Two churches in the Back Bay illustrate divergent approaches to addressing one of urban society’s most vexing problems: homeless men and women.

On the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Clarendon Street sits the First Baptist Church. Home to a diminishing churchgoing population and a still-thriving day care center, the church is also the abode of a large population of homeless people who camp out in its portico.

Men and women gather there every night, often bringing their life’s possessions with them, and eat, sleep and defecate on the church property. The church keeps its doors tightly shut, subjecting residents across the street and passersby to midnight screams and a profound stench that makes that portion of Clarendon Street virtually impassable.

The Rev. Milton Ryder, pastor to the church, has been approached over the last three years by residents, government officials and police to address the severe problems caused by the encampment. He has resisted at every turn. Ryder, who lives in a suburban home with no homeless in sight, has told one resident at nearby 90 Commonwealth Avenue that he believes city dwellers need to be confronted with “their problem.” Officials from the city’s inspectional services division and the police department have gotten nowhere with the church.

Meanwhile, two blocks away the Emmanuel Church on Newbury Street has chosen a very different course of action. Emmanuel, well known for its Bach-inspired Sunday services, has been working with the city, the state and a private nonprofit called the Tri-City Mental Health and Retardation Center to expand upon a specialized treatment program for some of the homeless.

Emmanuel’s program targets homeless women who are mentally ill. The goal is to bring those women inside the church where they can enjoy a meal, rest for the night, and perhaps be enticed into working with social workers and psychiatrists to get treatment for mental illnesses that are, frequently, manageable with the right therapies. The target population is small. The program’s organizers expect no more than 6 to 12 woman at a time.

Unlike the First Baptist, which has shut its doors to the homeless and the community at large, Emmanuel has reached out to solicit feedback to its proposal. It has held several meetings with the neighborhood association and with abutters and it is taking seriously concerns expressed at those meetings. But Emmanuel is trying to do something more than take account of its neighbors’ reactions. It is also trying to build community-wide support for and involvement in a program that can, in measurable and concrete terms, make a difference in the lives of the homeless.

The contrast could not be greater. One church seeks to involve the community, another turns its back to it. One respects its neighbors, the other mocks nearby residents. One opens its doors and brings those most in need inside for warmth and care, the other keeps them outside, huddled against its stone walls.

Both churches profess themselves to be caring institutions. It is amazing the different meaning each attaches to that word.