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A Public Witness is a newsletter from Word&Way, a Christian media company publishing since 1896. A Public Witness provides insights from professional experience in academia, advocacy, congregational leadership, and political campaigns. The longform journalism published here helps you understand what’s missed by misleading tweets and headlines.

Brian Kaylor, Word&Way president & editor-in-chief, leads A Public Witness. A Baptist minister with a Ph.D. in political communication, he is the author or co-author of five books on religion and politics. His latest book, co-written by A Public Witness contributor Beau Underwood, is Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism.

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Praise for A Public Witness

“Very much worth your time to give it a read.” —Adam Taylor, president of Sojourners

“An invaluable resource for the Church. … A potent combination of rigor, curiosity and humility.” —Lisa Sharon Harper, author of Fortune

“I’m excited by this intellectually turbocharged work. I’m an avid and loyal reader.” —David Gushee, author of After Evangelicalism

“Some very good pieces. … I recommend both their newsletter and their news and opinion website, Word&Way.” —Diana Butler Bass, author and writer at The Cottage

“Important … worth every word.” Sarah Posner, journalist

“Really excellent.” —Amanda Tyler, Respecting Religion

“Eye-opening.” —Don Byrd, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty

“Insightful … Definitely worth some of your time today.” —Rob Boston, Wall of Separation

“A great Substack.” —Robert P. Jones, White Too Long

“Well worth the 10 minutes to read.” —Rob Schenck, president of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute

“You should consider subscribing … I already did.” — Ryan Burge, the Twitter ‘religion-and-politics data guy

“A bad actor.” —Jenna Ellis, a Trump attorney who sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election

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An award-winning e-newsletter from Word&Way covering faith, culture, & politics.

People

President & Editor-in-Chief of Word&Way. Baptist minister with Ph.D. in political communication.
An award-winning e-newsletter from Word&Way covering faith, culture, & politics.
I'm a pastor in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a senior editor with Word&Way, and a doctoral student in public affairs at Mizzou.
digital editor at Word&Way / phd from the Missouri School of Journalism + University of Chicago Divinity School alumn / member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) / Kansas City cyclist