Home - Word&Way
logo
mobile-logo

Featured

In ‘For Our Daughters,’ a new film from Kristin Kobes Du Mez, author of ‘Jesus and John Wayne,’ abuse survivors argue that if pastors can’t keep their own churches safe, they should not be running the country.

This issue of A Public Witness reflects on the current escalation of violent hostilities between Israel and Lebanon and the historic Christian population caught in the crossfire.

More than 200 Christian leaders have signed a document arguing that 'democracy stands embattled.'

No posts were found.

Dangerous Dogma

Church

A pair of new lawsuits, including one that includes civil RICO claims, come at a time when the SBC Executive Committee faces a fiscal and leadership crisis.

After many in the room cheered her on and stood as she preached, the session featuring her sermon temporarily disappeared from the National Baptist Convention U.S.A. Inc.’s Facebook page.

The same area of the country that tends to be the most politically conservative and Republican-leaning was where most United Methodist churches voted to leave the denomination.

Nation

About 10 miles from Johnson Space Center, a Houston-area Baptist church takes a moment during Wednesday Bible studies and Sunday evening services to pray for two members who cannot be there.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at a state gubernatorial campaign that demonstrates how Christian Nationalism is being normalized and adopted in politics today.

For nearly three days in and around Washington, D.C., an interfaith coalition challenged the Christian Zionism of pastor John Hagee, founder of the largest pro-Israel group in the U.S.

World

In a region that unfortunately needs advocates for peace and justice now more than ever with the outburst of another war, this issue of A Public Witness takes you to the holy land of Lebanon to see the inspirational work of God's people.

A review of 10 years of global polling looks at the complicated connection between spirituality and health.

After the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas launched a large, surprise attack on Israel on Saturday (Oct. 7), a Baptist who ministers in the Gaza Strip urged prayers amid the “unprecedented” conflict. More than 1,000 Israelis and Palestinians have been killed in just two days of fighting.

Editorials

During a visit in September to Auschwitz, the beauty of the place haunted me. Rows of trees popped up between the brick buildings. It looked so quaint. So normal. So not grotesque. So not evil.

As the U.S. Supreme Court today (Jan. 22) hears arguments in a critical church-state case, Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, one problematic phrase the justices will likely hear a lot is “Blaine amendments." The problem? The phrase tells an inaccurate story.

Across the country, state lawmakers recently returned to their chambers to pass important matters like putting up little signs in schools to magically make our society better. We should post this phrase everywhere and watch the miraculous transformation!

Word&Way Voices

Angela Denker reflects on the aftermath of the worst earthquake in recent memory that struck Turkey and northwest Syria. Like all natural disasters and mass casualty events, as the death toll rises our ability to contemplate and synthesize the loss paradoxically decreases.

Sociologist and educator Dr. Nabil Tueme uses Springtide Research Institute’s latest research report “Navigating Injustice: A Closer Look at Race, Faith & Mental Health” to argue that when faith leaders ignore racial/ethnic identity, this makes young people of color feel misunderstood and unwelcome.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy writes that we will never understand conservative evangelicals until we understand the theological construction of the dominant trope that "Democrats are devils." This has become the most successful propaganda campaign in American politics.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness introduces you to the 56th speaker of the House — the founding dean of a failed Baptist law school, an attorney for three firms devoted to advancing Christian Nationalism, a crusader for prayer in public schools, an evangelist proclaiming the U.S. is “a Christian

In his timely new book, noted scholar David Gushee brings his incisive ethical lens to defending democratic commitments and articulating the need for Christians to recommit themselves to its practices.

While historian Jemar Tisby has been canceled from many conservative White Christian spaces, other Christians are willing to listen. So this issue of A Public Witness takes you to a special class session to learn about the need for churches to fight institutional racism.

Sign up to receive full essays in your inbox!

Podcasts

No posts were found.

Books

Robert D. Cornwall reviews Churches and the Crisis of Decline: A Hopeful, Practical Ecclesiology for a Secular Age by Andrew Root. This book explores the question of what the church might look like in the future as it experiences a

In this issue of A Public Witness, we both join with six other people to each suggest two books for your consideration. We hope you’ll find at least one good book to help in your own formation this summer.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews The Pastor’s Bookshelf: Why Reading Matters for Ministry by Austin Carty. When it comes to reading, Carty wants clergy to know that only reading ministry-related books is not a sufficiently healthy diet and suggests they read

Perfect for Father’s Day, a review of Dear Son: Raising Faithful, Just, and Compassionate Men by Jonathan Hall and Beau Underwood. And learn how to win the autographed copy we will give away.