

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.
A different kind of poverty memoir
Dana Trent’s heartbreaking and hilarious book eschews the conventional American rags-to-riches arc.
What comes after clergy self-care?
I didn’t need more candles or journaling. I needed solidarity with others.
Mentoring is about relationship
A new essay collection explores the importance of mentorship to students and faculty at Christian colleges.
Settling into the joy of vocation
My life must be lived as a response to something beyond myself and my material needs.
Where our deep sadness and the world’s deep hunger meet
Sometimes vocation springs not from joy but from trauma and grief.
Let’s see how they measure up to Indeed.com’s suggestions.
by Amy Ziettlow
Jesus refuses at every turn to do something important, the things his neighbors thought he should do when he grew up.
Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life wasn’t made for times like these
But it has helped me to survive them.
The surprising gift of knowing my vocation
How I became the kind of person who wants to do the work to which she’s called.
Why Jane Goodall reminds me of Dorothy Day
The remarkable, costly life of a secular saint
The weird beauty of Kay Ryan’s prose
The former poet laureate’s quirky faith is a spirituality for prankish oddballs.
Learning from Mary during a pandemic
How do we say yes to the call of this moment?
We are more than our jobs
On the good days, this is the best job in the world. Yet, as I wedge my foot into my heels, I must recognize the difficulties of our vocation.
Catholic sisters and their difficult vocation
Alice McDermott ponders a mystery: How is it that women hear the calling and find the strength to love and support their neighbors?
by David Crowe
The vocation of surviving
Patrick B. Reyes reflects on the soils that have sustained him—and those that have poisoned him.
A chat with the refiner’s fire
“You’ve talked about a lot of things,” says your refiner’s fire. “Which is the one that really matters?”
by Samuel Wells
Realities in the doctor's office
Anesthesiologist Ronald W. Dworkin reminds me that going to the doctor isn’t the same as sharing a cocktail with a friend.
The isolation of Wallace Stevens
A new biography reveals the poet’s devotion to his vocation. It also reveals his loneliness.
Self-realization is possible only in relation to a reality beyond the self.