USC Dornsife College Of Letters Arts and Sciences

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The Memo Book Signing with John Hope Bryant

John Hope Bryant, founder of Operation HOPE, visited the USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement for a book discussion and signing about his new book, The Memo: Five Rules for Your …

Faith Leaders on Los Angeles’ Homelessness Crisis

The University of Southern California hosted a high-level roundtable of local faith leaders to discuss how the faith community could jointly respond to the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles. This post includes …

Trust Talks: A Dialogue on Police and Race in Los Angeles

  Trust Talks is a faith community-led initiative that brings together all sides of the Downtown Los Angeles community—including representatives of Skid Row, condo owners and renters, police, business owners, and activists—in …

Catholic Sisters: Champions of Sustainable Development

Catholic sisters’ work with vulnerable people is inspired by their faith, and it also aligns with international community’s approach to development. This video illustrates the unique role sisters play in promoting sustainable …

If I Give My Soul: Faith Behind Bars in Rio de Janeiro

If I Give My Soul: Faith Behind Bars in Rio de Janeiro By Andrew Johnson (Oxford University Press, 2017) The writing of this book was supported by the Pentecostal Charismatic Research Initiative.   …

How to Handle Church Rip-Off Artists – Church Finance Series

This article originally appeared in The Christian Recorder. In bad economic times, churches are the target of professional con artists committed to ripping the church off. Some rip off artists hit 50 …

Catholic Sisters Create a Model of Economic Empowerment in Zambia

In Chipapa, Zambia, Catholic sisters have created a model of sustainable development that allows the sisters to support themselves while helping the wider community. Sister Catherine Oguonu provides a tour of the …

Laundry Love California: A Story Map

PCPJ: Why Pentecostals Are Progressive

An overwhelming majority of indigenous churches with active social programs in the developing world are Pentecostal or Charismatic, sociologists Donald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori found in their book Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of …

Words of the Week – Empowering Poor People

The post originally appeared in the Los Angeles Sentinel. The church has a dark hidden secret. It has been a secret for decades. The secret is churches have a number of the …

L.A. Sentinel: Faith Leaders Urge Thankfulness

The Los Angeles Sentinel asked Southern California faith leaders to share what they’re thankful for during a year that has been particularly hard on communities of color. The article quoted both the …

Dignity and Power Now: The Spirituality of Black Lives Matter

Dignity and Power Now (DPN), a grassroots organization in Los Angeles, works to end mass incarceration. Founded by Patrisse Cullors, an artist and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, DPN uses …

A Faith Leader Serves His Local Community at Church and on the City Council

Jawane Hilton is not only a pastor; he also serves on his city council. After participating in the USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement’s programs for faith leaders, Hilton deepened his …

Laundry Love: Making a Laundromat Sacred through Service

Laundry Love is a nationwide network of more than 100 groups that offer free laundry to people in need, creating new communities at laundromats. It began in Ventura, California in the early …

Catholic Sisters in Africa: Strong, Vital and Taking on Global Challenges

This post was adapted from our report on the Conrad N. Hilton’s Catholic Sisters Initiative. Catholic sisters have been present in Africa since the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny landed on …

The Emerging Global Sisterhood – Sr. Rosemarie Nassif on Catholic Sisters, Pope Francis & the UN SDGs

With a global network of Catholic sisters, the Catholic Church has a unique ability to respond to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Sister Rosemarie Nassif, SSND, speaks at the International …

A Young Faith Leader Responding to the Needs of His Community

When Charles Dorsey came to the USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement, he was young and had a lot of ideas but was unsure how to implement them. In this video, …

What We Know – And What We Don’t Know – After 20 Years of Charitable Choice

This post is adapted from a longer white paper on 20 years of Charitable Choice. Twenty years ago, President Bill Clinton enacted the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 …

The Row L.A. – A Skid Row Church Ministers on the Streets of Los Angeles

At The Row, or the “Church Without Walls,” members congregate on the corner of Wall St. and Winston St. in the middle of DTLA’s Skid Row every Friday night. Though church members …

Finding Love in the Heart of Skid Row

By Ariel Blandford, video intern with CRCC As the sun set over the Los Angeles downtown skyline, it illuminated cotton candy clouds and painted the row buildings in pastels, creating a watercolor …