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Featured
A Trump Commission Urges ‘Bridges’ Between Church and State in Sweeping Draft Report
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.
Bible Stories Are Approved As Required Reading in Texas Public Schools
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.
How LGBTQ-Affirming Churches Are Confronting Religious Trauma
Nearly half of Americans who left religion cite the mistreatment or rejection of LGBTQ+ people as an important reason. But how do the LGBTQ+ people who stay find healing?
Church
Southern Baptists Pass a Ban on Women Pastors Again. This Time, They Hope It Sticks.
The proposed ban on churches with women pastors or those that allow women to preach was approved by three-quarters of church messengers gathered in Orlando.
The Country’s Largest Protestant Adoption Agency Is Dropping LGBTQ Couples — Again
The reversal comes five years after the foster care and adoption agency first agreed to partner with LGBTQ couples.
Willy Rice, Florida Pastor and Abuse Crisis Skeptic, Elected SBC President
Rice’s win is a triumph for critics who argue that the nation’s largest Protestant denomination has lost its way in recent years.
Nation
As Supreme Court Clears Way to Deport Haitians and Syrians, Faith Leaders Grieve, Prepare for What’s Next
The Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration can end temporary protected status for Haiti and Syria, leaving hundreds of thousands vulnerable to deportation.
Monthly Pentagon Worship Service Features Catholics for First Time
Jonathan Morris, a former priest and current Fox News commentator, and Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams led the service in Pete Hegseth’s absence.
Which Bible Passages Are in Texas’ Proposed Student Reading List? Here’s What the Sections Reveal.
The chosen readings, to be voted on by the State Board of Education, draw heavily from Christian perspectives.
World
Pope Prays With Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally in Historic Encounter, Vows Dialogue
The encounter between Christianity’s two most famous religious figures would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, given the divisions between their two churches over women’s ordination.
Archbishop of Canterbury Expresses Solidarity With Pope Leo XIV in Calling for Peace in Iran
In addition to heading the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, including the Episcopal Church in the U.S.
Seeking Faithful Stewardship in a Toxic Political Environment
This issue of A Public Witness considers some dangerous voices against climate action and then the Christians working to love their neighbors and the Creator by addressing our pressing environmental crisis.
Editorials
Worshipwashing Christmas at the Kennedy Center
Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on the Christmas narrative in the Gospel of Matthew and an upcoming Christmas program at the Kennedy Center in the aftermath of Donald Trump taking it over.
Unsettling Advent 2025, Day 11
The remarkable part of the Christmas story is that God decided to come as one of us. The incarnation means Jesus cried out at birth, announcing the breath of life in the one who breathes life into us.
Unsettling Advent 2025, Day 1
For the first entry in our series this year, Word&Way president and editor-in-chief Brian Kaylor reflects on this week’s theme: Advent in a time of religious nationalism.
Word&Way Voices
Between Christendom and Faith
The commercialized American church has arrived at a form of religious life in which institutional maintenance and spiritual fidelity become indistinguishable, and where questioning the institution is easily recoded as questioning God.
This Mother’s Day, the Church Cannot Be Silent About Black Maternal Deaths
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.
No, Gen Z Is Not Undergoing a ‘Religious Revival’
The CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute makes the case that there is simply no evidence to suggest Americans are becoming more religious, either in their affiliation with a particular faith tradition or in terms of attending religious services more regularly.
E-Newsletter
Hegseth Conscripts Call of Prophet Isaiah to Serve U.S. Military Interests
This issue of A Public Witness considers the theological problems with the defense secretary regularly quoting Isaiah 6:8 and how his use of Scripture aligns with Bible quotes in violent movies.
Catholic and Baptist Scholars Critique Christian Nationalism at Villanova Conference
This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside a recent gathering to hear from leading scholars as they offer constructive ways to push back against a dangerous and heretical ideology.
Summer Reads 2026
For this issue of A Public Witness, we offer our fifth annual list of books recommended by Word&Way writers that will be perfect for wherever you find your happy place this summer.
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Southern Baptists, the Pentagon, & UFC
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about the Southern Baptist Convention's push against women in ministry, the Pentagon changing how it codes the faith of military members, and the latest in… -
Southern Baptists, Women in Ministry, & a Billboard
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with Meredith Stone, executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry. The conversation includes discussion of efforts in the Southern Baptist Convention to further target women serving in churches and how BWIM is advocating for women (including with a billboard to greet SBC messengers next week in Orlando,… -
Divergent Visions for Rededicating the Nation
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about Rededicate 250, gerrymandering, Adam Hamilton's Senate campaign in Kansas, and the MAHA movement. You can watch a video version of the conversation here. Here are a few pieces… -
The Christian Past That Wasn't
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with Warren Throckmorton, a retired professor who has spent years debunking false claims by Christian Nationalist pseudo-historian David Barton. Throckmorton is the author of the new book, The Christian Past that Wasn't: Debunking the Christian Nationalist Myths that Hijack History. You can watch a video version of… -
Trump vs. Leo
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about President Donald Trump's attacks on Pope Leo XIV, Leo's witness against the Iran war, Trump's AI image of himself as Jesus, and the electoral… -
Fight Like Jesus with Jason Porterfield (Reissue)
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with Jason Porterfield about his book Fight Like Jesus: How Jesus Waged Peace. This episode originally aired in 2023, except for a new introduction noting a violent prayer by Pete Hegseth during a recent Pentagon worship service and Palm Sunday comments by Pope Leo XIV. Note: Don't forget… -
Pete Hegseth's Crusader Bible (A Trick of State)
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor considers Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's use of the English Standard Version of the Bible, patriarchy in the faith communities Hegseth has been a part of, and his Christian Nationalism. It also reveals that Hegseth's ESV Bible includes two Crusader symbols stamped onto the cover (and that match… -
An Unholy War
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about the Iran war, Christian opposition to the war, and viral claims of military leaders claiming this will bring "Armageddon." It also includes consideration of… -
Rewriting the Ten Commandments (A Trick of State)
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor looks at legislation across the country that purports to want the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. But the version mandated by lawmakers cannot be found in any Bible. Kaylor unpacks where the edited language came from, why such legislation is an attack on religious liberty, and the… -
198. American Christianity Divided in Responses to ICE
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about ICE actions in Minneapolis, how many clergy are leading protests against ICE while others are supporting ICE, and new research worried about the loss…
Books
Review: Early Christian Theology
Writing with an experienced teacher's gift for making history meaningful, J. Warren Smith explains the development of Christianity in terms of diverse efforts to make sense of intellectual and spiritual complexities within Scripture.
Review & Giveaway: Becoming Neighbors
Amar Peterman’s new book makes the case that how we interact with our neighbors forms who we are as Christians. It contains wisdom for scholars, pastors, and lay Christians working to remain steadfast to the hope they profess.
Review: Feasting on Hope
Through sharing her personal story of deep loss, Hannah Miller King reflects on how the ancient Christian practice of communion can reframe our grief by embedding it in a larger picture of gospel hope.
Review: Witness — Converting Worlds
The latest book from Amos Yong recasts what Christians call the missiological question first and foremost to those who would be true believers, including all who might wish to bear appropriate witness to their faith in a pluralistic world.