Home - Word&Way
logo
mobile-logo

Featured

Sign up now to learn more about the separation of church and state, why it matters for protecting both democracy and our gospel witness, and how Christians can advocate for it.

Adding to the many voices in the U.S. and around the world criticizing President Trump’s proposal, the patriarchs and heads of the churches in Jerusalem issued a powerful joint statement on Friday.

‘We cannot become a government that normalizes cruelty,’ Rep. Jesús G. Garcia, an Illinois Democrat, said while discussing the bill on the House floor.

No posts were found.

Videos

Church

Latino Episcopal clergy say that their congregations are thriving.

Leveraging social media, these parents and professionals aim to show that this parenting approach can result in trauma, estrangement and views of God as abusive.

Part of the new monastic movement began three decades ago among lay Protestants, Spring Forest is a model for how Christians can work, eat and worship as a community.

Nation

Unlike the police or military, the Border Patrol trains mostly lay agents endorsed by their faith denominations to become chaplains.

This issue of A Public Witness uncovers the history of using and opposing landmines to consider how Biden’s new policy move destroys the moral high ground he often tried to claim during his presidency.

The Episcopal Church, UCC, PCUSA, and ELCA have all ordained transgender priests, pastors, and bishops in recent years, and traditions such as the Metropolitan Community Church have spent decades advocating for LGBTQ+ people.

World

There are currently 1,300 Christians in the Northern Gaza Strip seeking refuge in churches who refuse to leave because they don’t know where to go.

In a region that unfortunately needs advocates for peace and justice now more than ever with the outburst of another war, this issue of A Public Witness takes you to the holy land of Lebanon to see the inspirational work of God's people.

A review of 10 years of global polling looks at the complicated connection between spirituality and health.

Editorials

During the state legislative session in Missouri that ended in May, I found myself at the Capitol more than usual -- and I’ve learned a couple things about the impact of a Baptist minister showing up to speak out for those of minority faiths or no faith at all.

On Mar. 13, more than 16 years in Missouri Baptist litigation came to an end. But if we rejoice in our “victories,” we miss the point that we all lost as we hurt the cause of Christ.

As with most theological topics, a wide diversity of opinions exists among Baptists on the nature of hell. In fact, Baptist theologians and preachers — much like church leaders in the first centuries after Jesus — have long been found in the various hell camps.

Word&Way Voices

Thomas Lecaque writes that the AR-15 has been claimed as the sword Christ will wield in the Apocalypse. It is not a tool for revelation, but it is certainly a tool of Armageddon. It is a gun that ends worlds.

Jeremy Fuzy writes that it is an American tradition to believe in the myth of redemptive violence — the idea that we can get violence under control by using more violence. But state-sanctioned killings, whether by police or the death penalty, do nothing to stop the underlying cycle of violence.

Professor Marcia Pally makes the case that in nations descended from Abrahamic traditions like the U.S., religion is not somehow conservative and anti-democratic while secularism is progressive and pro-democracy. Abrahamic principles are at the core of democracy.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness looks back at the 'kneel-ins' of the civil rights movement to consider recent protests at prominent churches.

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside the Poor People’s Campaign and its recent rallies around the country hoping to put issues of poverty on the public agenda in this election year.

This issue of A Public Witness gives you an inside look at disgraced former Lt. General Michael Flynn’s latest QAnon crusade called “Get in the Fight” being held in sanctuaries around the country.

Sign up to receive full essays in your inbox!

Recent Episodes

Books

Robert D. Cornwall reviews Chasing after Wind: A Pastor's Life by Douglas J. Brouwer. This book serves as a post-retirement memoir from a longtime Presbyterian (PCUSA) pastor that contains insights for clergy and non-clergy alike.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews On the Spectrum: Autism, Faith, and the Gifts of Neurodiversity by Daniel Bowman, Jr. The book was recently chosen by the Academy of Parish Clergy as its 2022 Book of the Year.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews the book The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr. Part memoir and part history, the book serves as a strong rebuttal to patriarchalism and complementarianism.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews Tradition and Apocalypse: An Essay on the Future of Christian Belief by David Bentley Hart. He argues that the book challenges our certainties and pushes our buttons, but with the war in Ukraine raising the profile