Latest Articles
When the financial market is god, who pays?
Most religions acknowledge the contingencies and paradoxes of human life. Not this one.
Improvising the music of daily life
Robert Bresson’s films are adventurous, brooding, and deeply religious.
How St. Patrick evangelized a violent culture
It is hard to imagine a time or place more opposed to the gospel than fifth-century Ireland.
Everybody counts. Even the Lollards.
A counting book that retells Jesus’ parables and a Reformation-themed alphabet book are among my favorite new children’s books.
The Till family’s agony
Carolyn Bryant changed her story. Does this change the meaning of Emmett Till’s death?
Brian Doyle’s ferocious attention
Doyle’s exuberant writing praised particular things in rich detail. It cut to the pulsing heart of life.
June 25, Ordinary 12A (Matthew 10:24–39)
We have value because we are creatures, like sparrows.
An oracle of the word of the Lord?
In the late 70s, two friends of mine housesat for the poet James Merrill—and got out his Ouija board.
God's care for the grieving (1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11)
At the airport, waiting to put her on the plane, we cast our shared anxiety on God.
Surprise: Essays by readers
We gave our readers a one-word writing prompt: “surprise.”
The Century invites reader submissions
The Century invites readers to submit first-person narratives on the topics door and indulgence.
Refugee, poet, father
Kao Kalia Yang’s memoir of her family’s flight from Laos is devastating and lyrical.
Sermon writing and other slow rituals
It'd be easy to rush though my preparation time. I start by making coffee in a French press to set an unhurried pace.
Episcopal Divinity School to join Union seminary in New York
EDS students will earn Union degrees, and EDS appointed Kelly Brown Douglas as dean.
Ministry is out of control
Being a pastor is like jumping into a river. You have to let the current take you.
A novel about the evils of capitalism
There’s nothing subtle about Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s Marxist critique of life in postcolonial Kenya.
Persecution in Russia and Kazakhstan worsens for Jehovah’s Witnesses
Since the Russian Supreme Court labeled Jehovah’s Witnesses an extremist group, vandals have targeted followers and their bank accounts have been frozen. People have thrown stones at a St....
Who is Jesus for Muslims?
“According to Islam, Jesus always speaks the truth. The question is how we understand it.”
Prayer hearts (Acts 1:1–11; Psalm 47)
Will we be a people who wait for the promises of God with open hearts?