, an Armenian Christian activist in Jerusalem.

Editorials

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor responds to a claim by Al Mohler of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary that Methodists who disagree on LGBTQ issues are from “two different religions.” Perhaps Mohler is right.

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on preachers spreading anti-vaccination messages amid a continuing COVID pandemic. Kaylor also highlights the medical and biblical wisdom of Francis Collins of the National Institutes of Health.

Editor Brian Kaylor reflects on the guilty verdicts in the trial of Derek Chauvin and the concept of justice. Kaylor argues that while holding someone accountable for murdering George Floyd is a step toward justice, we must not confuse it with justice itself.

Word&Way Voices

The charming new film from Emmy-winning writer and director Erik Bork features laughs, romance, and insights into how we can connect with people who hold a different worldview.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy makes the case that fiction — short stories and novels — serves as a bridge to great preaching.

The new animated feature from Pierre Perifel is lighthearted and visually stunning, utilizing various animation styles for different scenes — but it also offers a profound lesson for the church.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness explores the theology behind viewing the United States as a nation that God asks to perform miracles, as expressed in the State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Political theorist Laura Field provides an intellectual tour of the MAGA New Right, a movement that has twice carried Donald Trump into the White House.

The head of the Missouri Senate Education Committee thinks we should force public schools to teach that the Constitutional Convention prayed after Benjamin Franklin said they should — even though it very much never happened.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In “Pilgrim: A Theological Memoir,” readers are offered a glimpse into the late Tony Campolo’s unique faith journey that shaped him into an influential and prophetic religious leader.

Renowned New Testament scholar Michael J. Gorman designed this commentary for pastors, students, scholars, and lay people who want to consider Paul’s spiritual implications for today.

In “Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope,” New Testament scholar Esau McCaulley demonstrates an ongoing conversation between the collective Black experience and the Bible.

We are excited to announce a new book unpacking seven types of misuses of Scripture by influential preachers and politicians pushing Christian Nationalism today, officially out Oct. 7 from Chalice Press and available for pre-order now.