Archive
Maggie Gobran: “Mama” to Thousands of Children in Egypt
Maggie Gobran is both a saint and a social entrepreneur. The daughter of an upper-middle-class family in Cairo’s Coptic Orthodox Christian community, Mama Maggie, as she is known, made the radical decision …
Countering Pessimism and Despair: An Encounter with Two Spiritual Exemplars
As we enter 2019, two emotions seem to be dominant: political pessimism and personal anxiety. These feelings are rooted in the dysfunctions of government and economic instability, both of which are legitimate …
Nobel Peace Prize Winner Denis Mukwege Keeps the Faith in the Face of Violence
I had the privilege of interviewing 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner Doctor Denis Mukwege in 2017 in the small country of Armenia, where he was a finalist for the Aurora Prize—a $1 …
Medicine, Masculinity and Marketing: Trends to Watch in Religion in 2019
In the past year, we have seen our 2018 trends to watch come to fruition with stories of the supernatural, trust in institutions, activist healers, faith-based political organizing and women stepping up …
How Can Christians Support Donald Trump?
This piece was originally published by Religion News Service. As a student of American evangelicalism, I am frequently asked how Christians can support Donald Trump. I stop myself from going into lecture …
Holy Spirit: A Progressive Episcopal Community in Silver Lake
Holy Spirit is a small, “off the books” experimental congregation affiliated with the Los Angeles Episcopal Diocese. Members describe in this video how Holy Spirit started as a home Bible-study group and …
Community Connection: Najuma Smith-Pollard on #MeToo in the Black Church
The USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement organized a meeting of women leaders in the Black Church about #MeToo this fall, prompting an article in the L.A. Times. Following the article, …
Human Trafficking Reconsidered: Rethinking the Problem, Envisoning New Solutions
Human Trafficking Reconsidered: Rethinking the Problem, Envisoning New Solutions Kimberly Kay Hoang and Rhacel Salazar Parreñas, editors (Abe Books: 2014) This unique collection of original essays investigates …
Pacific Standard: Flory on Evangelical support for Trump
The Trump administration’s anti-immigrant policies have revealed a split among Christians, with some providing sanctuary to immigrants in danger of deportation and others maintaining their support of the president. Pacific Standard quoted …
Catholic Sisters: Vocations in Africa
Many young women in countries across Africa have decided to become Catholic sisters. In this video, young women share why they decided to follow the path of religious life. The sisters note …
How Salvation Army’s Red Kettles Became a Christmas Tradition
This article originally appeared on The Conversation. Tinseled trees and snowy landscapes are not the only signs of the upcoming holiday season. Red kettles, staffed by men and women in street clothes, …
KPCC: Najuma Smith-Pollard on Same-Sex Marriage and the Black Church
In 2008, a majority of Black voters helped ban same-sex marriage in California. KPCC talked to Najuma Smith-Pollard, program manager for the USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement, about whether attitudes …
The Varieties of American Evangelicalism
Donald Trump’s ascent to the presidency has brought the culture, fault-lines and political commitments of American evangelicalism into sharp relief. How did a candidate whose lifestyle and morals starkly contradict conservative Christian …
5,000 Pies: Serving Pizza and Faith in Long Beach
5,000 Pies is a small, storefront restaurant and “social enterprise” operated by Fountain of Life Covenant Church in a multi-ethnic and economically challenged neighborhood on the west side of Long Beach, California. …
The Influence of Archbishop Oscar Romero
In this video CRCC’s archives, visit the church where Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated, with guide Richard L. Wood, associate professor of sociology at University of New Mexico. Romero was canonized as …
African American Muslims and the LAPD: Moving from Stories to Solutions
This article originally appeared in BOOM California. “We don’t want to walk into a kumbaya situation,” said Umar Hakim. The sixteen men and women gathered around a conference table in Inglewood simultaneously …
Sustaining Religious Life: Support for Catholic Sisters
Catholic sisters work with vulnerable populations around the globe. Their faith drives their dedication to serving “the least of these,” and yet, the conditions in which they work also can cause them …
Holy Listening Connects Young Adults to Churches
This post, co-authored by Dori Baker, originally appeared on Faith & Leadership. Multicolored Post-it notes dot the walls of the seminary classroom. Here, in a pop-up design thinking lab, people are buzzing …
LA Times: Murray Center Gathers Women for Discussion of #MeToo in Black Church
The USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement convened a group of prominent women to discuss sexual harassment in the Black Church. The Los Angeles Times covered the #MeToo-inspired gathering, organized by …
Evangelicals Versus Oil: Environmental Justice in South Los Angeles
This article originally appeared in the June 2018 issue of Sojourners magazine. Sentinel Peak Resources recently announced its intention to abandon petroleum production at its Jefferson Boulevard site. The families arrived early …