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In the first month of direct state aid for Missouri’s K-12 scholarship program, 98% of funds went to Christian, Jewish, and Islamic institutions.

Anyone trying to build a bridge between faiths is liable to invoke Abraham — revered as a founding figure in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism — as someone they hold in common.

With the execution of Lance Shockley approaching, this issue of A Public Witness unpacks the debate over his religious freedom rights for his final moments.

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Videos

Church

‘I never thought I had one day to cancel Sunday worship because it is not safe for our Latino siblings to come to church. But here we are … ,’ wrote one pastor on Facebook.

Jahleel Hills, a 27-year-old filmmaker and sixth-generation member of Berean Baptist Church, has teamed up with church elders to ensure its story reaches and inspires the next generation.

Newell Presbyterian is part of a growing trend of declining congregations with underutilized space, excess land or deteriorating buildings that are selling or leasing some of their land for affordable housing.

Nation

People who worked with Feucht's worship organizations have shared details about his amassing of high-value property, verbal abuse, and overworking volunteers and staff without fair wages.

Speaking at a recent worship service at the Pentagon, Hegseth said the US needs to be ‘in prayer, on bended knee, recognizing the providence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.’

This issue of A Public Witness looks at four recent promotional videos created by the DoW that co-opt Bible verses to glorify the U.S. military.

World

The project has been criticized even by religious leaders in the East African nation.

Netflix released the documentary ‘Apocalypse in the Tropics,’ which seeks to understand how the far right mobilizes faith for political interest.

On a rare solidarity visit, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III and Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa asserted that Israeli authorities ‘facilitate and enable’ the presence of settlers who have intensified attacks.

Editorials

Brian Kaylor reflects on state executions during Christmastime and the modern parallels with a biblical character we often leave out of our nativity sets and pageants.

Lawmakers are arguing that if the federal government can restrict structures in the Rio Grande, then they could use the same Act everywhere because of Noah’s flood. Putting aside the legal silliness of the appeal to Genesis, this issue of A Public Witness joins the 22 Republican representatives in their

Focusing almost entirely on the SBC not only minimizes the theological (and political and racial) diversity of Baptists, but it also privileges a patriarchal body over others.

Word&Way Voices

A new film by Mike Flanagan, based on a Stephen King short story, deals with the power and significance of one life and points to the Story within the story.

The Trump administration often speaks of protecting Christians from discrimination worldwide. But that concern seems to vanish when Israel is involved — even with a Baptist pastor serving as the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy argues that if our democracy has a chance to return to a vibrant life in the future, its ambiguous and messy universal principles will need to be in fighting form.

E-Newsletter

In life and in death, Charlie Kirk represented the worst of American politics. He stoked dangerous conspiracies, attempted to silence voices he disagreed with, and utilized violent rhetoric mixed with a godly veneer. Then, someone decided to respond with evil by picking up a gun to silence a life.

This issue of A Public Witness covers a 1979 Sunday School lesson from President Jimmy Carter — with concerns eerily fitting for 2025 — taught at the First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D.C.

This issue of A Public Witness dons a mask before carefully treading into the dangerous medical — and religious — anti-vax world of Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In “Kingdom Racial Change: Overcoming Inequality, Injustice, and Indifference,” three authors combine personal narratives and sociological research to teach Christians how to work together for racial justice.

In this new book, Thomas A. Tweed offers a sweeping retelling of American religious history that shows how religion has enhanced and hindered human flourishing from the Ice Age to the Information Age.

Questions about slavery and abolitionism stand at the heart of Daniel Lee Hill’s book, "Bearing Witness: What the Church Can Learn from Early Abolitionists." Hill seeks to retrieve resources from America's abolitionists, while thinking theologically about the church's public witness

In the novel “Green Street in Black and White: A Chicago Story,” Dave Larsen takes us back to a 1960s summer of social upheaval, when youthful mischief collided with the weight of adult fears.