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The Salvation Army is exploiting a connection to the Beatles to draw more visitors to fund its mission and encourage people who would never consider stepping inside a church to find out about Christianity.

The resistance follows a summer order that propelled Oklahoma to the center of a growing push by conservatives to give Christianity a bigger role in public schools across the U.S.

This issue of A Public Witness explores the religious ethics behind the Golden Rule and why it matters when Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz declares that it means “mind your own damn business.”

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Dangerous Dogma

Church

The nation’s largest Protestant denomination has settled a sexual abuse lawsuit against one of its prominent leaders who had been accused of allegedly molesting young men for decades.

Best known for launching a round-the-clock prayer and missions group, Bickle admitted to ‘past misconduct’ earlier this month.

Young musicians have taken to the organ at a time when there has been a decline in the number of instruments and in the professionals who play them.

Nation

MAGA evangelicals grab all the headlines. But it’s swing state faith voters — Catholics, mainliners, and Black Protestants — who will likely decide the election.

The high court determined the school board's vote to approve the application by the Catholic Archdiocese for the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School violates both the Oklahoma and U.S. constitutions, as well as state law.

'This is religious favoritism, and it is not only dangerous, but runs counter to my religion and faith,' said the Rev. Jeff Sims, a Presbyterian Church (USA) minister and a plaintiff in the case.

World

Nicaragua’s government on Wednesday declared the Jesuit religious order illegal and ordered the confiscation of all its property. The move comes one week after the government of President Daniel Ortega confiscated the Jesuit-run University of Central America in Nicaragua.

Earlier this month, Russian police raided a prominent Baptist minister’s home for criticizing the military. But before they could arrest him, he slipped out of the country. We spoke with him as he recalled his ministry and courageous defiance.

The pope made the announcement while addressing the need for human rights protections in Europe.

Editorials

We celebrate many early Baptist giants. Thomas Helwys. Roger Williams. John Leland. Adoniram and Anne Judson. Luther Rice. But there’s one we generally don’t know: Jack.

Throughout much of the book of Judges a consistent pattern emerges: the Israelites disobey God, find themselves oppressed for many years, a judge arises to bring peace for a few decades, and then they start the cycle all over.

Over the weekend, U.S. Special Operations forces trapped terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who then killed himself with a suicide blast. The world is safer with al-Baghdadi no longer planning terrorist activities. But that doesn’t mean we should cheer his death.

Word&Way Voices

Professor Greg Carey writes that hope is an essential strategy for Christians. As the apostle Paul said, three things abide: faith, hope, and love. Love may be the “greatest,” says Paul, but hope stands in the top three.

Terrell Carter writes that unfortunately, mass shootings and other acts of violence have become an ordinary experience in our world. Some might say that this upward trend in violence epitomizes the “ordinariness of suffering,” the fact that violent things regularly occur in the world.

Angela Parker from Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology writes about the time that a complementarian invited her to lunch. Thinking through the genealogy in Matthew’s Gospel and Ware’s re-imagination makes her ask how certain segments of Christianity still stifle women’s ministry.

E-Newsletter

In this issue of A Public Witness, we virtually meet in St. Louis to hear from the Progressive National Baptist Convention as they advocate for an engaged faith on the ninth anniversary of Michael Brown's death in nearby Ferguson, Missouri.

This issue of A Public Witness takes you to Louisville to see how a denomination with deep American roots is witnessing against those advocating for a close alignment between God and country. And includes exciting news about a forthcoming effort from us.

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside the Rising Youth cohort of Faith in Action to hear about young adult dreams for more faithful politics.

Sign up to receive full essays in your inbox!

Podcasts

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Books

Robert D. Cornwall reviews Living Under Water: Baptism as a Way of Life by Kevin J. Adams. Cornwall makes the case that this book can help us gain a better sense of what baptism means so that we can live

Over the course of the past two years, the preachers of the Washington National Cathedral have addressed the grief, loneliness, and other trials of the COVID-19 pandemic through sermons each Sunday. 

Andrew Young is marking his birthday with a four-day celebration from March 9–12, starting with a livestreamed “Global Prayer for Peace” worship service at the Atlanta church, followed by a peace walk, debut of the book The Many Lives of Andrew

Voices Editor Jeremy Fuzy reviews a new book by Rodney Kennedy, The Immaculate Mistake: How Evangelicals Gave Birth to Donald Trump. Kennedy utilizes his identity as a scholar of rhetoric and a Baptist preacher to draw out new understandings of