Home - Word&Way

Featured

The controversial ‘paleo-Confederate’ Christian Nationalist pastor stood at a podium on Tuesday as the guest preacher for the latest monthly Christian worship service held for leaders of the U.S. military.

‘I don’t think Jesse Jackson saw his political life as something different from his call from God as a preacher,’ said the Rev. Valerie Bridgeman.

A new report from the Public Religion Research Institute shows deep divides over the place of Christianity in the U.S.

No posts were found.

Videos

Church

In the sessions, Black faith leaders are schooled on the differences between Sunni, Shia, and Nation of Islam sects and discuss the privileges Black Christians can enjoy compared to Black Muslims.

Campbell, who also was the director of religion at the Chautauqua Institution, was described as 'an extraordinary ecumenist and activist' by Bishop Vashti McKenzie, the current NCC general secretary.

The Rev. Eboni Marshall Turman, who served in leadership roles at Abyssinian, including as assistant minister, said in a Wednesday statement that she is ‘prayerfully preparing’ an appeal.

Nation

America has become less religious because white Americans are less religious. Most recent immigrants are religious, and many are Christians.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at the not-so-immaculate conception of Christ the King Sunday and the theological conflict today between different visions of Christ as King.

The Center on Faith & Justice at Georgetown University recently launched a campaign encouraging people to pledge not to shop on Amazon during this Advent season — and A Public Witness is one of the official partners.

World

Many who opposed Daniil, the new Patriarch of All Bulgaria, worry that his election represents a sharp turn away from the policies of his predecessor, Neophyte I, who is remembered as a unifier.

This comes nearly a year after one of the worst mob attacks on Christians in the country.

The largest ecumenical body in the United States included a panel about the ongoing tragedies in Armenia, Haiti, and Sudan as part of their recent Impact Week.

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

This issue of A Public Witness heads to the Cheese State to consider the church politicking of an Elon Musk-backed court hopeful.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at the U.S. government coming for a Palestinian student activist for exercising his free speech rights and the Christian and other religious voices speaking out for him.

Historian David Swartz unpacks his new seven-episode narrative podcast series on conversations in his Kentucky community about a local Confederate statue.

Sign up to receive full essays in your inbox!

Recent Episodes

Books

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.

In "Ancient Echoes: Refusing the Fear-Filled, Greed-Driven Toxicity of the Far Right," influential biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann speaks to ideologies and efforts that are rooted in appeals to fear of the other, the one who is different.

In "If God Still Breathes, Why Can't I?: Black Lives Matter and Biblical Authority," scholar Angela N. Parker compellingly makes the case that doctrines of biblical inerrancy and infallibility, which are prominent within evangelicalism and fundamentalism, serve as tools of