For 120 years the Christian Association at the University of Pennsylvania (CA) has served as an ecumenical resource at Penn and the greater community providing opportunities for faith exploration, advocacy and direct service on such issues as cultural diversity, poverty, arts, interfaith education, peacemaking and more. The CA’s rich history includes sponsoring decades-long medical missions to China and India; operating camps and settlement houses to serve at-risk youth and families for half a century; being a focal point for hospitality to international students and support for the arts which eventually led to International House and a stronger Wilma Theater; speaking up for civil rights, women’s right, gay rights and human rights; and much more.
Although we were established in 1891, we are made new each day, and are always looking for ways to grow and shape our ministries. Please join us!
Since its funding in 1891, the Christian Association has been a leading advocate for social justice.
CIVIL RIGHTS
Green Lane Camps intercity mentoring programs are racially integrated in the 1940s, before Brown v. Board.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Volunteers in Action program begins in 1982 and later develops into the Civic House.
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
First director starts the International House in 1910.
LGBT ADVOCACY
First gay and lesbian peer counseling center in the Delaware Valley is established in 1975.
PEACE
Penn Faculty and Staff Against the War in Iraq organizes in 2002.
POVERTY
University City Hospitality Coalition serves meals and provides support for the homeless and hungry in 1984.
