Archive
Virtual Town Hall: Najuma Smith-Pollard, Congressman Adam Schiff, and Faith Leaders on the “Quadruple-threat Crises”
Los Angeles-area faith leaders joined Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) for a Zoom town hall. Moderated by Najuma Smith-Pollard, program manager of the USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement, the interfaith leaders …
KCET on Rev. Cecil ‘Chip’ Murray: The Reverend Who Led the Rebuilding of South L.A. After the 1992 Riots
In the wake of George Floyd’s death, the United States has been gripped by fury over the nation’s persistent racism and police brutality. The unrest is reminiscent of the 1992 Los Angeles …
Faith & Politics: Leadership in the Time of COVID-19
The USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement’s hosts a conversation with two of its alumni about how they are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Featuring: Dr. Michael Fisher, Greater Zion Church …
Holy Spirit: A Progressive Episcopal Community in Silver Lake
Holy Spirit is a small, “off the books” experimental congregation affiliated with the Los Angeles Episcopal Diocese. Members describe in this video how Holy Spirit started as a home Bible-study group and …
5,000 Pies: Serving Pizza and Faith in Long Beach
5,000 Pies is a small, storefront restaurant and “social enterprise” operated by Fountain of Life Covenant Church in a multi-ethnic and economically challenged neighborhood on the west side of Long Beach, California. …
African American Muslims and the LAPD: Moving from Stories to Solutions
This article originally appeared in BOOM California. “We don’t want to walk into a kumbaya situation,” said Umar Hakim. The sixteen men and women gathered around a conference table in Inglewood simultaneously …
Evangelicals Versus Oil: Environmental Justice in South Los Angeles
This article originally appeared in the June 2018 issue of Sojourners magazine. Sentinel Peak Resources recently announced its intention to abandon petroleum production at its Jefferson Boulevard site. The families arrived early …
LAist: Loskota on Congregations Addressing Homelessness
A Los Angeles-area non-profit has been unsuccessful in opening congregations’ parking lots to people living out of their cars, reports KPCC/LAist. CRCC Executive Director Brie Loskota told KPCC that the expectations on …
How Young Women Become Catholic Sisters Today
When Sister Jeanette Kong was growing up in Singapore, she felt herself to be a “jaded and disillusioned young person.” She had been raised in a Catholic family environment with a Catholic …
Encountering God: A Catholic Sisters’s Journey
Sister Jeanette Kong shares how she went from a “jaded and disillusioned young person” to a Verbum Dei Missionary in this video: Fewer young women in the United States are deciding to …
Religion on the Move in Los Feliz
The current era of religious flux in the United States is often depicted through photographs of empty pews in mainline Protestant churches during a typical Sunday service. But the ongoing evolutions in American religious culture are …
The L.A. Decade: Religious Innovation in an Emerging Global City
The following is a speech given at The Collaboratory, a gathering of Jewish leaders. When I was teaching at a Jewish day school for girls, one of my students approached me excited …
Wilshire Boulevard: A Tour of Religion in Los Angeles
Wilshire Boulevard was designed to be the grand boulevard of Los Angeles. Major religions established congregations along the street, just outside of Downtown Los Angeles. The USC Center for Religion and Civic …
83.9 KPCC: Mark Whitlock on LA’s Korean Christian Community Seeking Social Impact
Korean Americans make up a large portion of Los Angeles’ population, and many of them identify as Christian. However, Korean churches do not have the same reputation for impacting the community in …
How California’s Megachurches Changed Christian Culture
This article was originally published on The Conversation. The popular view of California is of a liberal, godless region, a land of possibilities that is open to experimentation in all things. As …
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 …
Hollywood Beloved: A Catholic Procession on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Hollywood Beloved is a Catholic Eucharistic procession that brings together multiple parishes and Catholic organizations from around Southern California for public worship in the heart of Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. At the …
Daily Pilot: The Fast-Growing Catholic Diocese of Orange
The Catholic Diocese of Orange is among the fastest-growing dioceses in the United States, and its strength lies in its diversity, reports the Daily Pilot. “If you look at the Diocese of Orange, …
Pico Union Project: An Interfaith Space in Los Angeles
The Pico-Union Project reveals several layers of Los Angeles’ immigrant religious history, even as it embodies the communities and practices that are shaping the city’s future. Built in 1909 for a Jewish …