

Since 1900, the Christian Century has published reporting, commentary, poetry, and essays on the role of faith in a pluralistic society.
© 2023 The Christian Century.
Prayer as mourning, mourning as prayer
In Jon Fosse’s Septology, a tragic vision of faith shines with a luminous darkness.
by Mac Loftin
What I wished for
Sometimes we can’t express what we want, even when we are in desperate need.
The feeling I no longer pray for
One of the reasons I left my childhood faith tradition is that I didn’t feel what I was supposed to feel.
by Debie Thomas
How should I pray for the climate?
I followed COP26 from a distance. Other Christians showed up in Glasgow and asked God to intervene.
by Liuan Huska
Episode 13: Community developer and editor Chris Smith, author of How the Body of Christ Talks
A conversation with community developer and editor Chris Smith about the Englewood Review of Books, spirituality for the journey, the messiness of life, and more
The Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey taught me how to pray again
So why didn’t I want to introduce my Methodist congregants to them?
What I pray when I can’t say thanks or help
A prayer of bare-bones presence with God
by Debie Thomas
Judaism scholar Susannah Heschel on her father’s legacy
“How does a political gesture become a moment of prayer?”
Elizabeth Palmer interviews Susannah Heschel
Living between the Bible’s first and last prayers
Most days I hover somewhere between Adam’s “I was afraid” and John of Patmos’s “Come, Lord Jesus.”
How I came to love embodied prayer
I tried it—and I began to experience God in places other than my head.
by Mindy Roll
James Martin offers a primer for prayer
His definition of prayer is simple: conscious conversation with God.
Leila Chatti writes intensely physical poems about faith, illness, and sex
The poetic vision of Deluge reconciles Muslim and Christian themes.
Jellyfish at prayer
Is V. velella a colony or an individual? When does sharedness dissolve into oneness?
by Emily Boring
Leave it with me
He was moving away, the stranger said, and he wanted to leave a box in my care.
by Samuel Wells
The beautiful stillness of the Christ child
As the rotating nativity spun, I kept watching Jesus.
Reenvisioning safety at a Black Youth Project 100 rally
Who keeps us safe? the crowd cried out. We keep us safe!