Archive
How Will Church Plants Grow Without Becoming Megachurches?
Six years ago, Peter Guinta and his wife decided to leave their megachurch in Orange County because they wanted a place where they could “be known and know others.” Guinta felt like …
With Religious Affiliation on the Decline, What Should Happen to Hallowed Buildings?
This post originally appeared on Washington Post’s Acts of Faith blog. Katy Perry wants to live in a convent. No, she is not among the young women who want to become a …
Mindfulness and Science: Who’s Winning the Game of Samsara?
In his podcast lecture, Jesse Maceo Vega-Frey, a young Vipassana teacher, raises concerns about the “Mindfulness Industrial Complex.” “We want to win at this game of samsara”—the cyclic existence of suffering, driven by …
Marginal Muslims: Questioning Religion in Indonesia
This post also appeared on Huffington Post Religion. “If Islam is a religion of peace, why are people so violent?” That rhetorical question brought me up short. I wasn’t watching Pamela Geller’s …
CBS, France 24: Murray Center Reflects on Baltimore Riots and Racial Tensions in L.A.
As Baltimore burned in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, Rev. Mark Whitlock, executive director of the Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement, urged calm. “Right …
The City of Los Angeles Celebrates Religious Pluralism Day
The city of Los Angeles celebrated its first ever Religious Pluralism Day on April 21, 2015. City Council member Mitch O’Farrell introduced the formal resolution for the day, and Mitchell Englander seconded …
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 …
Gay Marriage Is Legal, but Gay Christians Still Fear Rejection
This is an edited excerpt of an essay that originally appeared on Christian Brown’s blog. Read the full post, “It’s Time I Told You I’m Gay,” where he also grapples with the …
Financial Literacy Program 2015
The Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement hosted a Financial Literacy Institute. The program, put on in partnership with Wells Fargo Bank, includes four consecutive weekly sessions and two months of mentoring …
Securing God’s Sanctuary – How to Protect Your Congregation from Attacks
A version of this article also ran in LA Sentinel. The vicious killing of nine people attending Bible Study at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC has created a national concern for …
The Role of the Spirit in #BlackLivesMatter Movement
This post originally appeared on Religion Dispatches and was republished by On Being with Krista Tippett. As the nation mourned the deaths of nine murdered at Emanuel AME Church last week, the …
My Prayer, Post-Charleston
Rev. Najuma Smith-Pollard originally published a version of this post on her blog. During any given week, on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday nights, thousands of Christian communities—from small congregations to megachurches—open their …
CBS, NPR Affiliates Interview Rev. Mark Whitlock on Charleston Shooting
The shooting of nine at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina has affected the entire African Methodist Episcopal church. Here in Southern California, Rev. Mark Whitlock heard news of the shooting …
Shooting at Charleston AME Church Won’t Slow Civil Rights Church
In addition to serving as the Executive Director of the Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement, Rev. Mark Whitlock is pastor of Christ Our Redeemer AME Church in Irvine, CA. Last night, …
Pope Francis Has Spoken on Climate Change – Here’s What Catholic Sisters Are Doing About It
Pope Francis says climate change is real and human activity plays a role in rising temperatures. Neither the content of his encyclical, “Laudato Si’: On the Care of Our Common Home,” nor …
Made in Los Angeles – How One Church Changed With Its Community
At her old church, church leaders looked “at me like a sinner for plucking my eyebrows!” remembered Sonia. The church’s gender-specific regulations, imported from the congregation’s mother church in El Salvador, also …
The Gay Sex Worker Who Defied Sharia Law in Banda Aceh to Organize
This post originally appeared on Global Post. JAKARTA, Indonesia — Faisal Riza started as a sex worker in one of the riskiest possible places for any kind of transgressive behavior: Aceh, a …
Let the Church Say ‘Thank You!’ – Church Finance Series
This post originally appeared in The Los Angeles Sentinel. Every Sunday morning, the church offers prayer, scriptures, songs, a sermon and the almighty offering, but does the church say, “Thank you?” Giving …
Could Pope Francis Change Hearts and Minds on Immigration on a Global Scale?
This article originally appeared on Washington Post’s Acts of Faith blog. A few months into his papacy, Pope Francis took his first trip out of Rome to Lampedusa, the Italian island through …
Why We Can’t Wait to End Workplace Discrimination
Rev. Cecil Murray wrote the following op-ed with Rev. Kelvin Sauls. It appeared in the Los Angeles Daily News and Los Angeles Sentinel. Leray Williams, a 24-year-old ironworker apprentice, landed a job …