Archive
Community Transformation: Outlining a Process for Change
Introduction: Innovation Labs for Congregational Vitality and Community Change Imagine if a church held a gala to raise money for programs to help improve the lives of its neighbors, and everyone in …
How to Start a Wealth-Building Ministry at Your Church
In disadvantaged communities, economic instability makes it difficult for many to access important financial knowledge. Without this information, people cannot lift themselves up and grow their wealth. And if the people are …
RNS: Richard Flory on Christian Nationalists
An emerging group of leaders are combining conservative Christianity and nationalism. Religion News Service wrote about Michael O’Fallon, the CEO of Sovereign Nations and owner of Sovereign Cruises and Events LLC, which …
A nascent #ChurchToo movement could improve gender equality in the black church
This article was originally published by the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts & Sciences. By Susan Bell The first advice the Reverend Najuma Smith-Pollard gives male pastors is not to use …
KQED/KPCC: Richard Flory on Bethel School for Supernatural Ministry
People come from around the world to Redding, California to learn miraculous healing. The California Dream Series (a media collaboration of KQED, CALmatters, KPCC and others) featured CRCC’s senior director of research …
KCRW: Brie Loskota on the United Methodists, Young People and Religion
With the United Methodist Church facing a possible schism over gay clergy and marriage, KCRW asked CRCC Executive Director Brie Loskota to explain the divisions around LGBT rights in religious communities, and …
Rev. Cecil L. Murray: A Call to Ministry
Rev. Cecil L. Murray led First African Methodist Episcopal (FAME) Church in Los Angeles for 27 years. In this video, Pastor Murray reflects on his calling to the ministry, from his childhood …
The Murray Method of Church Leadership
In his 27-year tenure at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, Rev. Cecil L. Murray transformed a small congregation into a megachurch that brought jobs, housing and corporate investment …
Deseret News: Richard Flory on the Instagrammable Bible and Kanye’s Christianity
Young Christian entrepreneurs are bringing an Instagram aesthetic to the Bible. Alabaster Co. produces books of the Bible with large, artistic images. The Deseret News asked Richard Flory, CRCC’s Senior Director of …
The Guardian: Flory on the Rise of Pentecostalism in America
Today’s Pentecostalism in America is not what it used to be. As Australian Pentecostal groups – such as Hillsong, C3, and A21 – are rapidly growing across America, they are also transforming …
Deseret News: Flory on Declining Church Attendance
Today, nearly 1/4 of Americans do not affiliate with a faith group, and church leaders across the country are growing concerned on how to combat declining church attendance rates. Deseret News interviewed CRCC’s Senior Director …
The Monthly: Flory on the Popularity of Hillsong’s Christine Caine
Megachurch Hillsong has recently been attracting a growing number of worshippers, and Christine Caine has emerged as a rising star among America’s evangelical circuit, selling out theaters and megachurches across the country. …
National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) Religious Literacy Primer 2019
The USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement created this religious literacy primer for the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), in an effort to help members of the organization engage …
KCRW: Flory on the Popularity of Hillsong and Celebrity Christianity
Hillsong Church and other popular evangelical churches are attracting celebrities and large number of young Christians, but their stances on social issues are more conservative than many attendees may realize. KCRW’s Press …
Religion News Service: As Americans Disengage From Religion, A California Institution Encourages Questioning
Against the backdrop of decreasing religiosity in America, the Krikshnamurti Foundation of America (KFA) finds a growing following that encourages members to question and reach their own conclusions about their faith. Religion …
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 …