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The executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society commemorates the 1776 Dissenters’ Petition of Ten Thousand Names and connects it to our religious freedom struggles today.

With the midterm elections less than two weeks away, Pete Hegseth’s job security is increasingly uncertain — meaning this could be the final Pentagon worship service.

Can we bypass the end times by becoming worthy of God’s love and presence — and does the Bible show that all prophecy is set in stone? Maybe we should ask Jonah.

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Videos

Church

‘We have to try to make it so big it can't be rigged,’ Michigan Baptist leader the Rev. James C. Perkins said of voter turnout efforts.

Hundreds of residents gathered for a community-wide re-dedication of the original First Baptist Church of Williamsburg, which was established in 1776 by enslaved and free African Americans in defiance of laws that prevented them from congregating.

The lawsuit, from Archbishop Mitchell Thomas Rozanski along with the Archdiocese of St. Louis, accused the Department of Homeland Security and ICE of instituting policies that violate 'core constitutional values.'

Nation

Securing public money for private education raises issues over church-state separation but fulfills a longstanding goal for Christian Nationalists like Doug Wilson, who founded the Association of Classical Christian Schools.

A survey released Tuesday (Oct. 20) found that Republicans and evangelicals increasingly see empathy as a danger that can lead society away from God. The survey found that more than half of Americans see President Trump as a threat to democracy.

While the idea of poll chaplains has been around for several years, 2026 will likely be different because there is widespread concern that the presence of federal immigration agents could create a chilling effect.

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

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.

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.

E-Newsletter

The defense secretary’s conscription of Isaiah 6:8’s ‘send me’ to promote military recruitment has also drawn rebukes from Christian Nationalist figures such as pastor/commentator Joel Webbon and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

A federal judge recently ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to report about any protected church where it has conducted an immigration enforcement action. But the agency told the court it had no idea how many incidents there may be, insisting it had no reasonable way to check its

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.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In this forthcoming new release, journalist and author Sarah Stankorb puts women’s voices and experiences of American Christianity front and center.

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.