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Fountain Street Church, founded in 1869 through the merger of two Baptist congregations, has a legacy of rejecting dogma and pushing the envelope.

When Christianity becomes publicly associated with nationalist aggression and eagerness for war, it presents a face to the world that is, by any honest reading of the New Testament, a misrepresentation of the faith.

While organizers claim the government-run church services are for everyone, the March event particularly demonstrated that this was a program crafted by and intended for Catholics.

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Church

Across the country, faith groups are gearing up for Juneteenth celebrations that weave spirituality and history.

The Rev. Charles Graves IV is part of a younger, more diverse generation of Episcopal priests who believes the denomination can thrive — as long as it continues to evolve.

Overall, besides worship services, participation in other religious activities and programs has increased or remained the same in the last five years.

Nation

‘Jesus — who they claim to worship — went into the so-called houses of God, he flipped over tables. … So that’s what we did today,’ said minister and organizer Nekima Levy Armstrong.

Amid an internal investigation into Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the Department of Labor held its second monthly worship service featuring the rightwing anti-abortion activist niece of MLK.

The question of offering pastoral care to immigrant detainees has become a theological and legal flashpoint since President Donald Trump launched his mass deportation effort last year.

World

In September, he said Israel's attacks in Gaza and Lebanon have been immoral and disproportionate and that its military has gone beyond the rules of war.

An investigation found that he failed to tell police about serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it.

In the last two years, the number of religious activists who are being held as political prisoners has sharply increased — part of a broader escalation of a campaign of repression that has also led to the arrests of journalists and other opposition figures.

Editorials

Our nation finds itself at a critical moment of wrestling. And it might just lead to a biblical moment. But will Christians lead the way? Will we chart a new course with new names?

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to infect millions around the world and kill hundreds of thousands, we shouldn’t make the mistake of only considering the dangers of the microbiological world. This time is also revealing the plague within us with which we’ve infected others.

Amid the recent marches in all 50 states and several other countries against racial injustices, we’ve seen the crumbling of some of the building blocks of white supremacy. Literally.

Word&Way Voices

Contributing writer Greg Mamula walks through the various biblical, theological, and civic concerns raised by Louisiana’s attempt to mandate display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom.

Faithful America’s Rev. Nathan Empsall makes the case that Christian Nationalism poses multiple threats to the common good, but perhaps none are more dangerous than its misuse of Christianity to incite violence.

Christians often hear, share, and remember lies — but the light that exposes these lies doesn’t make their newsfeed. And this can make it difficult to be part of a faith community.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness opens a Bible and a (digital) newspaper to consider Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s roaring use of scripture to start a war.

While a few sprinkles dampened Trump’s birthday military parade, millions of Americans across the country showed up at rallies to declare “No Kings” and show opposition to the administration’s authoritarian rule.

This issue of A Public Witness heads to “the land of 10,000 lakes” to consider Christian Nationalism and how it can emerge on the left as well as the right.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In "With the Best of Intentions: Interreligious Missteps and Mistakes" more than three dozen scholars and practitioners of many faiths explore cases of missteps and outright failures of interfaith encounters.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy pens a love letter to Tim Alberta's "The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism" for its masterful understanding of the Trump alliance.

In "Scenes with My Son: Love and Grief in the Wake of Suicide," Robert Hubbard takes readers on a journey with a family shaken by mental illness so they can share in hard-won joys in defiance of depression.

Word&Way’s own Brian Kaylor and Beau Underwood wrote a new book, “Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism,” which is available for pre-order now.