What is civic engagement? Church leaders have long reflected on how Christians should live in the world

Readers respond to Christian History

Bigger than civics.

Civic engagement in the early church

The letter of Clement of Rome

Some famous Scripture passages that have guided very different approaches to civic engagement

Christian civic engagement in the monastic tradition

A chief way monasteries engaged with their communities was showing hospitality

The Eastern Orthodox tradition has often intertwined civic engagement with civic power

Luther’s theology of the common order of Christian love gave life to civil society

A selection of Luther’s musings on the role of Christians in civil society

Abraham Kuyper argued for God’s sovereignty over all spheres of human life

A young man captivated by the vision of Kuyper

Two men whose civic engagement connected Christianity to korean independence 

Josephine Butler’s civic engagement helped improve the lives of Victorian women

As doctor, activist, and ultimately theologian, Katharine Bushnell sought to improve women’s lives

Working-class civic engagement helped catalyze the rise of the Social Gospel

Fathers and sons shaping the common good—sometimes very differently

Bonhoeffer’s commitment to the Word against the state led him to shocking conclusions

Christians bring to the table not so much a different set of propositions, but a different citizenship.

A small sampling of Christian organizations and movements through the centuries that promoted civic engagement in different spheres for the common good

We are relational in God's image

Civic engagement

learn more about christian civic engagement through these suggestions compiled by our editors and contributors.