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‘New York was the center of the slave trade in the United States,’ said the Rt. Rev. Matthew F. Heyd, bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. ‘That evil is part of the fabric of the diocese, and we’re trying to repair this fabric.’

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy argues that Trump has outdone every shyster who ever told a tall tale, every con artist, every swindler, every unscrupulous insurance salesman, and every crooked televangelist.

Religious summer camps date back to two parallel movements in the 19th century — the revivalist religious gatherings in tents and the “fresh-air movement” after the industrial revolution — and boomed after World War II.

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Church

The building, built in 1923, was funded entirely by women.

A defamation lawsuit filed by Hunt has cost the nation's largest Protestant denomination $3 million so far. A trial date is set for Nov. 12 in Nashville.

At its 2024 synod in June, the Christian Reformed Church instructed LGBTQ-affirming congregations to repent and comply with the denomination’s beliefs on sexuality. Some are now choosing to leave.

Nation

President Donald Trump ran on a campaign promise to ‘bring back religion.’ The NEH grants he canceled include several that advance understanding of Judaism and Christianity.

The Supreme Court is deciding a case brought by parents who say books taught in school violate their religious rights.

The email, prompted by an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in February, makes no mention of how to report bias or discrimination against other faiths.

World

The pro-Kremlin Lukashenko last month signed into law a measure requiring all religious organizations in the country to reregister with authorities or face being outlawed if their loyalty to the state is in doubt.

This issue of A Public Witness explores the subversive power of public mourning — like what happened recently after the state murder of Russian political dissident Alexei Navalny — to better understand a Beatitude of Jesus.

Judges across Europe are having a tough time deciding whether asylum-seekers claiming religious persecution are ‘genuine’ Christians.

Editorials

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.

(WW) — A recent CNN piece explored how contemporary Christian music largely ignores contemporary moral concerns. But one line in the piece particularly caught my eye — and not in a good way.

Imagine a world where Christians — both those running for office and those just planning to vote — actually applied the Golden Rule. With that goal in mind, Baptist and other denominational leaders are calling for Christians to act Christlike, even in political conversations.

Word&Way Voices

Marijuana will almost certainly be legalized throughout the United States and we should have a conversation about how we deal with church members who use it for medical or recreational purposes.

Tim Keller, an influential Presbyterian Church in America minister and bestselling author, has died at the age of 72. Despite their different beliefs, Juliet Vedral reflects on the points from his leadership that she will always treasure.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell has watched a generation of young people she worked with over the last two decades walk away from the church and organized religion — and she's not alone. So, what did we do wrong?

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness heads deep in the heart of Texas to track the campaign of U.S. Rep. Colin Allred as he shows up in pulpits hoping to unseat U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.

This issue of A Public Witness explores how challenging White supremacy and Christian Nationalism requires both honesty and repair.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at the origins of the unbiblical phrase ‘Jezebel Spirit’ and the danger it poses in today’s politics.

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Recent Episodes

Books

Robert D. Cornwall reviews "The Church After Innovation: Questioning Our Obsession With Work, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship" by Andrew Root. This book is a philosophical conversation about whether being innovative and creative is the best way to be faithful as Christians.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews "The Scandal of the Gospel: Preaching and the Grotesque" by Charles L. Campbell. This book challenges us to look beyond the safe path and embrace the less orderly and more chaotic realities of the grotesque, which

Robert D. Cornwall reviews "A Gift Grows in the Ghetto: Reimagining the Spiritual Lives of Black Men" by Jay-Paul Michael Hinds. This book reimagines the ghetto, a place of separation and abandonment, in terms of the wilderness that Ishmael experienced

Robert D. Cornwall reviews "Decolonizing Christianity: Becoming Badass Believers" by Miguel A. De La Torre. This book is a strongly worded prophetic statement calling for Christians of color to decolonize their minds, that is, set themselves free from the message