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This isn’t the first time Graham has been invited to speak at the Pentagon. Two previous occasions — one of which was canceled — each sparked controversy because of his comments about Islam.

As Christmas approaches and the world gazes once again toward Bethlehem, a fundamental choice emerges: Will Christians justify oppression and exclusion, or will they stand with the local Christian community?

The season of Advent urges us to slow down; to dwell in the fullness of God’s good news. God offers us life-affirming joy even as calamity follows crisis like an ever-unspooling tragedy.

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Videos

Church

Resurrection South Austin’s rector, Shawn McCain Tirres, said his congregants ‘wanted rootedness and wanted to feel connected to something ancient and global’ in joining the long-established form of American Anglicanism.

The ministers, mostly from Grand Rapids, are no longer willing to abide the denomination’s increasingly rigid stance on sexuality.

‘We are actively exploring other venues where we can continue to share our witness of the birth of Jesus Christ in the excellence and prophetic tradition of the Black Church,’ said Alfred Street Baptist Church.

Nation

This issue of A Public Witness looks at Lance Shockley’s extensive history of Christian leadership while in prison, as well as the role restorative justice should play in our criminal legal system.

Despite potential danger, religious leaders and faith activists have been a visible presence at Chicago-area ICE protests, some waving signs with slogans such as ‘Love thy neighbor’ and ‘Who would Jesus deport?’

In the first of a three-part special podcast series produced in partnership with Moravian Theological Seminary, Randall Balmer discusses how church-state separation has been good for both government and religion.

World

Muslims, Jews, Christians, and religious leaders from Eastern traditions gathered to call for an ethical use of artificial intelligence.

During the annual gathering of the Baptist World Alliance, members of the body’s general council unanimously passed a resolution on religious nationalism that specifically denounced Christian Nationalism. Two other unanimous resolutions addressed issues of world hunger and the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Many who opposed Daniil, the new Patriarch of All Bulgaria, worry that his election represents a sharp turn away from the policies of his predecessor, Neophyte I, who is remembered as a unifier.

Editorials

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!

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.”

Word&Way Voices

Kicking off this week's theme — Advent in a time of political anxieties — Rev. Dr. Kristel Clayville contemplates how changes in our political leadership trickle down to our everyday decisions.

Despite the horrors of ancient and current tyrannies, genocidal regimes, profit-driven greed, religious charlatans, social bigots, and political hypocrites, the heart of Advent is that God will not give up on humanity and the world.

Rev. Lauren Bennett reflects on her experience with a state execution this year and how faith requires us to bring softness to hard places while opening ourselves to meet Jesus in unlikely faces.

E-Newsletter

Joe Blosser’s recent book is challenging because it takes seriously the idea that the only way to love God well is to love our neighbors more by re-evaluating how much we’ve fallen in love with ourselves.

A debate in the Oklahoma Senate yesterday over the use of corporal punishment against children with disabilities turned into a lesson about how not to read the Bible.

A religious coalition won the first round of faith-based litigation against the Trump administration — but the scope of the preliminary injunction is limited.

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Recent Episodes

Books

As part of a series on "Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies in Religion and Theology," author José Francisco Morales Torres makes the case that wonder is not something we produce or seek but rather something that captivates and takes hold of

"Worship and Power: Liturgical Authority in Free Church Traditions" examines how Baptist, Pentecostal, Mennonite, and Disciples of Christ churches can effectively worship amid decentralized guidance.

Sociologist Wendy Cadge's "Spiritual Care: The Everyday Work of Chaplains" is an in-depth study that fills a gaping hole in understanding how religious care is provided within the United States.

Jonathan Root's Oral Roberts biography offers insights into a significant element in American Christianity as well as a cautionary tale about crass materialism.