FeaturedEngaged Spirituality
CommentaryPandemic Year 3 Predictions: Adjusting to New “Normals” in 2022Since 2016, CRCC has shared the trends in religion and society that we see shaping the coming year. What started as light-hearted predictions has grown more ominous over the years. Anybody surprised …Topics: Black Church, Christians and Christianity, Evangelicals and Evangelicalism, Media, Meditation and Prayer, Political Attitudes and Values, Protests and Uprisings, Religious Leadership, Religious Pluralism, Voting and Elections
ArticleWinona LaDuke and Tom Goldtooth: A Spiritual Perspective on Climate ChangeThis story was originally published by Indian Country Today, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. Covering the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, was a binge-work undertaking filled …Topics: Engaged Spirituality, Environment, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleNeris Gonzalez: ‘My Dreams Will Never Be the Same’This story was originally published by Harvard Divinity Bulletin, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. NERIS GONZALEZ WAS WATCHING the news when the grainy video of George Floyd appeared. She sat …Topics: Catholics and Catholicism, Engaged Spirituality, International Affairs and Policy, Latin America, Spiritual Exemplars, Violence- VideoUnwrapping Christmas Traditions in US and Around the World – Dornsife Dialogues
ArticleCRCC Looks Back at 2021 and Looks Forward to 2022It is hard to believe that we are just weeks away from the end of 2021 and a new year is on the horizon. The year has continued to be difficult for …Topics:
ArticleBuddhadharma: Reclaiming Our So-Called “Cultural Baggage”This article was originally published by Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly. You can often hear Western meditation-based convert circles use the term “cultural baggage” to refer to the ritualized acts, cosmological ideas, and …Topics: Buddhists and Buddhism, Immigration, Race and Culture, TAS
CommentaryEngaged Spirituality at COP26 – UN Climate TalksCRCC has been collecting the stories of 100 “spiritual exemplars,” people inspired by their faith to work on some of the world’s most intractable issues since 2019. What we did not expect …Topics: Engaged Spirituality, Environment, Spiritual Exemplars- VideoHate Crimes & Civil Rights: A Critical Conversation with the FBI & US Attorney’s Office
ReportAMCLI Through the Years – Founders’ ReflectionThe American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute (AMCLI) emerged out of a research project and a convening of civic leaders in 2006. Fifteen years after its inception, the USC Center for Religion and …Topics: AMCLI, Muslims and Islam
AnnouncementThe Spiritual Edge Sweeps Religion News Association Radio AwardsThe Spiritual Edge swept the Religion News Association’s 2021 radio award, with audio documentaries from its Sacred Steps series placing first, second and third. Sacred Steps, a series of profiles of people …Topics: Engaged Spirituality,
ArticleBrother Chân Pháp Dung: Where the Search for Simplicity LeadsThis article was originally published in Yes Magazine, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. Before entering monastic life, Brother Chân Pháp Dung gave away his worldly possessions. The last step …Topics: Buddhists and Buddhism, Engaged Spirituality, Environment, Spiritual Exemplars
“It is reasonably easy to be an armchair critic of religion. There are ample examples of religious leaders who compromise the values of their tradition, and the fundamentalists of every religion are inevitably out of step with the latest findings of modern science.
“But the storyline about religion gets more complicated when one examines religious people in the trenches, serving the poor and disenfranchised of their societies.”
– Donald E. Miller
A Pragmatist’s View of Religion
Experts
The CRCC can connect you with one of our many expert religious researchers and writers, contact us and we’ll help you find the right person for your subject.
Mark WhitlockContributing WriterRev. Mark Whitlock is a pastor specializing in church leadership and community and economic development.
Cecil L. MurrayUniversity FellowRev. Cecil Murray works to ensure that the legacy of African American Church leaders pass on their years of experience to the next generation.
Brie LoskotaContributing FellowBrie Loskota researches how religions change and make change in the world, and works to build the capacity of religious communities around the globe.
Donald E. MillerDirector of Strategic InitiativesDonald Miller focuses on global religious trends, genocides of the 20th century, and the role of religious NGOs in addressing issues of moral concern.
Richard FloryExecutive DirectorRichard Flory is a sociologist whose work focuses on religion and urban life, religious and cultural change, and youth and young adults.
Nalika GajaweeraResearch AssociateNalika Gajaweera is a cultural anthropologist specialized in Buddhism, transnationalism and ethics, with an area expertise in South Asia.
Juan MartínezPast FellowJuan Martinez studies the history of Latino Protestantism, Latino Protestant identity and transnational mission among U.S. Latinos.
Najuma Smith-PollardAssistant Director of Community and Public EngagementRev. Najuma Smith-Pollard combines her experience as a pastor and expertise as a community leader to train Murray Center Fellows.
Nick StreetSenior WriterNick Street is a journalist covering religious change and innovation, Buddhism, Pentecostalism and LGBT issues.