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On Veterans Day, we honor and lament the lives lost in violent wars. We cherish the freedoms we have today. We strive to heal those wounded by battles. But we must also pray and work for peace.

Scholar Matthew Boedy exposes a dangerous plan driven by prosperity preachers, extremist politicians, and right-wing power brokers to destroy democracy and turn America into a Christian Nationalist state.

Under the new restructuring plan, called 'regionalization,' the denomination's nine regions will be equal partners with greater freedom to tailor church life to their own customs and traditions.

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Church

The ministers’ statement also criticized White evangelicals, whom it described as ‘drunk on the religion of White Christian Nationalism.’

This issue of A Public Witness looks at numerous sermons by Episcopal and other mainline preachers across the country as they reflected on Luke 4, Bishop Budde, and showing mercy.

In less than four months, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church has doled out more than $3.5 million in rent support to hundreds of people who have walked through its doors.

Nation

This issue of A Public Witness dons a mask before carefully treading into the dangerous medical — and religious — anti-vax world of Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo.

Even so, many houses of worship ban guns on their property — and religious groups have been among the loudest calling for gun control legislation.

Protesters led by the Rev. Al Sharpton descended on Manhattan’s financial district to decry efforts by the Trump administration and corporations to abandon diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

World

This comes nearly a year after one of the worst mob attacks on Christians in the country.

The largest ecumenical body in the United States included a panel about the ongoing tragedies in Armenia, Haiti, and Sudan as part of their recent Impact Week.

There are 182,000 Christians in Israel, 50,000 in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and 1,300 in Gaza, according to the U.S. State Department. The vast majority are Palestinians.

Editorials

At the Christmas Eve service I attended recently, the Christ candle in the Advent wreath wouldn’t light. The pastor tried and tried. Eventually, as giggles worked their way down the crowded pews, he said everyone should just pretend it was lit.

When my son was younger, he had a few verbal ticks where he would say one thing when he meant another. A common example of this verbal confusion pops up today as I frequently hear people say “political” when they really mean “partisan.”

On Tuesday (Dec. 17), the state of Missouri installed a false god on top of the Capitol building. Or, at least that’s what a state representative claimed. But I wonder if the case should remind us of the difference between influence and worship.

Word&Way Voices

Rev. Angela Denker explores the phenomenon of non-ordained men married to women who are pastors. So simple. So revolutionary. So threatening to many American Christians.

Pastor and hospice chaplain Melissa Bowers reminds us that in the long, horrifying legacy of state-sanctioned murder in the United States, a tiny pinprick of light has broken through.

Rev. Carlos L. Malavé of the Latino Christian National Network contrasts our propensity for fear and fighting violence with more violence with an alternative reality revealed to us through this liturgical season.

E-Newsletter

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’s refusal to defend her fellow Lutherans is quite telling for understanding how some politicians are prioritizing politics and religion today.

This issue of A Public Witness explores what Trump’s outburst about taking over the Gaza Strip reveals about the oligarchic values of the new administration as well as the immorality of prominent MAGA Christians.

In a month, the season of Lent will start and run through Easter on April 20. We have the perfect devotional book that calls for unsettling the biblical stories about Jesus’s teachings, ministries, death, and resurrection.

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Recent Episodes

Books

As the temperatures rise and vacations approach, this issue of A Public Witness includes some of our recommendations for great summer reads. Whether you find yourself on the beach, in a secluded cabin, or just in your own backyard, we

In "Trauma-Informed Evangelism: Cultivating Communities of Wounded Healers," authors Charles Kiser and Elaine A. Heath speak to the concerns of our day so that if we share our faith, we can bring into the conversation the realities of trauma that

In his book "Good and Evil in the Garden of Democracy," author Rodney Kennedy brings his reading of scripture and philosophy into conversation with rhetorical criticism in order to better understand Trump's threat to democracy.

Every month we review and give away a signed copy of a book to a paid subscriber of A Public Witness. This month, we’re happy to make available a signed copy of what Kristin Kobes Du Mez called “an essential