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‘We need accountability. We need to set goals, track registrations, follow up to ensure that those who register actually vote,’ a Church of God in Christ bishop said at an ‘emergency’ meeting.

Through Freedom 250 initiatives, Hillsdale has been enlisted by the Trump White House to shape narratives about American history.

Across this country, Black women are dying from pregnancy-related causes at nearly three times the rate of White women. These cases are about much more than just numbers.

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Church

Leaders of the American Baptist Home Mission Societies issued a statement Tuesday (Nov. 18) offering support for clergy who have been arrested while protesting ICE, including an American Baptist pastor in the Chicago area.

After decades of fierce controversies over sexuality and theology, some leaders of a conservative coalition say it's time to make a final break from what has long been one of the world's largest Protestant church families.

'Love that neighbor even when you don’t like ’em,' the former presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church said in a conversation with NYT reporter Ruth Graham at The Texas Tribune Festival.

Nation

In the first Defense Department service since the start of the Iran war, Pete Hegseth prayed that God would ‘break the teeth’ and kill those ‘who deserve no mercy’ and should be ‘delivered to the eternal damnation prepared for them.’

Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed two lawsuits against the Trump administration today as part of their investigation into government worship services.

Not since the Civil Rights Era has the religious left so publicly and collaboratively protested in the name of a social question they regard as a spiritual one.

World

This issue of A Public Witness explores a monument that upsets the political and historical stories being told (or not told) and challenges the religious claims we often make.

Christian leaders stress that the council and its anniversary still have relevance in the modern day, despite theological divides.

Joining this year are dozens of leaders from different Christian denominations, making the journey not only an expression of personal devotion but a public show of unity and spiritual leadership in a region challenged by political instability, poverty, and insecurity.

Editorials

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reacts to recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings on coronavirus restrictions and worship. He argues a majority of the justices wrongly compare worship gatherings to commercial activities.

Editor Brian Kaylor reflects on getting his second COVID-19 vaccine and recent polling showing that White evangelicals are the least likely demographic to get vaccinated. Thank God, love neighbors, and get vaccinated!

Editor Brian Kaylor tells the Good Friday story as if set this year in Richmond, Virginia. As the Bible tells the story, Barabbas and the two men crucified along with Jesus are insurrectionists (not thieves).

Word&Way Voices

Since the popular screen adaptation of “Pride & Prejudice” is back in theaters for its 20th anniversary, it is worth thinking about how this enemies-to-lovers story can offer us a unique glimpse into peacemaking.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy makes the case that there is more to the recent Pete Hegseth national security breaches than just political blunders — we are experiencing a shift in the moral universe of right and wrong.

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.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness unpacks the House speaker’s latest attack on church-state separation and a surprising voice singing some opposition to his Christian Nationalist worldview.

This issue of A Public Witness explores the story of Rev. Michael Woolf, an American Baptist/Alliance of Baptists pastor who became the latest clergy to experience violent state tactics being used against peaceful protesters.

We’re excited to announce this year’s themes for our award-winning Unsettling Advent series, which begins in one month: Advent in a time of religious nationalism, starvation, and soldiers in the streets.

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Recent Episodes

Books

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.

In “The Wounds Are the Witness: Black Faith Weaving Memory into Justice and Healing,” Yolanda Pierce, dean of Vanderbilt University Divinity School, weaves together her own memories, vignettes from Black life, and scenes from scripture.

In “Karl Barth — A Life in Conflict,” Christiane Tietz compellingly explores the interactions between Barth's personal and political biography and his theology.

Katherine Stewart has created a collection of dispatches from the front lines of the current assault on American democracy.