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On Saturday (Oct. 18), millions of people attended “No Kings” rallies at about 2,600 locations across the country. Here are the remarks by Brian Kaylor at No Kings rally on the steps of the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy makes the case that the quest for secular political power has led to a conservative evangelical rejection of the clear teachings of Jesus.

Beau Underwood reviews The Seven Mountains Mandate: Exposing the Dangerous Plan to Christianize America and Destroy Democracy, which Matthew Boedy wrote to alert those who were ignorant or complacent about what was going on and what was at stake.

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Church

Jackson described how faith, especially instilled by her now late grandmother, had undergirded her personal and professional life.

When the CCLI Top 100 chart first appeared in 1988, most of the songs had one writer. Today, the average hit worship song has at least two writers — who often have ties to the so-called Big Four megachurches.

The Rev. Jerry Young, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi, has been president for two five-year terms and cannot run for a consecutive third term.

Nation

Warren Throckmorton is concerned about the rise in citing pseudo-historian David Barton this year and next as we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026.

U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles wrote to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon asking her to investigate the prominent Christian college’s “Hope, Unity, and Belonging” program, which he claimed was diversity, equity, and inclusion in disguise.

The plaintiffs include five regional synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and three regional Quaker groups. Three denominations are also listed: American Baptist Churches USA, Alliance of Baptists, and Metropolitan Community Churches.

World

The prayers may be too little too late on an issue that has long alienated the church from politicians and peers.

Francis added his voice to increasing calls for binding, global regulation of AI in his annual message for the World Day of Peace, which the Catholic Church celebrates each Jan. 1.

As the world-famous Paris landmark's reopening draws closer, people are beginning to picture their return to the place they call home and are impatient to breathe life back into its repaired stonework and vast spaces.

Editorials

Brian KaylorThere is a scene in the biblical Christmas story that bugs me. I didn’t notice it for years. But one Christmas as I was preparing a couple of sermons, I was struggling

Brian KaylorLast month, news headlines called the shooting in Las Vegas the “deadliest mass shooting in US history.” That’s the fifth time in my life that such a tragedy claimed that title —

Brian KaylorI recently lost a tooth. And the tooth fairy didn’t even bother to give me a quarter — or whatever the going rate is these days.

Word&Way Voices

Angela Denker reflects on the aftermath of the worst earthquake in recent memory that struck Turkey and northwest Syria. Like all natural disasters and mass casualty events, as the death toll rises our ability to contemplate and synthesize the loss paradoxically decreases.

Sociologist and educator Dr. Nabil Tueme uses Springtide Research Institute’s latest research report “Navigating Injustice: A Closer Look at Race, Faith & Mental Health” to argue that when faith leaders ignore racial/ethnic identity, this makes young people of color feel misunderstood and unwelcome.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy writes that we will never understand conservative evangelicals until we understand the theological construction of the dominant trope that "Democrats are devils." This has become the most successful propaganda campaign in American politics.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness unpacks the devotion to Saint Michael the Archangel, why Donald Trump recently posted about him, and what it means for our politics today.

This issue of A Public Witness explores alarming new moves to implement Christian Nationalistic ideas in Indiana and Oklahoma before considering a glimmer of hope in Texas.

This issue of A Public Witness unpacks how Kamala Harris’s decision to skip the Al Smith Dinner — and the legacy of Smith (the first Catholic nominee for president) — offers important insights into this year’s campaign.

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Books

Robert D. Cornwall reviews Stepmother: Redeeming a Disdained Vocation by Dorothy C. Bass. The book delivers a deeper understanding of complex family relationships and seeks to redeem a “disdained vocation” through exploring life experiences and offering a word of grace

Robert D. Cornwall reviews Holy Communion in Contagious Times: Celebrating the Eucharist in the Everyday and Online Worlds by Richard A. Burridge. The book is both a scholarly response and a personal reflection since Burridge draws on his own experiences

Robert D. Cornwall reviews The New Adam: What the Early Church Can Teach Evangelicals (and Liberals) about the Atonement by Ron Highfield. The book explores how we should understand the death and resurrection of Jesus and what this means for

Robert D. Cornwall reviews The Mind in Another Place: My Life as a Scholar by Luke Timothy Johnson. The book serves as a memoir about the life of a scholar, written both for potential academics and for those who wonder