Home - Word&Way

Featured

Faith groups suing President Donald Trump’s administration filed a motion Thursday (Aug. 20) alleging the Department of Homeland Security committed “multiple egregious violations” of a court order that largely barred warrantless surveillance at their churches. 

Rodney Kennedy writes about religious issues and character matters in the the U.S. Senate race in Texas between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton.

An influential Southern Baptist pastor stood Wednesday (Aug. 19) in the headquarters of the world’s largest military and, with no sense of irony, preached a message of hope for Pentagon leaders by pointing to multiple biblical passages where God miraculously delivered people by defeating a large imperial military.

No posts were found.

Videos

Church

'We too can have rough patches in our marriage,' said the Rev. Jamal Bryant, senior pastor of an Atlanta-area megachurch where is wife is an executive pastor.

Like other Haitians losing protection, they face an agonizing choice: try to stay in the U.S. and find underground work, constantly fearful of being caught by ICE. Or return to a nation so overwhelmed by gang violence and poverty that deportation is tantamount to a death sentence.

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside a hyperpartisan church for a taste of how the gospel of Jesus is being supplanted by an imperial lust for political power.

Nation

The Department of Defense is introducing a course centered on Western civilization and Christianity this fall in the schools it operates for military families, part of an effort by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to redirect the education system toward patriotic values and classical learning.

A surveillance incident at a Baptist church particularly raises questions since the congregation’s building is covered by a federal injunction blocking warrantless DHS actions there.

This issue of A Public Witness dives into the weird world of AI-generated social media content that lifts up a distorted view of Christianity.

World

Churches are calling for restraint, humanitarian support, and law and order as xenophobic unrest deepens.

Despite the fact that many Venezuelan faith leaders have been impacted themselves by the ongoing disaster, they’ve sprung into action to provide food, psychological support, and other basic needs to the large population of victims.

‘For three years, the police saw me as a nudnikit (pest),’ said Yisca Harani, founder of the Religious Freedom Data Center, which tracks and aims to prevent incidents targeting Christians in Israel. ‘After the incident with the nun, I feel they are taking me a little more seriously.’

Editorials

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.

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.

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

We live in an era saturated with more means of communication than ever before, and yet we also face unprecedented threats to our genuine human connections.

The desire for a sustainable authoritarianism among MAGA Calvinists, such as the ‘Theobros’ and a coalition of Southern Baptist Reformed leaders, has lovers of democracy sounding the alarm.

Besides being an enjoyable and charming moviegoing experience, the new film — based on a German book called ‘Three Bags Full’ by Leonie Swann — is full of unexpected Christian imagery.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness looks at how the head of the Russian Orthodox Church nukes God’s grace and mercy before considering how it serves as a warning about militaristic Christian Nationalism more broadly.

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside a hyperpartisan church for a taste of how the gospel of Jesus is being supplanted by an imperial lust for political power.

The service marked the third time in 15 monthly services that the sermon was delivered by Brooks Potteiger, a member of Doug Wilson's Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches.

Sign up to receive full essays in your inbox!

Recent Episodes

Books

Drawing from personal experience, theological insight, and psychological depth, Richard Beck challenges the fear-based, legalistic interpretations that have long dominated many Christian traditions.

In his new book, acclaimed sociologist Robert Wuthnow seeks to both illuminate what has been hidden and to add complexity where a story has been too simply told.

In this innovative synthesis of practical theology and psychological science, professors Katherine M. Douglass and Brittany M. Tausen bring wisdom from Scripture and cutting-edge research into conversation.

Leading practical theologian Andrew Root reveals how Protestant churches have become dangerously dependent on growth-driven stabilization, a mindset inherited from the industrial revolution's golden era.