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This week, Rev. William Barber II gathered in front of the White House along with dozens of other clergy to protest the conflict that the Trump administration started against Iran.

Rev. Adam Hamilton has a national following among mainline Protestants, and he’s built his Church of the Resurrection over the past 35 years in the Kansas City area with about 22,000 members.

Amar Peterman’s new book makes the case that how we interact with our neighbors forms who we are as Christians. It contains wisdom for scholars, pastors, and lay Christians working to remain steadfast to the hope they profess.

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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

No references to Jesus, claims of ‘discrepancies’ in the 2020 elections, nor disputed allegations about the origin of COVID-19 were included in a new draft of academic standards for social studies courses in Oklahoma public schools.

Several of these groups are connected with ZOE, an emerging network of progressive Christian student ministries.

Coverage of Thursday’s event has largely focused on Trump’s rambling remarks — but the much more problematic and dangerous comments actually came later from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

World

Surf Church was established by an ordained Baptist pastor to spread the Gospel in a once-devoutly Catholic country where about half of young people today say they have no religion.

The Salvation Army is exploiting a connection to the Beatles to draw more visitors to fund its mission and encourage people who would never consider stepping inside a church to find out about Christianity.

A large majority of Ukrainians are Orthodox, but they are divided between two main groups with similar names: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

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

Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon, executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace, offers this first entry in our week exploring the theme of Advent during a time of bloodshed in Israel.

Rev. Nathan Empsall, executive director of Faithful America, writes that we begin to calm our anxieties only when we learn to accept the presence of divine mystery in our lives.

Rev. Janna Louie, chief of staff for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, reflects on Psalm 80 and how anxieties can be transformed by collective grief and lament.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness looks at what’s happening with U.S. refugee resettlement and the South African Christians pushing back against the apartheid theology propping up the Trump administration.

This issue of A Public Witness explores which recent presidents actually talked about Jesus in their public remarks and what it means for protecting religious liberty.

This issue of A Public Witness takes us inside MAGA merchandise shops in Branson, Missouri, to explore some surprising theological messages that mix partisan politics with the worship of violence.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In "After Botham: Healing From My Brother's Murder by a Police Officer," Allisa Charles-Findley challenges us to listen to the cries of those who have experienced grief and to puts forth a call to join the struggle for justice.

In "Eucharist and Unity: A Theological Memoir," Keith Watkins offers a personal angle on the interrelated themes of ecumenism, modern American religious history, practical theology, and communion.

In "Saving Faith: How American Christianity Can Reclaim Its Prophetic Voice," Randall Balmer argues that any attempt to arrest the decline of Christianity in America must first reckon with the past.

In "Religious Liberty in a Polarized Age," author Thomas C. Berg makes the case that religious freedom for all is part of the cure for our political division.