Archive
Religion and Public Diplomacy
Religion and Public Diplomacy Philip Seib, editor (Palgrave Macmillan: 2013) Religion and Public Diplomacy discusses the volatile consequences that can be a result of mixing religion, new communications technologies …
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— …
The Oxford Handbook of Religion and the American News Media
The Oxford Handbook of Religion and the American News Media Diane Winston, Editor (Oxford University Press: 2012) Whether the issue is the rise of religiously inspired terrorism, …
The Dream Center: Spirit-Infused and Socially Engaged Urban Ministry
This article appeared in PentecoStudies: An Interdisciplinary Journal for Research on the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Vol 11, No 1). Abstract: In this article we investigate the Dream Center, a large-scale Pentecostal …
An Evangelical Changing of the Guard?
This post originally appeared at Trans/Missions, the USC Knight Chair in Media and Religion site. At about the same time that President Barack Obama came out in favor of gay marriage, and …
Religion in the News: What Does it All Mean?
This post originally appeared on Patheos’ Black, White and Gray blog. Several news stories about religion in the U.S. have caught my attention over the last couple of weeks, and they each …
Megachurch and Microscoop: Beyond the Crystal Cathedral
This post originally appeared at Trans/Missions, the USC Knight Chair in Media and Religion site. The Crystal Cathedral has finally met its demise. After bankruptcy, the sale of the landmark sanctuary to …
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 …
Prof. Flory Goes to Chapel
I attended chapel today at Biola University (where I once worked), which increased the number of times I have attended a Biola chapel from zero to one. But, if chapels had been …
Why Even Go to Church?
Yesterday, Jeremy Rhodes wrote about a new survey from Barna Group that shows that almost 50% of regularly attending American churchgoers say that their lives haven’t changed in any way as a …
Who’s Leading the Evangelical (Super) Pack?
This post originally appeared on Trans-Missions, the USC Knight Chair in Media and Religion site. In an effort to rally evangelical support for one Republican candidate in the upcoming South Carolina primary — …
What Does the Demise of the Crystal Cathedral Mean For Our Megachurches?
This post originally appeared in Zócalo Public Square. If this year were like years past, the Crystal Cathedral, the Philip Johnson-designed Protestant megachurch in Garden Grove, would be abuzz with the “The …
The Evangelical 99 Percent
This post originally appeared on Trans-Missions, the USC Knight Chair in Media and Religion site. Last week I spent a day at the annual Evangelical Theological Society meetings in San Francisco. My entree …
Religion and Youth
Religion and Youth Sylvia Collins-Mayo, Editor (Routledge: 2011) What is the future of religion given the responses of young people? What impact do existing religious forms …
Outcomes Measurement in the Human Services: Cross-Cutting Issues and Methods
Outcomes Measurement in the Human Services, 2nd Ed.: Cross-Cutting Issues and Methods in the Era of Health Reform Jennifer L. Magnabosco and Ronald W. Manderscheid, Editors (NASW Press: 2011) …
Mega Crystal Cathedral Meltdown Redux
This post originally appeared at Trans/Missions, the USC Knight Chair in Media and Religion site. The past tumultuous few years for the Crystal Cathedral have included the retirement (and un-retirement, then subsequent …
Gays and Lesbians at Evangelical Colleges?
Shocking! According to the New York Times, there are gay and lesbian students at evangelical colleges, and they actually want to be recognized by their schools for the people they are, not …
The End of the (Evangelical) World As We Know It
This post originally appeared at Trans/Missions, the USC Knight Chair in Media and Religion site. Several recent reports suggest that the evangelical Christian world, as we have come to know it over …
Recovering a Moral Perspective in Public Life
With the recent retirement of Cardinal Roger Mahony, many assessments of both his accomplishments and shortcomings have–and will–be written. But any appraisal of Mahony’s contributions to the civic culture of Los Angeles …
The New Politics of Fear
This post originally appeared on Trans/Missions, the USC Knight Chair in Media and Religion site. Although there are still some lingering questions from last November about the role that values-voters played in …