Home - Word&Way
logo
mobile-logo

Featured

A federal judge recently ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to report about any protected church where it has conducted an immigration enforcement action. But the agency told the court it had no idea how many incidents there may be, insisting it had no reasonable way to check its own records.

RNS found at least 25 immigrant pastors were detained, deported or otherwise separated from their churches. While Rev. Esdras Paredes ministers via video, his congregation sells tamales to raise funds and prays for a miracle.

Pope Leo XIV once again stressed that God does not promote war and called for the protection of human dignity and life, during the last day of his papal visit to France on Monday (Sept. 28).

We are excited to announce a new book unpacking seven types of misuses of Scripture by influential preachers and politicians pushing Christian Nationalism today, officially out Oct. 7 from Chalice Press and available for pre-order now.

Videos

Church

RNS found at least 25 immigrant pastors were detained, deported or otherwise separated from their churches. While Rev. Esdras Paredes ministers via video, his congregation sells tamales to raise funds and prays for a miracle.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at how some Republican politicians are attacking the faith of mainline Christians and how United Methodists are pushing back against the bigotry.

A national, faith-based movement called “Guns to Gardens” has the goal of getting guns off the streets and giving people a safe way to dispose of them.

Nation

A federal judge recently ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to report about any protected church where it has conducted an immigration enforcement action. But the agency told the court it had no idea how many incidents there may be, insisting it had no reasonable way to check its own records.

A group of Reformed pastors and influencers has wedded old-school segregationist theology with the hypermasculinity of the manosphere and the savvy of the attention economy to preach and sell White supremacy, antisemitism, and patriarchy to angry young men. Its audience is small but growing, and their movement has ties to powerful religious and political figures.

Trump administration lawyers have argued a key component of the IRS political campaign activity ban (also often called the “Johnson Amendment”) should not apply to churches. They've asked an appeals court to overturn a lower court decision dismissing a lawsuit challenging the ban.

World

Pope Leo XIV once again stressed that God does not promote war and called for the protection of human dignity and life, during the last day of his papal visit to France on Monday (Sept. 28).

The group, which included a religious adviser to Trump, sent a letter to Trump officials — an unusual instance of evangelical leaders urging the administration to change course.

Amid surging kidnappings and attacks on communities and places of worship, faith leaders are forming partnerships aimed at countering religious division and building peace.

Editorials

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor unpacks a significant problem with a proposed resolution for consideration at the 2026 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The choice of ‘Two Chronicles’ is not a coincidence.

Editor-in-Chie Brian Kaylor reflects on a recent violent prayer by Pete Hegseth during a Christian worship service at the Pentagon and Mark Twain’s satirical work “The War Prayer.”

Word&Way Voices

Evangelicals have turned to various historical figures in an attempt to depict President Donald Trump as a fine Christian man. But the “Sun King” might be the best fit.

There is a way to interpret Scripture that leaves a person almost permanently reassured — difficult passages become instruments for identifying enemies rather than mirrors for examining the soul. But the Bible consistently resists that reading.

For the second entry in our series on religion and AI, a biblical scholar and ethicist unpacks how technological advances are influencing how her students might choose bullet-pointed information over learning to seek and love the truth.

E-Newsletter

A federal judge recently ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to report about any protected church where it has conducted an immigration enforcement action. But the agency told the court it had no idea how many incidents there may be, insisting it had no reasonable way to check its

This issue of A Public Witness looks at how some Republican politicians are attacking the faith of mainline Christians and how United Methodists are pushing back against the bigotry.

Wesley Welch of King’s Church DC delivered the sermon, becoming the ninth Southern Baptist pastor to preach out of 17 total services.

Sign up to receive full essays in your inbox!

Recent Episodes

Books

In this luminous and deeply comforting collection, Fr. Joel W. Huffstetler, rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Cleveland, Tennessee, invites us to see life's upheavals through the steady light of grace.

Bradley Onishi’s new book details the rise of a class of ruling elites who seek to use religion and technology to replace democracy with authoritarian rule.

We're often disconnected from the places we inhabit — cut off from nature, our neighbors, people different from us, and a sense of rootedness. Ben Norquist and Brian Miller show how Christians can develop a redemptive imagination for place.

This updated edition includes a chapter on the intersections between LGBTQIA identity and neurodivergence and extra attention to how churches can respond to the assault on diversity and transgender rights in the current political climate.