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This issue of A Public Witness offers short highlights from four reflections by Catholic writers on Pope Francis and his papacy.

Reviving a 1976 decision against a fundamentalist Christian school will likely fail, say legal experts. But if it succeeds, it could trigger conservative Christians’ ‘nightmare scenario.’

‘I think most of the major Black denominations, in terms of its membership, is divided,’ said Bishop Reginald Jackson, leader of mid-Atlantic African Methodist Episcopal churches.

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Church

The grants will help the churches avoid demolition, pay for maintenance, and fix structural problems.

Resurrection South Austin’s rector, Shawn McCain Tirres, said his congregants ‘wanted rootedness and wanted to feel connected to something ancient and global’ in joining the long-established form of American Anglicanism.

The ministers, mostly from Grand Rapids, are no longer willing to abide the denomination’s increasingly rigid stance on sexuality.

Nation

Arkansas became the latest flashpoint in church-state politics this week as legislation introduced less than a month ago now only needs one more round of voting to make it to the desk of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Hilary Rantisi, the associate director of the program, and the sole Palestinian American employed at the divinity school, said she was told her position was not renewed.

The report serves as both a theological and data-driven refutation of the president’s campaign pledge to enact ‘the largest deportation in US history.’

World

While Trump fantasizes about retaking the waterway, this issue of A Public Witness digs into American colonialism and the roles Christian leaders and denominations played.

He’s been widely quoted — and misquoted. People have claimed Bonhoeffer would support their side on issues ranging from the Vietnam War to post-9/11 militarism to same-sex marriage to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Asked about Mike Huckabee potentially becoming the U.S. ambassador to Israel, the Rev. Munther Isaac called the prospect 'frightening,' adding, 'Huckabee presents himself, at least, as a man who does not live in reality.'

Editorials

For day 1 of our Unsettling Advent devotionals, Brian Kaylor reflects on the importance of learning from those who have lived under authoritarian occupation like what is happening today in Ukraine.

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reacts to being called a "Marxist pastor" by political trickster Roger Stone. The incident arose because of Kaylor's critiques of the ReAwaken America Tour at which Stone has spoken.

As the Jan. 6 insurrection showed, our democracy is under attack. And Christian nationalism, which seeks to privilege one faith tradition over others, has fueled the anti-democratic efforts. Rather than serving as a balm for our fractured nation, religion is being used to further divide us.

Word&Way Voices

Exploring Advent in a time of dangerous pregnancies, Angela Parker reflects on Black mothers dying preventable deaths.

Exploring Advent in a time of dangerous pregnancies, Angela Denker reflects on how pregnancy is both incredibly vulnerable and incredibly powerful.

For our first devotional on Advent in a time of dangerous pregnancies, Susan M. Shaw reflects on how John and Jesus’s births did not come without cost to the women who carried and bore them.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness mounts a bully pulpit to warn about the dangerous Christian Nationalistic targeting of public schools.

As we enter a season of Lent amid the chaos of Elon Musk and an oligarchy-fueled administration, this issue of A Public Witness reads the Bible and the Forbes Billionaire List to decide this day who we will serve.

A Lutheran pastor in Bethlehem — yes, that Bethlehem — Rev. Munther Isaac denounced Trump’s recent Gaza proposal as “evil” on this week’s episode of Dangerous Dogma.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In “A Visible Unity: Cecil Robeck and the Work of Ecumenism,” Josiah Baker explores the efforts of Pentecostals towards reconciliation as something significant for how we understand the church.

In “American Christian Nationalism: Neither American nor Christian,” Michael W. Austin offers us a better form of civic engagement.

The upcoming election is certainly important, but the journey of addressing Christian Nationalism in our churches and nation will continue in the weeks, months, and years to follow.

In “Hope Is Here!: Spiritual Practices for Pursuing Justice and Beloved Community,” Luther E. Smith Jr. prepares us to engage racism, mass incarceration, environmental crises, divisive politics, and indifference.