Archive
L.A. Times: Will Young People Watch FOX’s Passion Play?
The Los Angeles Times quoted CRCC’s Director of Research and Evaluation Richard Flory in an article about FOX’s “The Passion,” a live production of a modern-day Passion Play set in New Orleans. …
Mapping the New Landscape of Religion in Los Feliz
This article originally appeared in BOOM: A Journal of California. Mt. Hollywood Congregational Church was in trouble. Its congregation had become too small to sustain the decaying Los Feliz building that had …
In the Age of Megachurches, Sometimes Less Is More
This post originally appeared on Religion Dispatches. We have long known, as sociologist Mark Chaves says, that “most congregations in the United States are small, but most people are in large congregations.” …
Slimming the Megachurch in Seoul and Los Angeles
Yoido Full Gospel Church is the world’s largest megachurch. When we visited the Seoul church one weekday morning last fall, I was struck by two things: First the church was full, but …
A Religion Dispatches Roundtable Discussion on Religious “Nones”
Religion Dispatches’ Peter Laarman led a roundtable conversation on religious “nones” with Kaya Oakes, The Nones Are Alright: A New Generation of Seekers, Believers and Those in Between, Sikivu Hutchinson, atheist scholar and author, …
What the Fight over Allah Says About the Future of Evangelical Christianity
This post originally appeared on Religion Dispatches. When Professor Larycia Hawkins of Wheaton College publicly announced her solidarity with Muslims by wearing a hijab through the holiday season—and stated that Christians and …
American Christianity Is Changing Fast: Five Stories to Watch in 2016
This post originally appeared on Religion Dispatches. While LGBT evangelicals cheered on the SCOTUS decision on gay marriage, evangelical institutions lobbied for the passage of “religious freedom” laws that would allow them …
Richard Flory Speaks at Cal State Fullerton
CRCC Director of Research Richard Flory was the keynote speaker of the “Religious Talks,” an annual series of talks presented by the sociology department at Cal State Fullerton. Here’s an excerpt from …
VOA: Young Americans Seek Different Church Experience
While the number of American identifying as Christian is on the decline, small churches are attracting young people in particular. Richard Flory, director of research for the Center for Religion and Civic …
What Real Estate Battles Say about Church
This post also appeared on Huffington Post Religion. What makes a church, a church? Is it the buildings? The programs? The members? These questions come to mind with recent real estate transactions …
Do Millennials Care About Religion and the World Around Them?
Il Bo, the online magazine of the University of Padua in Italy, turned to Richard Flory to understand what to make of the falling religious participation of American Millennials. Although Google Translate …
What’s in a Name? Religious Nones and the American Religious Landscape
This post originally appeared on Religion Dispatches. Over the last several years the term religious “Nones” has become a major topic of discussion and analysis by those who pay attention to religious …
U2, Justin Bieber and the Future of Christianity
What exactly is the shelf life of a headlining rock band and an equally headline-grabbing pastor? When I heard that U2 had summoned megachurch pastor Rick Warren to minister to them in …
U.S. Christianity Is Dead, Long Live U.S. Christianity – The Implications of New Religious Affiliation Data
This post originally appeared at Religion Dispatches. the cluster of comment on the recently released report on the changing American religious landscape from the Pew Research Center, we have seen two basic story lines: the U.S. is …
Will the Real Evangelical Millennials Please Stand Up?
Lately the religion blogosphere has been all a twitter about a new book by Rachel Held Evans, who has documented her spiritual and religious path from being a good evangelical millennial to …
Do Government Regulations Get in the Way of Doing Good After a Disaster?
This post was originally published by Zócalo Public Square. Any time now, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is going to announce whom he has hired to be the city’s chief resilience officer, the …
Hatchery LA: Exposing the Religious Industrial Complex
CRCC’s Director of Research, Richard Flory, was interviewed on a podcast by Hatchery LA about, CRCC’s project on Religious Competition and Creative Innovation, a $2.6 million initiative funded by the John Templeton …
Rev. Robert H. Schuller, Crystal Cathedral Founder, Dies at 88
The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, who founded one of the world’s first megachurches only to see it fall apart, died Thursday morning. Schuller founded the Garden Grove Community Church in Orange County, …
The (Next) Fire Next Time
As I watched nationwide protests flare after the grand jury’s decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson of Ferguson, MO, I couldn’t help thinking that despite the progress Americans think we’ve made …
Richard Flory Addresses the Los Angeles City Council
This post was a speech delivered to the Los Angeles City Council and a gathering of religious leaders whose communities are working with the City on disaster preparedness. Good morning, it is …