Archive
CRCC Launches Compelling Preaching Initiative
The USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture is launching a new project that seeks to help faith leaders think about their preaching in an ever-changing social and cultural landscape. With support …
Washington Post: Richard Flory on Saddleback’s Rick Warren Ordaining Women
Rick Warren, founder and pastor of Saddleback Church, is challenging the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) belief that women should not be pastors in their church. Saddleback was disfellowshipped by SBC officials after …
Wall Street Journal: Richard Flory on Jesus in American Culture
The “He Gets Us” ad campaign has caused debate about its portrayal of Jesus, but Jesus always has had many faces in American culture. The Wall Street Journal describes how various Christian …
Thriving (or Just Surviving): 2023 Trends to Watch in Religion and Society
If CRCC’s annual trends to watch have been growing more ominous in recent years, then 2023 feels like a pivotal year for many of the issues we’ve been tracking: Like our final …
Student Reflection: Curating Religion: Pluralistically, Singularly, or Not At All?
By Caris White Caris White is a student at Dartmouth College studying religion and art history. The following blog post was an independent project she worked on during a summer internship with …
Leading Outside the Confines of Culture: Thriving Congregations Conversation with Mark Labberton
Fuller Seminary President Mark Labberton provides insights on developing ministries that address the needs and realities of the world, while cultivating an intentional awareness of God’s work and leading with openness, humility …
Times Of San Diego: Richard Flory on Awaken Church Planning University, with Rules on Sex, Drugs, Derogatory Language
Awaken Church in San Diego — part of a Christian movement that seeks to shape American society – is launching a “university.” Training schools are part evangelical history, Richard Flory tells the …
LA Times: Richard Flory on Biola University and the Future of Evangelicalism
Divisions about the political and cultural application of evangelical faith principle are playing out at evangelical colleges across the country. The Los Angeles Times covered how those divisions are playing out at …
Voice of San Diego: Richard Flory on a Right-Wing Church
The Voice of San Diego profiled Awaken, a local evangelical church that has become a center for right-wing political organizing. CRCC’s Richard Flory provided context for conservative political activism of evangelical churches. …
Munther Isaac: What Would Jesus Do at an Israeli Military Checkpoint?
This article was originally published by Religion Unplugged, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. BETHLEHEM— In the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, a stained glass window depicting …
Mônica Francisco: Two women of opposing faiths unite to protect sacred Candomblé space
This story was originally published by Christian Science Monitor, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. Mônica Francisco and Mãe Seci Caxi do not see eye to eye about God. Ms. Francisco, …
Pandemic Year 3 Predictions: Adjusting to New “Normals” in 2022
Since 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 …
Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom: An Evangelical Professor And Her Students Inside A Maximum Security Prison
This radio documentary was originally produced by KALW’s The Spiritual Edge, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. To hear this and other profiles, subscribe to The Spiritual Edge podcast in …
Honolulu Civil Beat: Flory on Evangelical Pastors’ Influence on Vaccine Uptake
Some pastors in Hawaii are discouraging their members from getting the COVID-19 vaccine, Honolulu Civil Beat reports. The article quotes CRCC’s Richard Flory about the perception of vaccines within evangelical Christianity. According …
Witness as Ministry: Serving God and Refugees in Beirut
Beirut, Lebanon has been wrecked by war and strife for many decades. More recently, there has been a flood of refugees from Syria and, in 2020, much of the city was leveled …
LA Times: Why Are Christian Groups Allowed To Discriminate? Power and Privilege
The Los Angeles Times published the below letter to the editor from CRCC’s Richard Flory: To the editor: Op-ed article writers Rachel S. Mikva, Corey D.B. Walker and Reza Aslan are rightly …
Jean Bouchebel: Retired From World Vision, but Not From Serving God and Refugees
This article was originally published by Christianity Today, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. When Jean Bouchebel retired at age 70, he was not ready to simply relax. …
White Christian nationalism and the next wave of political violence
This article was originally published by The Hill. There was a brief period when Republicans appeared to reject Trumpism. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) condemned the insurrectionists as “terrorists, not patriots,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the seditionists were …
Jerry Falwell Jr. will leave behind a very different legacy from his influential father
This article was originally published by The Conversation. Jerry Falwell Jr., son and namesake of the founder of the evangelical Moral Majority movement, has resigned as president of Liberty University. The resignation …
Newsweek: Flory on Trump’s Waning White Evangelical Support
Donald Trump’s approval rate among white evangelicals has slipped since the onset of the pandemic in March. What does this signify for Trump’s re-election campaign? In an article about the 2020 Republican …