Weekly Roundup: July 17
Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. This week, we published a report from the annual meeting of the Baptist World Alliance and a piece uncovering various worship services and prayer gatherings inside the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
Review: Sacred Rebel. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed Sacred Rebel: Fierce Love in a Fearful World by Jerry Zehr.
Kansas Faith Leaders Urge Governor to Grant Clemency Requests From People Sentenced to Death. Baya Burgess reported on an ecumenical advocacy effort in the Sunflower State.
The Latina Women in Texas Reshaping the UMC. Chloe Landen and Ellie Ashby wrote about new ministers serving after years of schism and uncertainty in United Methodist life.
Amid ICE Killings, More Than 100 Clergy From Across the US Stage Protest at Delaney Hall. Jack Jenkins reported from a protest in New Jersey.
National Baptists Launch Social Justice Center Near US Capitol. Adelle M. Banks reported on the opening of a new advocacy center by Black Baptists.
Dangerous Dogma
This week’s episode features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham as well as issues of faith and morality in Senate races in Maine, Texas, and Kansas. Listen to the audio version here (or wherever you listen to podcasts) or watch the video version here.
by Brian Kaylor, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief
Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election. Full stop.
It shouldn’t be hard to say that Trump won in 2024 or that Joe Biden won in 2020. No matter who you wanted to win those elections, those are the results. Those are basic facts, yet too many fail today.
Any politician who refuses to admit who won in 2020 is unfit for office. Any preacher who suggests Trump won is morally bankrupt. A primetime rant or social media posts don’t get a pass when it comes to expectations to tell the truth. These are not just lies; these conspiracies and false claims are an attack on our democratic system and ideals. People willing to lie and harm our civic life in a quest for power and money can do a lot of damage.
If a politician won’t tell the truth about the 2020 election, they should be defeated in the ballot box or during a confirmation vote. And if a preacher peddles conspiracies and lies, they should be rejected as a false prophet.
Other News of Note
In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Maine had to provide funding to private religious schools. Some Christian schools want the funding but do not want to have to follow the state’s anti-discrimination rules. A federal appeals court ruled the state can bar schools that refuse to follow the anti-discrimination rules expected of all other schools.
While interviewing Vice President J.D. Vance, rightwing podcaster Joe Rogan argued that states should not require public schools to post the Ten Commandments, while Vance defended state laws that mandate the display of a highly edited version.
Daniel Silliman of The Roys Report wrote about a rightwing evangelical group in Georgia that was fined for dozens of campaign finance violations.
The Southern Baptist church that Sen. Lindsey Graham was a member of remembered him Sunday after his passing. And one of his last public appearances was the previous week at a different Baptist church.
Rob Schenck wrote for Mother Jones about rightwing evangelical efforts to make Jesus into a Mixed Martial Arts coach.
When Christians have historically spoken out against accumulated wealth, it is because accumulated wealth is a sign of a world in deep trouble. We’ve never had a trillionaire before, and the ways of accumulating capital have changed significantly since the days of the Bible. But the underlying concern is the same: What God has given is not meant to be hoarded by the few but shared by creation.” —Myles Werntz in a Christianity Today column, “Warn Thy Trillionaires”
Multiple denominations in Switzerland are criticizing the government for ending the exemption for clergy to fulfill mandatory military service.
A Russian drone missile and drone attack damaged the Kyiv Theological Seminary.
The Church of England, one of the biggest landowners in England, voted against a proposal to rewild 30% of its land by 2030. Currently, just 3.5% of its land is devoted to nature restoration.
A United Methodist pastor who worked for Jerry Epstein is no longer suspended but cannot serve as a UMC pastor.
After more than a century, the grave of a Baptist preacher who was born in slavery and founded multiple churches after the Civil War has finally been marked in Pittsburgh.
Photo of the Week
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