

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.
Hostile architecture
In metro areas today, park benches are becoming an endangered species.
Understanding homelessness at a citywide level
It’s a symptom of affluence more than poverty.
Creating a space for everyday peace
On Fridays in the church basement, I see glimpses of something precarious and beautiful.
Stories of the unhoused faithful
Listening to the poorest and most dislocated, Susan J. Dunlap hears the music of faith.
Homeless people get organized—and radical
In Tacoma, Minneapolis, and elsewhere, people without housing have taken over buildings.
A place for homeless families to sleep safely in their cars
How a group of interfaith partners is making use of their idle parking lots
New life in old space at St. Stephen’s, Philadelphia
I knew Sunday worship wasn’t viable. But what about weekdays?
by Peter Kountz
They sold First UMC and put up a tent in the parking lot
"It feels vulnerable to be the weird lady outside preaching sermons."
Hillary Frances interviews Mandy Sloan McDow
The housed, the homeless, and the right to be somewhere
Faced with someone trying to deny me shelter from the rain, I thought, are you kidding?
At home in exile
In a time of American inhospitality, Jan Holton offers a compelling vision.
What’s a miracle? How can we (frail human creatures that we are!) separate contingency—what’s possible but unpredictable, an event that seems unlikely or unintended—from miracle?
In The Lady in the Van, viewers see playwright Alan Bennett befriend a woman experiencing homelessness—and treat her as a human.
by Win Bassett
I grew up around art and a few artists. I looked to people who had a reverence for the world at large. A natural contemplative awareness developed, as in many children before it is covered over. Call it awe, which Abraham Heschel describes as an “intuition for the dignity of all things, a realization that things not only are what they are but also stand, however remotely, for something supreme.”
No wonder I became both a photographer and an Episcopal deacon.
One day, a soup-kitchen guest named what was happening: church, a worshiping community distinct from the larger congregation.
Imagine you're walking through a big city and you see a homeless person. You have several options.
by Samuel Wells