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‘It is featured in over 40 different Christian hymnals and sung in churches all across America, not just during Black History Month or Juneteenth,’ said musician Theodore Thorpe III.

As survivors gathered Tuesday, they invited another congregation that knows the pain of murderous hatred to join them: members of the Tree of Life synagogue.

Across the country, faith groups are gearing up for Juneteenth celebrations that weave spirituality and history.

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Church

Five churches organized the event out of a conviction of their faith, but as an invisible network.

The Southern Baptist Convention meeting this week in Dallas will also consider a proposed ban on churches with women pastors.

His books were influential primarily with clergy, but through their sermons Brueggeman’s concepts have become familiar to many churchgoers.

Nation

While a few sprinkles dampened Trump’s birthday military parade, millions of Americans across the country showed up at rallies to declare “No Kings” and show opposition to the administration’s authoritarian rule.

Vance Boelter claimed to be educated at Christ for the Nations, a Bible school in Dallas, and preached in DR Congo in recent years.

This issue of A Public Witness heads to “the land of 10,000 lakes” to consider Christian Nationalism and how it can emerge on the left as well as the right.

World

While Trump attended Francis’s funeral, he and JD Vance have clashed with U.S. bishops in general and Francis in particular over the administration’s hard line stance on immigration and its efforts to deport migrants en masse.

Following the funeral, preparations began in earnest to launch the centuries-old process of electing a new pope, a conclave that will begin on May 7.

This issue of A Public Witness offers short highlights from four reflections by Catholic writers on Pope Francis and his papacy.

Editorials

During a recent debate in the Missouri Senate over a proposal to create rape and incest exemptions to Missouri’s abortion ban, one lawmaker argued against such exceptions by defaming God.

For the final devotional exploring Advent in a time of bloodshed in Israel, Brian Kaylor reflects on how Gaza is significant in a biblical story that doesn’t explicitly mention the place.

This devotional poses a question ringing through the ages: Will we choose to adopt the values of Herod or the way of Jesus?

Word&Way Voices

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy makes the case that the story of Titus in Crete is the best metaphor for what has happened to America since Donald Trump was elected again.

The event included a keynote presentation by Rev. Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre, who highlighted the dangers of using religious texts to justify oppression.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell reflects on how we can continue to move forward when equality, respect, and truth seem like they are evaporating in front of us.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness explores a monument that upsets the political and historical stories being told (or not told) and challenges the religious claims we often make.

In “Pilgrim: A Theological Memoir,” readers are offered a glimpse into the late Tony Campolo’s unique faith journey that shaped him into an influential and prophetic religious leader.

This issue of A Public Witness sails over to the church-state crash in the Department of Transportation to consider the problems with this made-for-TV controversy.

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Recent Episodes

Books

“The Church Must Grow or Perish: Robert H. Schuller and the Business of American Christianity” examines Schuller's indelible imprint on the American church.

In “Becoming the Pastor’s Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman’s Path to Ministry,” Beth Allison Barr traces the history of the role, showing how it both helped and hurt women in conservative Protestant traditions.

In “Latter-Day Saint Theology Among Christian Theologies,” Grant Underwood asks the question: How do the beliefs of Latter-day Saints compare with traditional Christian theology?

In “Safe Church: How to Guard Against Sexism and Abuse in Christian Communities,” Andrew J. Bauman provides an honest look at how misogyny masquerades as biblical truth.