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During a gathering in Nashville, scholars looked at the theology, money, and music reshaping how Americans worship and experience God.

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.

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Church

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.

New York Episcopalians profited from the transatlantic slave trade and were 'uniquely implicated in the odious institution and in anti-Black policies and practices that extend through generations,' according to a new report.

Nation

The Religious Liberty Commission is filled almost entirely by conservative Christians, and its new 224-page document urges stronger support for this particular strand of Christianity in the government.

Texas' education board on Friday approved a required bible study for more than 5 million public school students, widening Republican efforts to bring conservative Christian teachings into U.S. classrooms.

The Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration can end temporary protected status for Haiti and Syria, leaving hundreds of thousands vulnerable to deportation.

World

‘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.

Critics say the meeting conferred legitimacy on Putin, on top of his being hosted by Trump on U.S. soil despite an arrest warrant issued in 2023 from the International Criminal Court, accusing Putin of war crimes in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This issue of A Public Witness heads to Australia to offer highlights from the Baptist World Congress, where Christians from 130 nations came to worship, fellowship, dialogue, learn, and strategize together.

Editorials

Word&Way Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor responds to the decision by Southwest Baptist University to bar Word&Way from attending an upcoming SBU trustee meeting. Kaylor questions the motivations behind the decision to limit media access.

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!

Word&Way Voices

In her new book, ‘Spellbound,’ the historian of religion traces the mysterious force that is charisma from the Puritans to Donald Trump.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell reflects on the connections between jazz, supporting young people, church life, and the kingdom of God.

Unless the international community acts decisively and swiftly, Al-Taybeh risks being overrun by Israeli settlers, its lands confiscated, and its people forcibly displaced.

E-Newsletter

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.

The controversial ‘paleo-Confederate’ Christian Nationalist pastor stood at a podium on Tuesday as the guest preacher for the latest monthly Christian worship service held for leaders of the U.S. military.

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Recent Episodes

Books

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.

In “The Traveler's Path: Finding Spiritual Growth and Inspiration Through Travel,” pastor and scholar Douglas J. Brouwer challenges readers to go beyond tourism and embrace the religious dimension of travel.

In “Evangelism in an Age of Despair: Hope Beyond the Failed Promise of Happiness,” Andrew Root contextualizes evangelism for our times and reimagines what the call to outreach means in today’s world.

In “Braving Difficult Decisions: What to Do When You Don't Know What to Do,” Rev. Dr. Angela Williams Gorrell maps out a process for working through the most challenging aspects of complex choices.