Archive
Transitions: New Spiritual Community in Black Radical Organizing
Abstract: Competing voices within spiritual groups help to create boundaries of belonging within and beyond the group by articulating notions of identity and meaning that are based in history, myth and gender, …
AMCLI: Building a Dynamic National Network of American Muslim Leadership
AMCLI is leadership program that develops and trains American Muslim leaders who are committed to civic engagement. AMCLI fellows are at the forefront of creating a greater presence of Muslims in the …
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 …
Forward: Richard Flory on The Jerusalem Embassy Ceremony
While the opening of the new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem is a political victory for Trump, it is a religious victory for evangelicals. Trump appealed to this group of evangelicals—a group who …
The Poor People’s Campaign: Learning from the Global Fight Against Structural Poverty
Last fall, I attended a high-energy mass meeting for the new Poor People’s Campaign. Part of a 15-state tour, the Los Angeles event rallied a racially mixed and enthusiastic crowd from the …
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 …
NBC: Richard Flory on Bringing Environmentalism to Evangelicals
White evangelicals have often dismiss climate change as a critical issue, but NBC News reports that some pastors and environmentalists in the community are hoping to re-contextualize the issue and help evangelicals …
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 …
The Cosby Case at Church: Why Pastors Should Address Sexual Assault
Bill Cosby is back in court this week. This time, in Pittsburgh, his sexual assault case is framed against the backdrop of #MeToo, the movement raising awareness of sexual harassment, and #ChurchToo. …
The OC Register: Reverend Cecil Murray on the 50th Anniversary of the Death of Martin Luther King Jr.
April 4, 2018 marks the 50 year anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968. Cecil L. Murray, a faith-based leader and chair of the USC Cecil Murray Center for …
March 27, 1994: “Turnips That Don’t Turn Up” – Rev. Cecil Murray
In this Palm Sunday sermon, Rev. Murray reminds his congregation that humility helps you remember to praise the Lord. Without humility, it is easy to forget to be grateful, but being humble …
Latter-day Zen: The Mormon Man Bringing Meditation to Home
This article originally appeared in Tricycle Magazine. The first thing that I noticed on my visit to Thomas McConkie’s apartment near the University of Utah was a small wooden tan—the raised platform …
Billy Graham Coverage: Richard Flory on Evangelical Politics
The death of “America’s pastor” Billy Graham at age 99 has brought reflection on the politics of American evangelicalism. Richard Flory, CRCC’s senior director of research and evaluation, spoke with FiveThirtyEight and Congressional Quarterly …
Billy Graham Coverage: Richard Flory on the Business of Evangelicalism
Billy Graham left a legacy in the evangelical world not only in terms of his preaching, but also in terms of the organizations he founded or inspired. Following his death on February …
When a Pastor Shows Up at a Black Lives Matter Protest
I posted a question on Facebook at the beginning of 2018: “What ever happened to Black Lives Matter?” The question wasn’t prompted by animosity, despite the disagreements between clergy and BLM. To …
The Black Church and Black Lives Matter – Faith Leaders Institute
Roslyn Satchel is an AME minister and part of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles. She spoke at the Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement’s 2018 Faith Leaders Institute retreat about why she …
Preacher, Save Yourself – America’s Gun Massacres Erode Its Credibility
The following opinion piece is by Wanjiru M. Gitau, a visiting scholar at CRCC originally from Kenya. The frequency of mass shootings in the U.S. exacts a toll that reaches far beyond …
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 …
Reimagining Religion 2018: New Stories, New Communities
Reimagining Religion 2018: New Stories, New Communities was a conference hosted at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism by the Knight Program for Media and Religion, along with Religion Communicators …
Effective Relationship Building to Bridge Faith and Cultural Divides
Brie Loskota’s article about developing partnerships is part of Pluralism in Peril: Challenges to An American Ideal, a report of The Aspen Institute Justice & Society Program’s Inclusive America Project. From climate …