Ivory Coast Splits With UMC but Kenya and Other African Conferences Slow To Follow
‘You don’t throw away the relationship of your sibling because you do not agree on an issue,’ said a former UMC bishop from Nairobi.
Unbaptizing America
“Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism” has officially launched — check out the conversation we had to celebrate with Dr. Diana Butler Bass, Rev. Adriene Thorne, and Dr. Andrew Whitehead.
Latino Episcopalians in the Spotlight With Gutiérrez Presiding Bishop Nomination
Latino Episcopal clergy say that their congregations are thriving.
With Strawberries and Goats, a ‘Farmastery’ Reaches Out to Its Neighbors
Part of the new monastic movement began three decades ago among lay Protestants, Spring Forest is a model for how Christians can work, eat and worship as a community.
Reconsidering the Bible Photo Op
This Saturday marks four years since the photo op where Trump awkwardly held a Bible outside a church after police teargassed BLM protesters. Despite all the attention to evangelicals, if you look at the photos all you will see is the influence of mainline Protestantism.
Aiding and Abetting Christian Nationalism
This edition of A Public Witness looks at how denying the problem of Christian Nationalism or putting the blame on the shoulders of others avoids the discomfort of identifying our own complicity and having to alter our practices.
Why ‘Baptizing America’ Matters
This issue of A Public Witness explores what it was like to edit the forthcoming book “Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism” from the perspective of a lifelong mainliner.
United Methodists Scrap Their Anti-Gay Bans. A Woman Who Defied Them Seeks Reinstatement As Pastor
Earlier this month, delegates at a United Methodist Church conference struck down the UMC’s longstanding anti-LGBTQ policies and created a path for clergy ousted because of them to return.
Moving Foreword
This issue of A Public Witness shares the foreword, written by The Riverside Church's Rev. Adriene Thorne, to our forthcoming book "Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism."
Methodists End Anti-Gay Bans, Closing 50 Years of Battles Over Sexuality for Mainline Protestants
The nation’s largest Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Lutheran denominations have all now removed barriers to LGBTQ participation in the pulpit and at the altar.