Featured

Young girl in red apron serving pie slices to a man wearing a black cap and jacket.
Serving Kings
Never look down on a human being unless you’re trying to pick them up.
Interview
Elderly man with white hair leaning on window frame of a colorful geometric patterned wall.
Up Hill
Through their art and stories, the residents of one Medellín neighborhood have transformed the pain of their history into a sense of place.
Adriano Cirino
Report
Three colorful street art portraits of people with expressive faces and vibrant paint drips.
Save Your Sympathy
John Thornton reviews This City Is Killing Me by Jonathan Foiles.
John Thornton Jr.
Review
Street musician playing guitar seated on a box with a young child standing nearby watching.
City of Bones, City of Graces
The city stinks. This city, that city, every city everywhere.
Joseph Bottum
Essay
Abstract cityscape with colorful buildings and vertical paint drips on brown background.
Small Acts of Grace
Laying the first beams of the scaffolding that will support a rebirth of community-based Christian witness in Pittsburgh.
Brandon McGinley
Essay
Man in ornate costume with red and orange feathers sitting inside a large wooden barrel.
City of Clubs
These were clubs, places where public persons secreted away and made themselves private.
Clare Coffey
Essay

From the Editor

Hand-drawn star-shaped fortification plan with annotations on aged parchment.
In Search of a City: Issue 23
Why should a magazine named after a farm tool bring out an issue on cities?
Peter Mommsen
From the Editor

Insights

Black and white aerial view of a dense city skyline with bridges and skyscrapers.
Digging Deeper: Issue 23
A reading list of books about cities.
Susannah Black Roberts
Digging Deeper
Smiling woman with sunglasses and colorful scarf stands outdoors in front of hillside houses.
In the Valley of Lemons
The people who live here are “as tough as lemons.”
Jose Corpas
The Doers
Rusty metal sculpture made from parts of disassembled rifles hanging from the ceiling.
Beneath the Tree of Life
The City of the Age to Come
N T Wright
Reading
Colorful impressionist painting of a sunset sky over a mountain with silhouetted trees in the foreground.
Not Just Personal
The conscience must be directed toward the kingdom of God.
Eberhard Arnold
Reading
Blurred motion of people walking on a city sidewalk at night near a fountain with bicycles parked.
Sidewalk Ballet
Under the seeming disorder of the old city is a marvelous order.
Reading
Painting of a woman and child walking hand in hand on a reflective street with other figures in background.
The Eternal People
Is the eternal city full of gilded towers?
Philip Britts
Reading
Black and white woodcut showing a curved road, silhouetted buildings, and a dramatic sunburst sky.
The Pilgrim City
Love of God made the heavenly city.
Augustine of Hippo
Reading

Web Exclusives

Winter street scene with horse-drawn carriages, pedestrians, and snow-covered buildings under a gray sky.
Another Hundred People
The city challenges us to contend with our comparative smallness.
Tara Isabella Burton
Young boy in striped shirt walking on a large paved plaza near benches and green trees.
Cities for Children
Cities are ready-made education far from the classroom.
The Accidental Urbanist
An interview with singer-songwriter Dar Williams.
Dar Williams
Arched ceiling with green and gold decorative tilework and stained glass window in the background.
Leaving the Church Doors Open
Love is not meant only for the easily loved.
Terence Sweeney

Arts & Letters

Colorful textured painting of densely packed small houses in various bright colors.
Urban Series (Neighborhood)
His artwork is inspired by how ordinary people “respond to social, political, and economic forces in their daily living.”
Another View
Illustration of a person kneeling and tending a wood stove in a tiled alcove or fireplace.
Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays”
What did I know, what did I know / of love’s austere and lonely offices?
Julian Peters
Comic
Sketch of a woman gently holding a baby whose hand touches her face in warm sepia tones.
From “In the Holy Nativity of Our Lord”
The Babe looked up and showed his face, / In spite of darkness, it was day.
Poetry
Two people lighting candles placed in sand inside a dimly lit room near a reflective wall.
The Last Christians in the News
News commentary and media coverage of Plough’s book, The Last Christians by Andreas Knapp.
Illustrated magazine cover of a city train station with people walking on tracks and trains on either side.
Covering the Cover: In Search of a City
This issue’s cover needed a city on it, but it also needed people.
Rosalind Stevenson
Covering the Cover
Toddler sitting in a high chair reading a magazine titled Plough Quarterly.
Readers Respond: Issue 23
Letters to the editor: readers respond to our fall issue.
Forum