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This issue of A Public Witness contemplates historical parallels between the Stasi secret police force in East Germany targeting activist Lutheran congregations and DHS agents spying inside ELCA churches today.

President Donald Trump announced Thursday (Oct. 15) that the Pentagon will not livestream the execution of the Fort Hood shooter, backing away from a proposal that triggered widespread pushback from prominent religious leaders.

As Christians, we are called to be citizens of heaven — currently residing on earth — so we should learn to talk like it.

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Videos

Church

RNS found at least 25 immigrant pastors were detained, deported or otherwise separated from their churches. While Rev. Esdras Paredes ministers via video, his congregation sells tamales to raise funds and prays for a miracle.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at how some Republican politicians are attacking the faith of mainline Christians and how United Methodists are pushing back against the bigotry.

A national, faith-based movement called “Guns to Gardens” has the goal of getting guns off the streets and giving people a safe way to dispose of them.

Nation

'I don’t have words,' Martín Alonso Soto Hernandez said in Spanish while holding his wife and two children. 'Thank you so much for everything. I always, always stayed in prayer.'

The Kentucky governor's book tour to promote 'Go and Do Likewise,' a book about faith and politics, has been seen as a precursor to a run for president in 2028.

This issue of A Public Witness pulls back the curtain to explore self-defeating efforts from the religious right in Washington and Iowa.

World

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was built over the spots where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose from the dead.

As Israeli settler violence escalates in Taybeh, church leaders and organizations are working to give Palestinian Christians security, jobs, and community support to remain in the Holy Land.

The funding for humanitarian assistance abroad does not appear to include any U.S. based non-Christian groups in the aftermath of USAID's shutdown.

Editorials

We should all be concerned about government officials anointing themselves as the arbiters of what a Nativity scene should look like. Sadly, too many Christians today willingly side with Herod.

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.

Word&Way Voices

Across rural America, the same pattern repeats: high church density, persistent poverty, substance abuse crises, and the absence of systems capable of addressing problems at scale. Why do individual Christians often appear more effective than the organizations built in Christianity’s name?

Education should open minds to facts, science, and our history — not close doors to them. Regressive-thinking adults prefer to hide facts and truth from students, as exhibited in the recent order from President Trump adding warning signs to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

The anthropologist discusses her new book, why many Western countries are having trouble responding to climate issues, and how theological motifs relate to fossil fuels and artificial intelligence.

E-Newsletter

Wesley Welch of King’s Church DC delivered the sermon, becoming the ninth Southern Baptist pastor to preach out of 17 total services.

This issue of A Public Witness features an interview with Kristin Kobes Du Mez about her new book 'Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made.'

The head of the U.S. military — who has Crusader imagery tattooed on his body and the cover of his Bible — spent the anniversary promising divine violence.

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Recent Episodes

Books

Having a biography of an Episcopal Church nun, especially an African American Episcopal nun, is worth taking note of.

In this compelling study, renowned scholar John J. Collins shows that apocalyptic concerns extend beyond specific historical crises to fundamental questions of human mortality and limitation.

Written from a Christian perspective, this comparative theological exercise puts Muslims and Christians in a dialogue over faith and doctrines.

Philosopher Kent Dunnington invites us to move beyond pop psychology and reclaim a robustly biblical understanding of thanksgiving, one that transforms how we experience life, suffering, and God's generosity.