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The Department of Homeland Security insists its surveillance at University Baptist Church and other houses of worship was only about alleged criminal violations unrelated to immigration.

Faith leaders recently spoke out against the ICE activity after a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court allowed President Trump to end temporary protected status for the 330,000 Haitians who’ve fled violence.

'The fact that we still have to fight to maintain and renew voting rights in this country is beyond abysmal and a truly national disgrace,' Martin Luther King III said Friday.

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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

'Our churches, our mosques, our synagogues, our places of worship will become democracy hubs,' said Minister JaNaé Bates Imari, co-executive director of the interfaith group ISAIAH Minnesota.

This issue of A Public Witness strikes at the heresy in Trump’s Fourth of July remarks and thunders some disapproval for similar rhetoric recently offered by Speaker Mike Johnson.

On the anniversary of a Supreme Court ruling reinstating the US death penalty, faith leaders, those affected by murder, and activists organize to call for an end to the death penalty.

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

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

While figures like Franklin Graham and Pete Hegseth bet on a holy war where God is on their side, many Christian leaders in the U.S. and around the world were quick to condemn the so-called ‘Operation Epic Fury.’

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.

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Books

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.

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.