Archive
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 …
Finding, Losing Faith in Foxholes
Photo by Eric Feferberg The aphorism “There are no atheists in foxholes” first arose to describe the pleas for salvation prayed by terrified soldiers facing impending death in the trenches of Europe …
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 …
Where They Make Manna
When Pastor Ed Carey arrived at Hope International Bible Fellowship (Hope IBF) in 1994, the situation was grim. The once-thriving congregation was down to 30 people and thinking of closing its doors. …
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 …
Incarcerated Pentecostalism
The familiar sounds of a Brazilian Pentecostal worship service flew from the open sanctuary doors of a church in Rio de Janeiro. The rattle of tambourines and shouts of “Gloria a Deus!” …
Brazil’s Sleeping Giant: The Protestant Church
Driving through Rio de Janeiro last week, I saw the phrase “O Gigante Acordou” or “The Giant Woke Up” scrawled across dozens of concrete walls, highway overpasses and World Cup-related construction sites. …