Home - Word&Way
logo
mobile-logo

Featured

With Pete Hegseth resurrecting a Confederate memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, this issue of A Public Witness looks back at how prayer was used to bless its White Supremacy ideology.

‘A president with a true Christian agenda would be most concerned with uplifting those in our country who have been cast aside,’ said Rev. Shannon Fleck of Faithful America. ‘The most vulnerable among us are not billionaires. Those most vulnerable among us are not these manipulators of Christianity that are seeking nothing but power.’

Talarico, who is a student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, discussed the protest in a webinar Tuesday co-sponsored by the Center for American Progress Action Fund and Interfaith Alliance.

No posts were found.

Videos

Church

‘It is featured in over 40 different Christian hymnals and sung in churches all across America, not just during Black History Month or Juneteenth,’ said musician Theodore Thorpe III.

As survivors gathered Tuesday, they invited another congregation that knows the pain of murderous hatred to join them: members of the Tree of Life synagogue.

Across the country, faith groups are gearing up for Juneteenth celebrations that weave spirituality and history.

Nation

Talarico, who is a student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, discussed the protest in a webinar Tuesday co-sponsored by the Center for American Progress Action Fund and Interfaith Alliance.

This issue of A Public Witness looks behind the unmarked cars to see the chilling impact of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on pastors, churches, and communities.

Texas and Louisiana have passed similar laws requiring public schools to display the religious directives, and the issue is expected to eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

World

The 69-year-old Chicago-born missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and belongs to the Augustinian religious order caught the world by surprise when he was elected to be the 267th pope.

While Trump attended Francis’s funeral, he and JD Vance have clashed with U.S. bishops in general and Francis in particular over the administration’s hard line stance on immigration and its efforts to deport migrants en masse.

Following the funeral, preparations began in earnest to launch the centuries-old process of electing a new pope, a conclave that will begin on May 7.

Editorials

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on Russian pro-war propaganda dressed up like a Christmas decoration, which he calls a sacrilegious assault on celebrations of the birth of the Prince of Peace.

Brian Kaylor writes that ten years ago today an armed man walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and opened fire. This massacre at Christmastime evokes memories of part of the biblical story we tend to leave out of our nativities and pageants.

As Brian Kaylor thinks about modern-day refugees fleeing a genocidal foreign dictator, he also wonders where Joseph, Mary, and Jesus spent the night on their journey from Bethlehem to Egypt. Where was their safe place to sleep and to enjoy a nice meal from strangers? And how were those people

Word&Way Voices

The event included a keynote presentation by Rev. Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre, who highlighted the dangers of using religious texts to justify oppression.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell reflects on how we can continue to move forward when equality, respect, and truth seem like they are evaporating in front of us.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy explores the continued relevance of the Jan. 6 insurrection and three active attempts to subvert democracy: threats against the press, attempts to imprison political opponents, and promises to deport 11,000,000 immigrants.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness goes inside the first meeting of the White House Religious Liberty Commission this week to warn about their effort to turn religious freedom upside down.

This issue of A Public Witness opens a Bible and a (digital) newspaper to consider Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s roaring use of scripture to start a war.

While a few sprinkles dampened Trump’s birthday military parade, millions of Americans across the country showed up at rallies to declare “No Kings” and show opposition to the administration’s authoritarian rule.

Sign up to receive full essays in your inbox!

Recent Episodes

Books

In “Becoming the Pastor’s Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman’s Path to Ministry,” Beth Allison Barr traces the history of the role, showing how it both helped and hurt women in conservative Protestant traditions.

In “Latter-Day Saint Theology Among Christian Theologies,” Grant Underwood asks the question: How do the beliefs of Latter-day Saints compare with traditional Christian theology?

In “Safe Church: How to Guard Against Sexism and Abuse in Christian Communities,” Andrew J. Bauman provides an honest look at how misogyny masquerades as biblical truth.

In “Evangelical Idolatry: How Pastors Like Me Have Failed the People of God,” Jeff Mikels is concerned by the evangelical church’s embrace of cultural and political idols.