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‘All I want is to see my husband back,’ said Denise Gedeon, whose pastor-husband, Joubert Adrien, was detained by ICE — one of two pastors arrested during a weekend that also brought a death, prayers, and vigils for a Haitian community under siege.

His writings touched on conservation, community, and belonging, and he acquired legions of fans beyond environmental studies — including many scholars of religion.

The Department of Homeland Security insists its surveillance at University Baptist Church and other houses of worship was only about alleged criminal violations unrelated to immigration.

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Church

'We too can have rough patches in our marriage,' said the Rev. Jamal Bryant, senior pastor of an Atlanta-area megachurch where is wife is an executive pastor.

Like other Haitians losing protection, they face an agonizing choice: try to stay in the U.S. and find underground work, constantly fearful of being caught by ICE. Or return to a nation so overwhelmed by gang violence and poverty that deportation is tantamount to a death sentence.

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside a hyperpartisan church for a taste of how the gospel of Jesus is being supplanted by an imperial lust for political power.

Nation

The leader of Pete Hegseth’s denomination recently said at a book promotion that ‘if America is a creedal nation, then you have to have creedal standards.’

An influential Southern Baptist pastor stood Wednesday (Aug. 19) in the headquarters of the world’s largest military and, with no sense of irony, preached a message of hope for Pentagon leaders by pointing to multiple biblical passages where God miraculously delivered people by defeating a large imperial military.

Civil rights advocates on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Texas law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments, teeing up a potential new test of state-sponsored religious expression in classrooms.

World

‘For three years, the police saw me as a nudnikit (pest),’ said Yisca Harani, founder of the Religious Freedom Data Center, which tracks and aims to prevent incidents targeting Christians in Israel. ‘After the incident with the nun, I feel they are taking me a little more seriously.’

A group including leaders from the World Council of Churches, the Anglican Communion, the World Methodist Council, and the PCUSA recently paid a solidarity visit to Cuba, aimed at highlighting Cuban suffering and condemning U.S. sanctions.

Faith leaders say they would welcome migrants deported from the United States but question the decision to send vulnerable people without ties to a nation still healing from years of sectarian violence.

Editorials

On Saturday (Oct. 18), millions of people attended “No Kings” rallies at about 2,600 locations across the country. Here are the remarks by Brian Kaylor at No Kings rally on the steps of the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City.

Brian Kaylor didn’t expect World magazine to like his new book, "The Bible According to Christian Nationalists." But he did anticipate that if the influential conservative Christian publication reviewed it, they would at least do so honestly. Apparently, that was expecting too much.

Somehow, the plan allegedly rooted in faith values to represent Christians means driving out of office one of only three ministers in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Word&Way Voices

We live in an era saturated with more means of communication than ever before, and yet we also face unprecedented threats to our genuine human connections.

The desire for a sustainable authoritarianism among MAGA Calvinists, such as the ‘Theobros’ and a coalition of Southern Baptist Reformed leaders, has lovers of democracy sounding the alarm.

Besides being an enjoyable and charming moviegoing experience, the new film — based on a German book called ‘Three Bags Full’ by Leonie Swann — is full of unexpected Christian imagery.

E-Newsletter

In light of advocacy from figures like Doug Wilson and Micah Beckwith, it’s worth remembering why the American experiment includes a ban on religious tests for office.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at how the head of the Russian Orthodox Church nukes God’s grace and mercy before considering how it serves as a warning about militaristic Christian Nationalism more broadly.

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside a hyperpartisan church for a taste of how the gospel of Jesus is being supplanted by an imperial lust for political power.

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Recent Episodes

Books

Leading practical theologian Andrew Root reveals how Protestant churches have become dangerously dependent on growth-driven stabilization, a mindset inherited from the industrial revolution's golden era.

For readers yearning for creative approaches to faith reconstruction, Tiffany Yecke Brooks points the way toward new and deeply meaningful encounters with God.

For this issue of A Public Witness, we offer our fifth annual list of books recommended by Word&Way writers that will be perfect for wherever you find your happy place this summer.

Author and pastor MaryAnn McKibben Dana delivers a powerful critique of society’s restrictive expectations while offering a transformative vision for human flourishing.