Archive
The End (of Lockdown) is Near: Opening Houses of Worship in a Time of Uncertainty
I had just announced our church’s plans to resume in-person worship when someone called and told me they had contracted COVID-19. Immediately, I second-guessed the decision to reopen our worship building for …
CBS2: Smith-Pollard on MLK’s impact in Los Angeles
The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. found both support and opposition in Los Angeles. Najuma Smith-Pollard of the USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement spoke with CBS-LA about the legacy of …
In Wake of Chauvin Trial, What Can Faith Leaders Learn From the Rodney King LA Civil Unrest?
This article was originally published in Religion News Service and The Washington Post. As the U.S. reacts to the guilty verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin, many are wary of violence …
Religion in Los Angeles: Religious Activism, Innovation and Diversity in the Global City
Religion in Los Angeles: Religious Activism, Innovation and Diversity in the Global City Edited by Richard Flory and Diane Winston (Routledge, 2021) Why has Los Angeles been a hotspot for religious activism, …
Rev. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray: A Life of Faith and Service
Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray served for 27 years as pastor of the historic First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME) in Los Angeles and guided Angelenos through the trauma of and …
Rev. Anand Mathew: A Catholic Priest Takes on Interfaith Fight Against COVID-19 in India
This article was originally published in Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. VARANASI, India — Wearing a lilac tunic with a coarse cotton towel around his neck, …
Spiritual Leadership in Myanmar
I visited Yangon for the first time in January 2020, and from the airport tarmac into its downtown, the city had been signposted with billboards of Aung Sang Suu Kyi’s face. She …
Celebrating Thich Nhat Hanh’s Influence on his 94th Birthday
Thich Nhat Hanh’s 94th birthday—or continuation day—is Oct 11. In honor of the day, Plum Village monastics asked his friends and students to share short reflections on how Thay, as his followers …
Swami Agnivesh: One of His Final Interviews in Caravan Magazine
This interview was originally published in The Caravan, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. It has been edited and condensed. *** On 11 September, Agnivesh, a swami in the Arya …
COVID-19: The Essential Problem with State-Faith Relations
This article was originally published in The Hill. A Los Angeles-area church is the latest to make national headlines by defying public health orders and gathering in-person as COVID-19 cases continue to rise. Grace …
Social Justice and Thriving Congregations
The recent protests and marches for civil rights, police reform and social justice inevitably implicate churches and other religious institutions. What is the relationship between seeking social justice and developing a thriving …
Jerry Falwell Jr. will leave behind a very different legacy from his influential father
This article was originally published by The Conversation. Jerry Falwell Jr., son and namesake of the founder of the evangelical Moral Majority movement, has resigned as president of Liberty University. The resignation …
Chao-hwei Shih: Buddhist Nun Leads Asia’s Fight for Gay Marriage
This article was originally published in Harvard Divinity Bulletin, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. BUDDHIST MASTER THE VENERABLE Chao-hwei Shih beamed at two 30-year-old brides kneeling before her …
Faith, hope and creative destruction: religious responses to COVID-19
This article was originally published in Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. (RNS) — In France, a hip female rabbi has improbably developed a large interfaith …
RNS: France’s ‘hip’ female rabbi draws Muslims, Christians and Jews in a time of crisis
This article was originally published in Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. (RNS) — On Tuesday nights at 8:30 p.m., tens of thousands of people throughout France …
RNS: Indian Priest Warner D’Souza Makes The Kitchen His Pulpit Amidst the Pandemic
This article was originally published in Religion News Service with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. MUMBAI, India (RNS) — From his kitchen in a suburb of North Mumbai, 50-year-old Catholic …
Ashin Issariya: Leading the Charge Against Militant Buddhism
This article was originally published in New Statesman, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. January is the cool, dry season of traveling sermons in Myanmar, where members of …
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 …
Building Back Better: A Multi-faith Town Hall with Rep. Adam Schiff
As we work towards coronavirus recovery, communities across America are beginning to envision what it could look like to not just return to the way things were, but to build back better. …
Religious Responsibilities in Confronting Police Brutality
June 10, 2020 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. EDT Location: Online Zoom Webinar Throughout the United States and in cities across the world thousands have joined protests over the murder of George …