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Through insightful reflections, practical exercises, and thought-provoking questions, Richard Voelz redefines how to do theology outside of a church context.

The ICE shooting in Minneapolis, like the Jan. 6 insurrection, brings into sharp relief two different visions in America. Many of us now filter what we see through a pair of political eyeglasses, blurring facts with ideology.

The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness, part of the Presbyterian Church (USA), says Good is part of ‘a sacred lineage of faithful witnesses who have risked and lost their lives in defense of human dignity.’

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Videos

Church

Leaders of the American Baptist Home Mission Societies issued a statement Tuesday (Nov. 18) offering support for clergy who have been arrested while protesting ICE, including an American Baptist pastor in the Chicago area.

After decades of fierce controversies over sexuality and theology, some leaders of a conservative coalition say it's time to make a final break from what has long been one of the world's largest Protestant church families.

'Love that neighbor even when you don’t like ’em,' the former presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church said in a conversation with NYT reporter Ruth Graham at The Texas Tribune Festival.

Nation

This isn’t the first time Graham has been invited to speak at the Pentagon. Two previous occasions — one of which was canceled — each sparked controversy because of his comments about Islam.

At the movies this fall, Josh O’Connor plays a hot priest with a complicated past, Keanu Reeves is an angel who lost his wings, and Elizabeth Olsen has a romantic dilemma in the afterlife. Hollywood, it seems, has found God.

At least six white clergy and one seminarian — some from evangelical Christian backgrounds and others from mainline Protestant denominations — have declared to run as Democrats in 2026.

World

Proudly Palestinian, Taybeh’s Christians struggle with the threats of violence from Jewish settlers and the intensifying restrictions on movement imposed by Israel. Many also say they fear Islamist radicalization will grow in the area as conflicts escalate across the region.

The Trump administration’s deportation of more than a hundred Iranians held in ICE custody includes Christian converts and other religious minorities who may face harsh penalties for their religious beliefs upon return.

This issue of A Public Witness flips to the maps section of the Bible to see who should really control the ‘biblical heartland.’

Editorials

While messengers to last week’s annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention debated how to treat churches with women in pastoral roles, Baptist Women in Ministry showed up to offer a counter witness.

The thinning of the UMC’s conservative ranks makes this week’s conference a perfect time to address the issue.

Missing in all the jokes and news reports about the Trump Bible is that this isn’t the first time a presidential stamp of approval was sought for the Good Book.

Word&Way Voices

Advent teaches us that a shiny, gilded facade only serves to cover up the other side of the story. If we keep our focus on the child sleeping in an animal feeding trough, we might be unsettled — but the truth we see will compel us to live differently.

Advent reminds us we are called to help bring the empire of God — not of any power or principality — into being. And as the Lord’s Prayer exhorts, resist the temptations and trappings of the unjust.

As we sing Advent hymns, gather in community, light candles, and wait hopefully, may we also embody in our actions our coming Savior’s call — to feed the hungry and to provide compassion, love, and justice for all.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness looks at the DoL’s use of religion in its recent propaganda posters that push Christianity as part of a vision of a patriarchal, White nation.

On Veterans Day, we honor and lament the lives lost in violent wars. We cherish the freedoms we have today. We strive to heal those wounded by battles. But we must also pray and work for peace.

This issue of A Public Witness unpacks the House speaker’s latest attack on church-state separation and a surprising voice singing some opposition to his Christian Nationalist worldview.

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Recent Episodes

Books

The latest book from Robert D. Cornwall laments how Christians have historically built ‘fences’ around the Eucharist and explores just how radical Jesus’s vision for table fellowship can be.

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.

Historian Holly Berkley Fletcher — herself a missionary kid — unmasks the myths of White evangelicalism with penetrating research, sly wit, and an empathic gaze.

With ‘The Bible According to Christian Nationalists’ coming out soon, we’re honored to share these prepublication endorsements. Trust these experts on why you should pre-order the book today!