Weekly Roundup: May 9
Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. In addition to a reflection on the anniversary of this newsletter and an announcement of some awards that are free for anyone to read, paid subscribers to A Public Witness received a photo essay considering the theology in Trump stores.
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
Robert Prevost, First Pope From US in History of the Catholic Church, Takes the Name Leo XIV. The 69-year-old Chicago-born missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru caught the world by surprise when he was elected to be the 267th pope.
Review: Evangelism in an Age of Despair. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed Evangelism in an Age of Despair: Hope Beyond the Failed Promise of Happiness by Andrew Root.
Shane Claiborne, Four Other Faith Activists Arrested While Protesting GOP Budget Bill. Jack Jenkins reported on another round of progressive Christians arrested in the U.S. Capitol.
Proposal Aimed at Getting More Religion in Nebraska Schools Sidetracks Ed Committee. Juan Salinas reported on legislative gridlock in the Cornhusker State.
A New Jersey Church Wanted To Build a Homeless Shelter. Now the Town Might Take Its Property. Bob Smietana reported on a New Jersey city trying to confiscate an Episcopal church’s property.
by Brian Kaylor, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief
On May 3, those gathered at the annual meeting of the American Baptist Churches of Metro Chicago voted unanimously to declare ABCMC a “sanctuary region” in support of immigrants and refugees. It’s the first American Baptist region to take such an action.
“Becoming a sanctuary region means that ABCMC is publicly declaring that walking alongside immigrants and refugees is a matter of faith,” the resolution explains. “Indeed, many in our congregations are immigrants, and some lack legal status. Being a sanctuary region means that we stand in solidarity with our siblings in Christ within ABCMC and with those who are bearing the brunt of this administration’s cruelty outside of it.”
“Being a sanctuary region is about loving our neighbors,” the resolution adds. “We commit to continuing in prayer and solidarity with all those affected by the present administration’s shifts in policy, rhetoric, and enforcement.”
The resolution, which was distributed in both English and Spanish, was coauthored by Rev. Shakespeare Osorio (associate regional minister for Latino churches) and Rev. Michael Woolf (co-associate regional minister for White and multicultural churches). The move also put the region officially in opposition to Trump administration moves like allowing immigration raids in houses of worship and revoking the Temporary Protected Status for many immigrants.
The resolution does not require specific actions for churches but encourages each congregation to explore ways to support immigrants and refugees. This move by the region is likely a sign of increasing efforts to come by faith communities to welcome and defend immigrants and refugees.
Other News of Note
Brian Kaylor appeared on the In Conversation podcast with host Frank Schaeffer to talk about Baptizing America and Christian Nationalism.
The House Education Committee in Texas gave its approval to a bill that would mandate public schools post an edited version of the Ten Commandments. Similar bills have also been pushed in other states this year.
Odette Yousef of NPR reported on the anti-democratic arguments of the “abortion abolition” movement, including the embrace of the so-called “doctrine of the lesser magistrates” (a theological idea which A Public Witness unpacked last year).
Adam Wren of Politico profiled the longshot campaign of J.D. Vance’s half-brother, who is a pastor running for mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Cynthia B. Astle of United Methodist Insight interviewed a United Methodist pastor who was among the clergy arrested this week while praying in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.
The streaming service of Trump Media and Technology Group features movies about “lizard people” and how Jesus may have been an alien.
“Federal employees will have no trouble picking up the real message of the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, even though one hopes that they will have the strength to resist. The message is that one political ideology — the one that the administration mislabels as ‘Christian’ — occupies a place of special privilege in the United States. If anything you say or do can be construed as ‘hostile’ to this ideology, you will face the coercive power of the federal government.” —Katherine Stewart in a column for The New Republic about how the Trump administration is using claims of “anti-Christian bias” to roll back civil liberties.
Kazusa Okaya, a Japanese Christian, reflected for Christianity Today on the problems with Christian Nationalism when Japanese Christians tried it.
Fulfilling one of Pope Francis’s last requests, one of his Popemobiles is being transformed into a mobile health clinic for people in Gaza.
The Black Catholic Messenger reported on the Haitian and African roots of Pope Leo XIV.
Kim Smith of The Presbyterian Outlook reported on the reasons a Black Presbyterian church in South Carolina closed on Easter after 74 years of ministry.
Rachel Kolb of Sojourners wrote about how deaf Christians are building community.
Photo of the Week
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