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As immigrants increasingly fear detention at ICE check-ins, many faith groups have doubled down on accompaniment strategies to support them at those appointments.

As Sen. Josh Hawley makes a push to require every federal building across the country to post “In God We Trust,” this issue of A Public Witness looks back at the real history of our national motto.

This new book makes the case that learning to read Orthodox icons can offer Protestants an opportunity to engage with Scripture through the fresh lens of a visual biblical language.

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Videos

Church

A dispute over weekend parking in bike lanes has left a group of inner-city congregations — four churches, a pair of synagogues and the Philadelphia Ethical Society — in Philadelphia dealing with a tricky urban dilemma.

During a recent installment of A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast, hosts Simon Doong and the Rev. Lee Catoe asked pastor and author the Rev. Dr. Brian Kaylor to talk about how mainline Protestants have helped build Christian Nationalism.

When faculty and staff at Sterling College received an updated employee handbook in August 2023, they were quickly alarmed by changes made without their input. Those concerns sparked a year of frustration with president Scott Rich’s leadership, frustration that continues as a new school year approaches.

Nation

A group of Dallas-area families and faith leaders have filed a lawsuit seeking to block a new Texas law that requires copies of the Ten Commandments be posted in every public school classroom.

This issue of A Public Witness highlights a prominent progressive Christian voice as a case study in the dangers of election denialism festering in anti-Trump circles.

Texas will require all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments under a new law that will make the state the nation’s largest to attempt to impose such a mandate. 

World

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.

A tiny Christian minority sitting on one of the Holy Land's most valuable pieces of real estate has rebelled against a real-estate deal that would sacrifice nearly 25% of its land in Jerusalem.

The lush Cedars of God Forest, some 2000 meters (6,560 feet) above sea level near the northern town of Bcharre, is part of a landscape cherished by Christians.

Editorials

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.

Brian KaylorA popular myth surrounds the hymn “Amazing Grace.” It illustrates that how we tell a story matters, because the details teach us the moral of the story. The simple version makes it

Word&Way Voices

Rev. Angela Denker reflects on the church life her kids don't get to live and how at times it feels like it would be easier to uncompromisingly champion a strong and central Church, one that can afford to take for granted its place at the center of American community and

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy argues that the bully pulpit of yesteryear has effectively been replaced by bully politics — but we will never fully understand how this happened until we examine how cruelty is often disguised as a form of humor.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell makes the case that this MLK day, we should honor his great teacher Dr. Howard Thurman by walking in nature, sitting in reflective silence, looking at the ways creation works together, and then applying these lessons to our lives. We might even find ourselves talking to

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness treks to Latin America to consider the dangers arising from the political co-opting of sacred texts.

The conventions are over and it’s a 10-week political sprint to election day — but many churches don’t know how to talk about political rancor. One constructive way to address this is to focus on Christian Nationalism.

This issue of A Public Witness explores the religious ethics behind the Golden Rule and why it matters when Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz declares that it means “mind your own damn business.”

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Recent Episodes

Books

Robert D. Cornwall reviews My Body Is Not a Prayer Request: Disability Justice in the Church by Amy Kenny. The book uses the author's own story to call on the church to rethink how it understands and relates to disabled

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.