Cairo, Egypt?s capital and most populous city, is a chaotic hub of economic, cultural, and political activity; it is also deeply religious. Mosques dot the landscape of the city, becoming local nerve centres for the citizens as they go about their daily prayers. The city hums in resonance as its population is called to prayer five times a day. Christian youth flock to weekly question-and-answer sessions with the Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church. But behind the richly textured sights and sounds of the city?s mosques and minarets, religious institutions provide far more than is readily apparent.The city of Cairo, while predominantly Muslim, also has an historically strong Christian presence. For the Christian Zabellin, the city?s garbage collectors,participation in the church has had a profound impact on their community and the city itself.The Zabellin live on the outskirts of the city collecting, sorting, recycling, and selling its garbage. They provide an indispensable service to the city and many have actually made a good living out of their lifestyle, but the lifestyle is a malodorous and undesirable one which has consigned the Zabellin to an area on the fringe of Cairo known as the garbage village. The streets are grimy, uneven, and full of refuse. Families live in makeshift homes where garbage is sorted on the bottom floor, while people live in the upper floors.Until the 1980s, the thousands of Christians who inhabited the garbage village had no churches because Egypt maintains rules on the construction and refurbishment of churches that are intended to limit and politicize the expansion of churches. Moreover, the mainly Coptic Christians who lived in garbage city had difficulty accessing the churches within the city because of the distance and stigma associated with their profession.However, a priest with a vision came to the garbage village and began a church. Over time, the church grew into a network of several churches which transformed the community by establishing schools, health clinics, and churches. Despite the transformation, the newly formed churches had to solve the problem of not being able to build church buildings. The answer came with the discovery of a series of natural caves. The excavation of these caves provided an opportunity to create open-air churches without construction permits. Finally, a massive cathedral was created out of the largest of the caverns.Close to 6000 Egyptians attend weekly services at this outdoor cathedral. It has now been decorated with raised relief carvings by European artists inspired by the story of the so-called ?Monastery of St. Samaan.? Christians from all over Egypt come to visit the garbage village and to gasp in wonder at the beautiful churches that have been carved out of the cliff face. The cavernous cathedral has become a centre of pilgrimage for Christians from around the world. In one of the most unlikely of places the church has created something beautiful which has in many ways transformed the city.Michael Van Pelt, president of the Work Research Foundation, has observed that ?those who have spent a significant amount of time outside the global North are quick to see institutional religion alive, thriving, and bringing renewal and revival to the most depressed urban spaces.? Garbage city?s cathedral is a testimony to the vibrancy and pungency of religion in today?s urban spaces. The same is true of our urban centres; however, for those of us who live in the global North, the impact of religious institutions remains unseen.Historically cities have had an immense role in the propagation of religion, and religion has been a core element of the success and importance of cities. Ancient cities were typically organized around the shrine of a local god, and throughout history important religious buildings and teachings formed the lifeblood of cities. It is a conceit of our western culture that cities are solely planned communities that revolve around access to markets and transportation links which are built to service major industries or services. Yet, our western urban centres are still deeply impacted by religious institutions. Like the Cathedral of Garbage City, our faith centres have influenced the fabric of our cities.Unseen but Present: Three Impacts of Religious InstitutionsThere are at least three ways in which religious institutions have had an impact upon our cities.The first, is the way in which church buildings contribute to the physical environment of a city. I fear at times that we have lost the wondrous way in which a church changes up the mundane skyline of a city; they contribute greatly to the character of a city. I grew up close to a large Pentecostal Assembly that boasted a colossal light-up cross that provided a landmark for the entire city. In another neighbourhood, the exotic architecture of the local mosque provided me with my earliest envisionings of Islam. Some of the most beautiful photographs from my hometown are those that feature portions of the local Roman Catholic basilica. No matter the excesses and pitfalls that have attended the phases of religious architecture, I think that these buildings take seriously Gideon Strauss?s comment in ?An Urban Village Vanguard?? that, ?they should seek to delight the imagination and offer social comfort? to those inside and outside the faith community. How much poorer and less interesting would the city be without these spaces?A second way in which religious institutions impact our cities is by providing services to the community. The highest profile agencies of social action are often those of a public and secular nature, but the workhorses of social policy in most every country around the world are not the departments of social welfare or ad hoc community networks, but rather religious charities. For example, the largest providers of comfort to the urban poor and destitute in the city of Vancouver are the Salvation Army and the Union Gospel Mission. There is also a burgeoning network of refugee hospices throughout Canada which arose from the model pioneered by The Matthew House, a Christian organization in Toronto. Furthermore, it is often religious communities that provide the social spaces for the mentally handicapped within our cities. Organizations like L?Arche form global networks of care for the mentally and physically handicapped members of our society. These are merely a few of the services and initiatives provided by our religious institutions, and they are vital to the well-being of our cities.Finally, religious institutions impact our cities as intellectual and social networking points. They serve as modern agoras in the network of ideas. I have spent much time in academia, which tends to think of itself as the epicentre of thought, when in fact it is largely a derivative of a more time-honoured trend among the great religious traditions of the ages. Religious institutions are where many of us are trained, socialized, and meet others to engage in debate, discussion, and friendship. They have cultivated and preserved music, craft, and visual artistry. They provide venues for other local organizations, from the conservatory of music, to political movements, to polling places. Without the church, our societies would be far more atomistic, would lack many networking opportunities and places to share our lives.So What?If religious institutions are so vital to the well-being of our urban communities, what does this mean? Why is it important for us to identify the role of religious institutions?First, the observation calls governments and other city stakeholders to look for creative ways in which religious institutions can help with the challenges that face cities. I am not suggesting the corporatist mode of state-society relations that grants to the state a role in cultivating and organizing churches, but a renewed discussion within a pluralist model of interest representation for religious institutions to be constructively engaged. States and religious congregations need to open up space for this kind of engagement. Both sides of the conversation need to be willing to work together to diffuse possibleAt a minimum, elected officials should cultivate links with faith communities and display their value through public statements and actions. Faith communities must also work to develop partnerships and strategically engage municipalities to bring about positive change within cities. This will often bring both conversation partners out of their own comfort zones and into contact with faith communities outside their own. It seems to me that a myriad of problems that arise among certain religious communities could be headed off merely through the display of respect for the sensibilities and feelings of all religious groups, no matter the size and apparent political significance.But, it seems to me that in most liberal democratic societies there is already a strong sense among elected officials of the importance of local faith leaders. However, I believe there is significant room for improvement in this relationship when it comes to the civil service and academia-- each of which has approached faith groups with either suspicion or apathy. Faith dialogue and involvement in both of these sectors has always seemed in a state of arrested development. In particular, there are certain communities that either lack natural connections with the establishment or have underdeveloped institutional capacities to deal with government and academe. It seems to me that the absence of these relationships is one of the most dangerous phenomena of our time.The religious institutions of our urban centres may often be unseen but their impact is tangible. As we look to understand and to build better cities which exist in an increasingly global world, we must continue to work to realize the impact religious communities have on our cities. Old-time mysteries occasionally bid the reader, ?cherchez la femme?. Perhaps I?m asking us all to ?cherchez l?eglise.? How much more goes on among the religious cloisters behind the scenes in the greatest cities of the world? How many communities are finding new life because of the activities of religious networks? I venture to guess that it is more than we know. We have taken a step forward in this call to understanding the intersection of religious institutions and the city, and I hope that it becomes the first step in a much longer journey.