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Writing in a personal, conversational style, New Testament scholar James McGrath shares his experiences of outgrowing a narrowly defined Christianity and learning how to inhabit a more dynamic Christian faith.

Sarah Mullally's appointment instantly makes her one of the most recognized Christian figures in the world, alongside the pope.

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.

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Videos

Church

This issue of A Public Witness treks to the Cornhusker State to consider a lost scroll that gained widespread news coverage and a denominational gathering that didn’t.

‘New York was the center of the slave trade in the United States,’ said the Rt. Rev. Matthew F. Heyd, bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. ‘That evil is part of the fabric of the diocese, and we’re trying to repair this fabric.’

During a mid-June event at Otter Creek Church, musicians and activists praised PEPFAR for saving millions of lives and urged evangelicals to call their representatives and show their support for the program.

Nation

Like religious leaders in cities such as Minneapolis, Chicago, and elsewhere, local clergy were quick to muster resistance to the rapid influx of immigration enforcement agents, even as they wrangle with the unusual geography of Maine.

One of the removed panels featured images of Richard Allen and Absalom Jones. Both born as enslaved persons, they were instrumental in starting their churches.

On Monday, the top federal judge in Minnesota issued a blistering critique of three Trump administration officials for repeatedly violating court orders. One of the three is David Easterwood, the acting director of the St. Paul ICE field office. Easterwood is also a pastor at Cities Churches in St. Paul.

World

Travis Timmerman of Urbana, Missouri, said he had gone to Syria on a Christian pilgrimage and was not ill-treated while in Palestine Branch, a notorious detention facility operated by Syrian intelligence.

The pope’s appeal was made for the World Day of Peace, coinciding with the launch of the 2025 Jubilee year.

The pro-Palestinian creche is intended to point out the disconnect between the idealized Bethlehem of most representations and the reality in present-day Gaza and the West Bank.

Editorials

It’s tempting to watch Jerry Falwell’s fall and, well, cheer or snicker. After all, he’s done much to hurt the witness of Christianity with his history of hateful rhetoric and partisanship politics — not to mention the sordid details of the scandal that did him in. But this is a

During this campaign season, a Baptist church in Alabama started making “Jesus 2020” yard signs. How would such a candidacy go? Editor Brian Kaylor imagines the race.

What if instead of rewarding the most brash, most aggressive, most self-assured leaders we instead elevated those who didn’t seek the position? What if we took into account which candidates have more humility, self-sacrifice, and even hesitancy when offered power and glory?

Word&Way Voices

Faithful America’s executive director argues that since Trump and the religious right distort faith for their own gain, calling them out is not an attack on religion but rather a necessary democratic and Christian action.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy argues that MAGA evangelicals have basically accepted the conclusion that Trump is not a good person — but this doesn’t change their vote due to the power of figurative language.

Palestinian journalist Daoud Kuttab documents how a leading evangelical group recently took a bold step away from pro-Trump American evangelicals.

E-Newsletter

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.

This issue of A Public Witness opens up the Epstein case to explore the dangers of phony, conspiratorial self-righteousness and how it captured so many conservative Christian figures.

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside the UCC synod to explore the specific issues that were discussed and how they are relevant to all ecumenical Christians in these troubling times.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In "God After Deconstruction," Thomas Jay Oord and Tripp Fuller write for people experiencing the traumatic realities of discovering that what they once believed about God is no longer sustainable.

In "Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump," John Fea argues that the evangelical approach to public life is defined by the politics of fear, the pursuit of worldly power, and a nostalgic longing for an American past.

In "The Good News of Church Politics," Ross Kane combines Scripture, political theology, and personal experience to reframe politics around shaping our common life.

In "The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church," Sarah McCammon explores the rising generation of the children of conservative Christianity who are growing up and fleeing the fold.