Archive
National Prayer Breakfast Was a Moment for Leaders to Show Humility – Trump Changed It
This article originally appeared on The Conversation. A heaping plate of partisan politics, sprinkled with religious faith, topped the menu at the 68th National Prayer Breakfast. On the morning of Feb. 6, …
The Roaring 20s: Religion Trends to Watch in 2020 and the Next Decade
The 1920s was a decade of change, and we see the 2020s as reminiscent of the cultural flux of that period. When people think of the 1920s, many imagine a golden era …
Beyond Influencer Marketing: How to Exercise Real Leadership Online
There are some things you will have no trouble finding on today’s internet: more fascinating content than you can ever hope to consume; oceans of strong opinions; products you never knew you …
Times Free Press: Loskota on Role of Presidential Religious Advisers
Why are presidents allowed to have spiritual advisers? The Chattanooga Times Free Press published an explainer about the constitutionality of spiritual advisers. The story quotes CRCC Executive Director Brie Loskota about the …
A nascent #ChurchToo movement could improve gender equality in the black church
This article was originally published by the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts & Sciences. By Susan Bell The first advice the Reverend Najuma Smith-Pollard gives male pastors is not to use …
Census 2020: Facts, Fictions and Faith
What is the census? The census is a counting of all residents in the United States. Our constitution mandates that we do a census every 10 years, and that it be used …
Rev. Cecil L. Murray: A Call to Ministry
Rev. Cecil L. Murray led First African Methodist Episcopal (FAME) Church in Los Angeles for 27 years. In this video, Pastor Murray reflects on his calling to the ministry, from his childhood …
The Murray Method of Church Leadership
In his 27-year tenure at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, Rev. Cecil L. Murray transformed a small congregation into a megachurch that brought jobs, housing and corporate investment …
The Economist: Loskota on Religious Freedom at the Border
Activist on the left are using religious freedom–a value often championed by American conservatives–to defend their actions in court. The case of Scott Warren, who was being charged for helping undocumented immigrants …
Countering Pessimism and Despair: An Encounter with Two Spiritual Exemplars
As we enter 2019, two emotions seem to be dominant: political pessimism and personal anxiety. These feelings are rooted in the dysfunctions of government and economic instability, both of which are legitimate …
Human Trafficking Reconsidered: Rethinking the Problem, Envisoning New Solutions
Human Trafficking Reconsidered: Rethinking the Problem, Envisoning New Solutions Kimberly Kay Hoang and Rhacel Salazar Parreñas, editors (Abe Books: 2014) This unique collection of original essays investigates …
OC Register/LA Sentinel: Whitlock Fasting to End Gun Violence
Mark Whitlock, executive director of the USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement, has committed to a 73-day fast to end gun violence. The Orange County Register and the L.A. Sentinel detailed …
KPCC: Najuma Smith-Pollard on Same-Sex Marriage and the Black Church
In 2008, a majority of Black voters helped ban same-sex marriage in California. KPCC talked to Najuma Smith-Pollard, program manager for the USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement, about whether attitudes …
The Varieties of American Evangelicalism
Donald Trump’s election as president in 2016 brought the culture, fault-lines and political commitments of American evangelicalism into sharp relief. How did a candidate whose lifestyle and morals starkly contradict conservative Christian …
The Influence of Archbishop Oscar Romero
In this video CRCC’s archives, visit the church where Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated, with guide Richard L. Wood, associate professor of sociology at University of New Mexico. Romero was canonized as …
LA Times: Murray Center Gathers Women for Discussion of #MeToo in Black Church
The USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement convened a group of prominent women to discuss sexual harassment in the Black Church. The Los Angeles Times covered the #MeToo-inspired gathering, organized by …
Radio Azad: Brie Loskota on AMCLI
Even as partnerships between government and faith organizations have narrowed to select groups under the Trump administration, CRCC Executive Director Brie Loskota finds hope in the rise of local initiatives to build partnerships, …
The Hill: Richard Flory on the Religious Right’s Criticism of Trump’s Immigration Policies
The controversy over child separation at the southern border is forcing many conservative Christian leaders to be more critical of Donald Trump than they have in the past. Though some believe this …
LA-Times Op-Ed: The Leaner, and Arguably Meaner, Evangelical Church
This Op-Ed originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times on May 31, 2018. Franklin Graham, the evangelical preacher and son of Billy Graham, is in the midst of a 10-city tour of …
Faith and the #MeToo Movement
KPCC, in partnership with the USC Annenberg Knight Program in Media and Religion, hosted a panel discussion on faith communities and the #MeToo movement that included CRCC’s executive director Brie Loskota and …