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Dissenting former evangelical Christian women are forging a path different from those who have left the church in the decades-long decline in institutional faith.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at the danger of religious attacks against politicians as MAGA comes after Republicans for non-Christian beliefs or for offering kind words to Americans celebrating a non-Christian religious holiday.

In this book, Baptist theologian Myles Werntz explores the landscape of twentieth-century ecclesiology and shows how the four marks of the church were remade, contested, and reaffirmed in surprising ways.

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Videos

Church

In mainline Christian circles, winter solstice celebrations and longest night services are growing in popularity.

The Moravian Church is one of the world's oldest Protestant denominations. Its name comes from the historical provinces of Bohemia and Moravia in what is now the Czech Republic.

'During the holidays, we are practicing relational spirituality and engaging in our awakened brain,' said one professor of psychology.

Nation

‘God is with us, and God will never leave us,’ Abrego told the crowd. ‘God will bring justice to all of the injustice that we are suffering.’

Alongside fundamentalist giants like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, he became a force in the 1980s for pushing conservative Christian ideals in mainstream American politics.

On Thursday, a delegation of religious leaders from Arkansas gathered at the state capitol in Little Rock to implore Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders not to resume state-sanctioned executions — specifically those using the method of gas asphyxiation.

World

‘A core practice of nonviolent resistance, including within our tradition, is economic non-cooperation with injustice,’ the Christian organizations wrote.

The incident underscored how the church’s official teaching bumps against the reality that there are gay priests and plenty of LGBTQ+ Catholics who want to be fully part of the life and sacraments of the church.

As the world’s eyes turn to France, host of the summer games in two months, their unique approach to the role of religious symbols in the public realm is getting more scrutiny.

Editorials

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.

When Zacchaeus met Jesus and recognized his sins, he did more than say a prayer. And a critical part of that story is the financial payments. But are we unwilling to let a Zacchaeus walk such a path of redemption?

We saw a prophetic example earlier this week at the United Nations. And like many of the Old Testament prophets, this modern one did not come from a prominent position of power. But God doesn’t usually speak through the powerful.

Word&Way Voices

Ryan Whitaker’s new film 'Surprised by Oxford,' based on Carolyn Weber’s memoir of the same name, explores what happens when our plans and expectations are thwarted by the vagaries of life.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell makes the case that children are walking around each day speaking the language of the world, so it is powerful when we can take those stories and translate them into our own religious language.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy argues that Rev. Mark Burns abused the Bible for secular political purposes during a recent ReAwaken America Tour event in order to foment violence and promote insurrection.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness explores Bishop Mariann Budde’s viral call for Trump to show mercy, the attacks on her and the Episcopal Church that followed, and the Washington National Cathedral’s history of advancing Christian Nationalism.

This issue of A Public Witness looks back at Anabaptism and what it still offers for Christians on the 500th anniversary of stirring the waters of a little fountain in Zürich.

This issue of A Public Witness considers the upcoming prayer services for the presidential inauguration and the problems with access spirituality.

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Recent Episodes

Books

"Preaching and Praying as Though God Matters: In the Post-establishment Church" by Ronald P. Byars seeks to provide us with a word that ties preaching and worship together, with special attention given to the Lord's Table.

In "The Desert of Compassion: Devotions for the Lenten Journey" author Rachel M. Srubas draws on the images of the desert, which she knows so well as a pastor in southern Arizona, to provide the reader/spiritual seeker with a rich

Barbara Mahany's "The Book of Nature: The Astonishing Beauty of God’s First Sacred Text" serves to remind us that before there was scripture, there was nature. It was nature that spoke to humanity about the presence of God the creator.

Jeremy Fuzy reviews "Second Thoughts about the Second Coming: Understanding the End Times, Our Future, and Christian Hope" by Ronald J. Allen and Robert D. Cornwall. This book explores the apocalypse from a mainline Protestant perspective.