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DHS has openly mocked the largely mainline Protestant protesters. A spokesperson referred to a minister as ‘pastor’ in air-quotes, and the agency referred to demonstrators at a faith-led protest as ‘imbecilic morons’ who needed to ‘get a job.’

A new Pew Research survey found that Trump’s approval ratings have dropped among major religious groups. But White Christians support the president more than other Americans.

The same board had supported opening a Catholic charter school in recent years, but a deadlocked U.S. Supreme Court allowed the state Court decision against it to stand.

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Church

Catholic, Orthodox, and most historic Protestant groups accept the Nicene Creed. Despite later schisms over doctrine and other factors, Nicaea remains a point of agreement — the most widely accepted creed in Christendom.

Part of a little-used fund in the Diocese of New Jersey established 100 years ago to support medical care for children will now help Palestinian youth in Gaza.

‘I’m seeing almost a revival of Christianity through what’s happening at Broadview in Chicago,’ said Rev. David Black, a Presbyterian Church (USA) minister.

Nation

Monday’s ruling came just over 24 hours before TPS status was set to expire for some 350,000 Haitians. The U.S. district judge wrote that DHS Secretary Noem’s ‘approach is many things—in the public interest is not one of them.’

The Justice Department’s swift investigation into the church disruption stands in contrast to its decision not to open civil rights investigations into killings by ICE officers.

Like religious leaders in cities such as Minneapolis, Chicago, and elsewhere, local clergy were quick to muster resistance to the rapid influx of immigration enforcement agents, even as they wrangle with the unusual geography of Maine.

World

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has been trying to rally fellow evangelical Christians and urge Congress to designate Nigeria as a violator of religious freedom with unfounded claims.

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.

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.

Editorials

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.

Brian Kaylor reacts to claims that God is sending a message through a 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook the northeastern part of the U.S. on Friday or a solar eclipse going across much of the U.S. on Monday.

Word&Way Voices

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.

This Advent, we hold a simple question close: Where am I trusting the sword to do what only the cross can accomplish? Where have I expected political power to secure what only Jesus can give?

What will future Americans say about us 150+ years from now, when Bible verses are being used to cheerlead military action and aggressive immigration enforcement in ways that reveal how our theological imaginations have failed us once again?

E-Newsletter

William Schultz, a historian of American religion at the University of Chicago Divinity School, makes a compelling argument that there was a moment where Colorado Springs was a place of enormous cultural influence.

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside a very Catholic governmental Christmas celebration that also featured a Trumpian rabbi commemorating Hanukkah.

For this issue of A Public Witness, we briefly highlight 15 of our favorite recent books beyond those from our longer giveaway reviews. It can be a great resource for gifts or your own wishlist.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In this timely book, young adults voice their concerns and laments about the church’s past and present, as well as their hopes and dreams for its future.

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.