Portraits of Faith

Faith and spirituality are expressed in myriad ways. For some, it's about worship, belief, and direct ministry. For others, it's about personal ethics, a professional calling, or just making sure neighbors have enough to eat. For still others, it's about space, breath, and meditation. This audio series explores 13 different interpretations of faith and how it's felt, practiced, and lived in communities around Greater Boston.

Kelley Tuthill was a trusted Boston news anchor who left TV to become the CEO of Catholic Charities Boston. She talks about her mid-career pivot, her battle with breast cancer, and how that experience reshaped her perspective and faith. Her story is one of resilience and reinvention, illustrating how challenges can inspire a deeper sense of purpose and service to others. By Sydney Allen

St. Columbkille Parish and Partnership School in Brighton is a community shaped by tradition, education, and change. Father Richard Fitzgerald is not just a pastor, but a leader deeply involved in both the parish and its unique partnership with Boston College and the Archdiocese. He works to keep the church relevant to younger generations amid many competing influences on attention and engagement. By Madison Barry

On Friday nights during the school year, Jewish students from different universities around Boston gather under a tent to share a meal, fellowship, and connection. The dinners are hosted by Meor Boston, a chapter of a national Jewish outreach organization with 22 locations, mostly along the East Coast. By Tyler Basso

Pat and Tammy McLeod guide Harvard University athletes through the peaks and valleys of college life through an unwavering commitment to faith. Through the international organization Cru, the couple lead the athletic ministry at Harvard, called Athletes in Action. They serve students of any and all religious backgrounds and, drawing on their own experience, teach Crimson athletes about ambiguous loss. By Giovanni Culotta

A conversation with Sister Amanda Grant-Rose, who serves Greater Boston's unhoused community through the Capuchin Mobile Ministries, and Hillary Dyroff, who survived a difficult childhood thanks in part to people like Sister Amanda years ago in Boulder, Colo. By Elliot Dyroff

Bethel A.M.E. Church in Jamaica Plain created a program called the Migrant Neighbor Initiative to provide short-term housing to newly arrived migrant families, many of them from Haiti. When city funding for the program ended, the leaders of Bethel A.M.E. Church chose to continue it independently, covering the costs themselves until the last family moved out in January of 2026. By Daniela Fuerte

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art, steeped in culture and tradition. At the Dance Complex in Cambridge, a class called "Capoeira MdP" introduces participants to the movements, dances, music, and rhythms that make up the popular artform, which resonates with many in the Boston area. By Jemma Holland.

The Rev. Ashley J. Popperson, a minister at Boston's Old South Church, works to reconcile the church's history with its present-day mission, as a place of refuge and an agent of inclusion in a deeply polarized social and political climate. Ashley, together with Seminarian Justin Tyler Dickerson, emphasize themes of belonging, reconciliation, and the role of faith in public life. By William Kelly

Jeff's Place is a children's bereavement center in Framingham that offers group and individual counseling and specialized group therapy for children who have lost loved ones to substance abuse or other stigmatized deaths. Jenny and Fern, two clinicians at Jeff's Place, share how they approach working with children, the tools they use, and what spirituality and religion look like for grieving children. By Madeleine Kinder

Mosaic is a Boston-area afterschool program that brings together young people from diverse religious communities. The organization, led by Matt Anderson, envisions a society in which youth are active participants in the construction of a more just, equitable, and peaceful world, where collaboration across divides is the norm. By Ava Samba

Thousand Buddha Temple in Quincy is now among the largest Chinese Buddhist temples in the area. But it was a long road to get here. The founder of Thousand Buddha Temple shares the history of the institution and the difficulties of building a temple in a foreign country and promoting religious beliefs. By Pengyu Wang