A zoning hearing to build a homeless shelter at a New Jersey church ended without a vote, leaving the future of the shelter and of the church itself unclear.

‘We are honest about the conditions that we're facing, but we are not hopeless about what we're facing,' said Bishop W. Darin Moore of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.

This issue of A Public Witness hits the streets to consider what some recent creative protests can teach us about how to prophetically resist authoritarianism.

The directive last year from former Superintendent Ryan Walters drew immediate condemnation from civil rights groups and prompted a pending lawsuit from a group of parents, teachers, and religious leaders.

A letter with more than 200 signatories, organized by Churches for Middle East Peace in the United States and Embrace the Middle East in the United Kingdom, was provided to A Public Witness ahead of its formal release today.

Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of Islamist insurgents.

Editor Brian Kaylor writes that even even as we return to a “normal” in the upcoming months as vaccinations roll out, he hopes churches do so while building on the lessons learned during this time of social distancing and virtual life.

Editor Brian Kaylor reflects on a comment by Joe Biden at a memorial service on Tuesday to those who died from COVID-19: “To heal we must remember. It’s hard sometimes to remember. But that’s how we heal.”

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.

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.