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 …
The Soul of Los Angeles
Portraits of Faith, Hope and Social Transformation. Photographs by Jerry Berndt.