Publications
Faithful Action Working with Religious Groups in Disaster Planning, Response and Recovery
Oct 29, 2012
Hebah Farrag, Brie Loskota, Richard Flory This report details the need for increased involvement of the faith community, a discussion of barriers that both public agencies and faith groups face as they attempt to work together, and the benefits of...
The Latino Church: The Religious Scene in Latino Los Angeles 2012
Aug 15, 2012
Juan Martinez Juan Martinez describes the religious impact of the Latino population and examines the connection between politics and religion, what Latino churches are like, the relations among the major Christian groups and how Latinos might contribute to the future...
Opening the Gates: L.A. Congregations Confronting Gang Violence
Apr 27, 2012
Richard Flory, Donald E. Miller, Brie Loskota, and Timothy Sato (with Hebah Farrag and Nick Street) discuss the role of faith organizations in addressing gang violence. "Opening the Gates: L.A. Congregations Confronting Gang Violence" describes research and programming that was...
Putting Faith First: Traditions and Innovations in Organizing within Religious Communities
Apr 27, 2012
The USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture and the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity have released a new report on faith and community organizing. This report provides a brief overview of several organizing groups that are grappling...
Enhancing Impact in the Public Square: Building Capacity and Developing Leadership among American Muslims and Their Organizations
Aug 13, 2011
Brie Loskota and Nadia Roumani examine the role of Muslim faith-based organizations in the public square.
The Black Church Next: Challenges and Opportunities Facing African American Congregations in 21st Century Los Angeles
Jun 29, 2011
Report by by Daniel E. Walker While the historic role of the Black Church is clear, the early 21st century represents a period of transition and transformation. After fighting a number of internal wars over cultural and aesthetic issues like...
Passing the Mantle: A New Generation of Leaders in the Black Church
Jun 1, 2011
Report by Nick Street, Senior Writer In many urban neighborhoods where African American churches have deep roots, obdurate problems such as homelessness, drug addiction, gang violence and educational underachievement have only grown more acute since the economic downturn that began...
Muslims and Jews in America: Commonalities, Contentions, and Complexities
Apr 15, 2011
Jews and Muslims make up less than 3% of the total population of the United States. Yet, despite their relatively small numbers, the members of these two minority groups often find themselves the focus of a disproportionate amount of media attention, particularly when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Forging a New Moral and Political Agenda: The Civic Role of Religion in Los Angeles, 1992-2010
Mar 1, 2011
Report by by Richard Flory, Brie Loskota, and Donald E. Miller In the nearly 20 years since the 1992 civil unrest, the Los Angeles faith community has significantly expanded its role in the public sphere. The social response to the...
Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement
Dec 8, 2010
How and why is Christianity's center of gravity shifting to the developing world? To understand this rapidly growing phenomenon, USC Firestone Professor of Religion and CRCC Executive Director Donald E. Miller and CRCC Senior Fellow Tetsunao Yamamori spent four years traveling the globe conducting extensive on-the-ground research in twenty different countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe.
The Civic Life of American Religion
Dec 8, 2010
Religious groups constitute a large part of America's voluntary sector, yet relatively few works have investigated them broadly. This collection of essays investigates the public roles of religious congregations and associations. With contributions by premier social scientists, the work gets to the bottom of how effective—or ineffective—religious groups are in offering social services, fostering community life, and creating discussion of social issues such as homosexuality and welfare reform.
Beyond Violence: Religious Sources for Social Transformation in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Dec 8, 2010
In an age of terrorism and other forms of violence committed in the name of religion, how can religion become a vehicle for peace, justice, and reconciliation? And in a world of bitter conflicts-many rooted in religious difference-how can communities of faith understand one another?
Returning to Rwanda
Dec 7, 2010
Firestone Professor of Religion and CRCC Executive Director Donald E. Miller shares experiences and portraits of his work interviewing survivors of genocides in Turkey and Rwanda.
Passing on the Faith: Transforming Traditions for the Next Generation of Jews, Christians, and Muslims
Dec 7, 2010
Will young people have a faith to guide them? How can faith traditions anchor religious attachments in this secular, skeptical culture? Filled with real-world wisdom, Passing the Faith will be an essential resource for anyone seeking to understand what religions must, and can, do to inspire a vigorous faith in the next generation.
International Mission Photography Archive Overview
Oct 19, 2010
The International Mission Photography Archive is a leading resource for mission scholars, cultural historians, and others who are interested in pictures that document social change in non-Western cultures. Led by Jon Miller in partnership with the USC Digital Library and...
Growing Up in America: The Power of Race in the Lives of Teens
Apr 28, 2010
Growing Up in America provides a rich, first-hand account of the different social worlds that teens of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds experience.
Engendering Forced Migration
Oct 22, 2009
Hebah Farrag discusses the experiences of male survivors and non-combatants in conflict areas such as refugee camps, war zones, and prisons and the need for greater scholarly understanding of these experiences.
Redeeming, Ruling, and Reaping
Jun 10, 2009
Jon Miller and Gregory Stanczak argue that the campaigns by British missionaries to abolish the opium trade at the end of the 19th century masked the preceding half-century of accommodations and compromises with the opium traffic.
Faith, Health, and Policy: Public Health Reentry in San Diego
Apr 25, 2009
Richard Flory documents the Regional Congregations and Neighborhood Organizations (RCNO) Training Center's public health reentry program in San Diego. The RCNO effort addresses the needs of the county’s rapidly growing population of formerly incarcerated persons.
Finding Faith: The Spiritual Quest of the Post-Boomer Generation
Nov 22, 2008
Richard Flory and Donald E. Miller examine the "expressive communalism" and the spiritual orientation of Christians under the age of 40.
Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement
Nov 22, 2007
Donald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori explore the rapid growth of Pentecostal social ministries in twenty countries.
Congregations that Get It
Oct 22, 2006
Tobin Belzer, Richard Flory, Nadia Roumani, and Brie Loskota examine the common traits among Jewish, Christian, and Muslim congregations that are successful in their efforts to incorporate adults in their 20s and 30s.
Spiritually Engaged Development: Faith and Community Transforming Tanzania
Jun 28, 2006
Greg Stanczak, Donald Miller, and Grace Dyrness examine World Vision International's work in Tanzania. The report focuses on the ways in which spirituality functions as a creative and motivating force for global development work.
Innovative Programs Servicing Homeless and Street-Living Children Around the World
Jun 19, 2005
Authors Kristin M. Ferguson, Donna Spruijt-Metz, Grace R. Dyrness, Donald E. Miller, Neela Dabir, and Karl Dortzbach, explore how faith-based organizations use faith and religion to intervene in the lives of street living youth.
Charitable Choice: A Primer for Faith-Based Organizations
Jun 18, 2005
John B. Orr offers a short introduction to Charitable Choice.
Religion and Civic Culture (Spring 2005)
Mar 21, 2005
The newsletter features CRCC's Community Research and Development unit.
Church State Guidelines: When Faith-Based Human Service Programs Are Funded by California Taxpayers
Feb 28, 2005
John B. Orr provides an overview of church-state guidelines for state-funded programs.
Religion and Civic Culture (Fall 2004)
Sep 21, 2004
Includes an article about the work of faith-based non-government organizations.
Engaged Spirituality: Spirituality and Social Transformation in Mainstream American Religious Traditions
Sep 21, 2004
This report by Gregory C. Stanczak and Donald E. Miller summarizes findings from a research project funded by the Governance and Civil Society unit of the Ford Foundation.
Civic Participation and the Promise of Democracy
Apr 17, 2004
Craig McGarvey explores civic engagement strategies (faith-based and community organizing, popular education, collective learning) and provides an overview of these strategies in California.
Orphans of the Rwanda Genocide
Apr 7, 2004
This photo essay by Donald Miller, Lorna Touryan Miller, and Jerry Berndt (photographer) contains interviews by members of an association of orphan heads of households.
Toolkit for Multidisciplinary Approaches to Homelessness
Apr 1, 2004
USC faculty members present papers related to problems of homelessness in Los Angeles.
Faith-Based Adoptive/Foster Services: Faith Communities' Roles in Child Welfare
Mar 17, 2004
Written by John Orr and Grace Roberts Dyrness, this publication offers a global scan of the historical involvement of faith communities in child welfare services. It describes recent trends and leadership programs, and concludes with recommendations.
The Changing Face of Faith-Based Childcare in Los Angeles County
Feb 1, 2004
John B. Orr and Robert Fillback offer a comprehensive view of trends in faith-based childcare in Los Angeles County and focus on recent trends and leadership programs.
Crisis in the Streets: Homeless Women and Children in Los Angeles
Dec 17, 2003
Written by Grace Roberts Dyrness, Mia Thompson, and Peter Spoto, this publication contains data related to homeless families in Los Angeles. It details services that are being offered to this population, then offers recommendations to social service organizations. Executive summary (PDF)
Religion and Civic Culture (Winter 2003)
Nov 21, 2003
Includes article about the visual representation of religion.
Engaged Spirituality 2002: Spirituality and Social Transformation in Mainstream American Religious Traditions
Sep 21, 2002
This report by Gregory C. Stanczak and Donald E. Miller is the result of a one year study on the ways in which individual spirituality may be understood in relation to social transformation. A detailed report supplement (PDF) is also available.
Religion in the City (Summer 2002)
Jun 21, 2002
Includes an article about the Center of Excellence initiative, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Religion in the City (Spring 2002)
Mar 21, 2002
Includes an article about the role of California's community foundations in funding regional faith-based community development projects.
Faith Works: Religious Communities Building Neighborhoods
Jan 17, 2002
Written by Grace Roberts Dyrness and Andrea Dyrness. This publication profiles the capacity-building activities of San Francisco's FAITHS Initiative and the Faith Initiative of South Santa Barbara County.
Religion in the City (Summer 2001)
Jun 21, 2001
Includes an article about faith-based human service programs and the federal Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
Policy on the Streets: A Handbook for Sidewalk Vending Programs
Jun 17, 2001
The handbook, written by Grace Roberts Dyrness, offers guidelines for creating legalized sidewalk vending districts. Dyrness also explores street vending in light of the informal sector and the global economy.
Latino Ministry in Southern California: A Preliminary Report on Latino Churches
Apr 21, 2001
Arlene Sánchez-Walsh provides an overview of important issues facing Latino Protestant churches in Southern California.
Religion and Welfare Reform in Southern California: Is Charitable Choice Succeeding?
Apr 18, 2001
CRCC's report card on the implementation of Charitable Choice in three California counties by John B. Orr with Peter Spoto and Carolyn Mounts.
Promising Public Practices: Implementing Charitable Choice in California
Apr 17, 2001
John B. Orr and Peter Spoto focus on practices that are working to include faith-based organizations in county and state efforts to serve the poor.
Religion-Based Discrimination in Charitable Choice: A Guide for the Perplexed
Apr 16, 2001
John Orr offers a primer concerning the use of religious criteria by faith-based organizations in public contracts that are affected by Charitable Choice.
Religion in the City (Spring 2001)
Feb 21, 2001
Includes an article about the role of hometown associations in creating transnational identities within immigrant communities.
Immigrant Religion in the City of Angels
Jan 21, 2001
Donald E. Miller, Jon Miller, and Grace Roberts Dyrness report on two years of research on immigrant religious congregations.
Increasing Your Congregation's Capacity to Offer Publicly-Funded Human Service Programs
Jan 15, 2001
This brief introduction by John B. Orr discusses strategies for building capacity.
Faith-Based Organizations and Welfare Reform: California Religious Community Capacity Study Qualitative Findings and Conclusions
Dec 17, 2000
John B. Orr's qualitative analysis of welfare reform efforts.
Power, Justice, Faith: Conversations with the IAF
Jul 17, 2000
Donald E. Miller, Roger Gustafson, Timothy Sato offer selections from interviews with leaders from the Industrial Area Foundation in California.
Religion and Health Services in Los Angeles: Reconfiguring the Terrain
Apr 17, 2000
A profile of religion's engagement in health services within Los Angeles County John B. Orr and Sherry May.
Religion in the City (Spring 2000)
Mar 21, 2000
Includes an article about the faith community's response to at-risk youth. spring2005
Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches: Organizing Congregations to Create Change
Sep 17, 1999
Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches: Organizing Congregations to Create Change
Christians Supporting Community Organizing: A New Voice for Change Among Evangelical, Holiness, and Pentecostal Christians (September
Sep 11, 1999
Timothy Sato and Donald E. Miller report on the activities of Christians Supporting Community Organizing.
Politics of the Spirit: Religion and Multiethnicity in Los Angeles
Jun 1, 1994
Co-authorsJohn B. Orr (USC), Donald E. Miller (USC), Wade Clark Roof (UCSB), and J. Gordon Melton (Institute for the Study of American Religion) traced the faith community's response to the 1992 civil unrest. The report provides a snapshot of a...