Weekly Roundup: June 13
Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. In addition to a reflection on Pentecost and protests in L.A. and a list of recommended books that are free for anyone to read, paid subscribers to A Public Witness received an analysis of Bible references during a legislative debate in Minnesota.
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
Review: In Accordance With the Scriptures. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed In Accordance With the Scriptures: The Shape of Christian Theology by Orthodox theologian John Behr.
Vote To Bar Churches With Women Pastors Fails Again at SBC Meeting. Bob Smietana reported on a big vote at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting, where messengers also voted to call for banning same-sex marriage.
In LA, Faith Leaders Protest To Stand Up for the Detained and Keep the Peace. Jack Jenkins reported on clergy joining the public opposition to immigration raids in Los Angeles.
Faith Leaders, Lawmakers Argue GOP Bill Benefits the Ultra-Wealthy by Hurting the Poor. Hundreds of clergy and religious leaders from multiple denominations rallied in Washington, D.C., to oppose the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
African Church Leaders Address Decolonization and Reparations and Debate Their Role. Fredrick Nzwili reported on a conference in Kenya held by the All-Africa Conference of Churches.
by Brian Kaylor, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief
Tomorrow (June 14), tanks will roll through the streets of Washington, D.C., as soldiers march and fighter jets fly overhead. No, the nation’s capital isn’t being invaded — at least not by a foreign army.
President Donald Trump, who has long wanted a grand military parade, is getting one for his birthday. And tens of millions will be spent on this vanity event to make the ruler feel good and prove we put our trust in chariots.
Meanwhile, Americans will be protesting at hundreds of places across the country with rallies under the organizing theme of “No Kings.” Among the many partners promoting the No Kings rallies are some religious advocacy groups like Catholics for Common Good, Faithful America, Interfaith Alliance, and Mennonite Action.
There’s actually an anti-monarchial thread in Scripture, though we’ve not always highlighted such messages (in part since kings and imperial leaders don’t usually like it). Among the numerous passages are the parable of thornbush in Judges 9 and the warnings of the prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel 8. There’s also the strong contrast as the crowd chose Barabbas over Jesus in John 19. The people rejected Jesus to instead pledge loyalty to the empire: “We have no king but Caesar.”
Politically, I am anti-king. I hope the U.S. never returns to a system of authoritarian rulers like what we rejected 250 years ago. But theologically, it’s also important to recognize the call not to bow to any earthly king. The goal of Christian Nationalists to gain control of government is essentially a rejection of the biblical warnings about kings and their dangerous power. May we declare in response, “No kings!”
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Other News of Note
As a man was being detained by masked agents in the parking lot of a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) congregation in Los Angeles, church ministers asked them to leave but were rebuffed. When Rev. Tanya Lopez, the senior pastor, spoke to the man being arrested, an agent then drew a rifle and pointed it at her. The Disciples of Christ is among the denominations suing the Trump administration to block immigration raids on church property.
U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, a Republican from Illinois, criticized the House for allowing a non-Christian to pray, although she first ignorantly called Sikh leader Giani Surinder Singh a Muslim.
A politically active megachurch in St. Louis, Missouri, was under investigation by the IRS for violating rules preventing nonprofits from engaging in political elections. But under the Trump administration, the investigation has been dropped.
A group of Arkansas families filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s new law mandating the posting of an edited version of the Ten Commandments in public schools. A similar suit last year in Louisiana led a federal judge to call such a law “unconstitutional on its face.”
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is suing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for ignoring a Freedom of Information Act request regarding the Trump administration’s efforts to investigate “anti-Christian bias.”
An evangelical conference in Switzerland featured a session criticizing Christian Nationalism, with considerations of how it can be seen in the U.S. and Europe.
“Where there is love, there is no room for prejudice, for ‘security’ zones separating us from our neighbors, for the exclusionary mindset that, tragically, we now see emerging also in political nationalisms.” —Pope Leo XIV in his homily on Pentecost Sunday (June 8).
Bishops in El Salvador released a document criticizing President Nayib Bukele, including for human rights violations. Bukele has been a key ally of U.S. President Donald Trump as the U.S. deports people to be held in Salvadoran prisons.
As delegates to the Christian Reformed Church in North America meet in Ontario over the coming week, a key issue will be how to handle professors at Calvin University who disagree with the denomination’s position against same-sex relationships.
Mark Wingfield of Baptist News Global reported on comments by historian Beth Allison Barr at a Baptist Women in Ministry event held just blocks from the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Dallas, Texas. Barr discussed the SBC’s recent efforts against women in ministry.
Kelsey Kramer McGinnis of Christianity Today wrote about the new popularity of “barstool conversion rock,” which she described as “masculine, vaguely Christian, and at least a little bit country.”
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