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'We're going to sing and sing and try to touch the hearts of the ICE agents,' said the Rev. Jacqueline Lewis, senior pastor at Middle Church in New York.

This issue of A Public Witness explores the theology behind viewing the United States as a nation that God asks to perform miracles, as expressed in the State of the Union address on Tuesday.

The day of action, titled “Faithful Resistance,” was planned months ago, and organizers settled on their schedule before the date for this week’s State of the Union was announced.

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Church

This issue of A Public Witness explores an intra-Catholic Easter weekend as well as multiple Easter sermons from progressive ministers around the United States.

‘I think most of the major Black denominations, in terms of its membership, is divided,’ said Bishop Reginald Jackson, leader of mid-Atlantic African Methodist Episcopal churches.

Vladimir Grygorenko is decorating the dome of a North Texas Christian Orthodox Church with an iconic representation of the ascension of Christ.

Nation

West Virginia’s school vaccination policy has long been heralded by medical experts as one of the most protective in the country for children.

With Pentagon prayer services continuing into the Christmas season, this issue of A Public Witness peeks inside Pete Hegseth’s monthly effort to establish his brand of rightwing Christianity inside the government.

The third installment of the ‘Knives Out’ series examines the spiritual warfare within American Christianity and looks at writer-director Rian Johnson’s struggle with the essence of faith.

World

'It is a wakeup call for the churches,' said an Anglican priest. 'The churches should remain independent, and I think the youth are angry that this is not the case.'

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.

Editorials

(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.

There’s a fascinating, oft - overlooked parable in Judges 9. It might be one of the most profound teachings about political power and who we trust to rule found in the scriptures.

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

The letter follows a contentious hearing over Senate Bill 594 last week that several ministers attended to testify against the proposal.

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside a contentious hearing in the Missouri Senate, offers context for Ten Commandments mandates spreading across the country, and highlights the strong Christian opposition to an attempted Christian Nationalist power grab.

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside a recent academic gathering to hear from some of the nation’s leading scholars as they offer ways to push back against a dangerous ideology.

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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.