USC Dornsife College Of Letters Arts and Sciences

University of Southern California

Archive

Archive

With Religious Affiliation on the Decline, What Should Happen to Hallowed Buildings?

This post originally appeared on Washington Post’s Acts of Faith blog. Katy Perry wants to live in a convent. No, she is not among the young women who want to become a …

Made in Los Angeles – How One Church Changed With Its Community

At her old church, church leaders looked “at me like a sinner for plucking my eyebrows!” remembered Sonia. The church’s gender-specific regulations, imported from the congregation’s mother church in El Salvador, also …

Storefront Churches

[iframe height=”500″ src=”//www.google.com/fusiontables/embedviz?viz=MAP&q=select+col5%2C+col6%2C+col7%2C+col8%2C+col11%2C+col12+from+435584+&h=false&lat=34.017095604460124&lng=-118.30249786376953&z=12&t=1&l=col12″] Storefront Churches Storefront Churches line the streets of Los Angeles, typically bringing Pentecostal faith to the community in buildings once occupied by small businesses. USC Sol Price School of …

What Lies Beneath USA’s Dig Is More Than Entertainment

There is an unholy secret hiding in Jerusalem. So says the website and promotional material for the USA Network Show: Dig. It airs this spring as a 10-part series that promises a …

Mile of Miracles: A Microcosm of L.A.’s Religious Diversity

The processes of spiritual seeking, discovering and creating are constantly shaping and reshaping the religious landscape of Los Angeles. Far from being a godless metropolis, L.A. is one of the most religiously …

Downtown L.A. Captures Pentecostalism’s Past, Present and Future

“When people ask me, ‘What good can come out of Skid Row?’ I tell them that the people of God come out of Skid Row!” Pastor Cue’s sermon hit a crescendo as …

Iceberg Lettuce vs. Arugula: Religion and Gentrification in Los Feliz

Last week I took a walk on the gentrifying edge of Los Feliz with the pastor of a local church that mainly ministers to the down-and-out. We talked about the urban landscape …

The Burbs Are All Right: Religion, Sprawl and L.A.’s Urban Logic

As a part of our Religious Competition and Creative Innovation project, our research team meets once each month for “idea lunches” during which we have freewheeling discussions about what we’re seeing in …

In Mellow L.A. and Suave Rio, Religious Movements are Similar (but Different)

When I walked by the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on USC’s campus this week I thought of Rio de Janeiro. The Coliseum stands as a symbol of both the 1932 and 1984 …

Finding the Future in Los Feliz

During his comments at a recent Getty House event to mark the National Day of Prayer, Mayor Eric Garcetti referred to L.A.’s current cultural moment as “this hinge of history.” Civic boosterism? …

Making Sense of Religion in Southern California

California is a paradox. While it is known as one of the most progressive states in the country, home to the entertainment industry and innovative technology companies, it has also produced conservative— …

Giving and Taking – Researching Sacred Native American Sites

 It needs a particular courage not to overcome the past but to live with it still.  -Geoffrey Hartman  Over the Thanksgiving table  last week, a family member told a story about a …

Demographic Change: Casualties or Opportunities?

This post originally appeared on Patheos’ Black, White and Gray blog. At the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, we’ve been talking a lot lately about how different communities in the …

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The Soul of Los Angeles

Portraits of Faith, Hope and Social Transformation. Photographs by Jerry Berndt.