The Renewalist Movement at Brazil’s Nossa Sehnora del Penha Church
Women and young people are often the first in the family to go to Pentecostal and Charismatic Catholic services. Get a peek at a service at Nossa Sehnora del Penha (Our Lady …
Southern California and the World
California County Profiles
The following listings include racial demographics and statistics on minority faith congregations for California counties. To view the information, click on the county name. Alameda County Alameda County: Population: 1,510,271 (2010) Race …
Syria stains the world’s conscience
This commentary was originally published in The Financial Times. When Libya’s Muammer Gaddafi threatened to go street to street and house to house to snuff out his opponents, Barack Obama addressed Americans …
Crying for a Fallen Cardinal: Mahony and the Sex Abuse Crisis
I have followed the news of Cardinal Roger Mahony with great sadness. Though he did not commit abuse, he covered up the abuse of others and, thereby, allowed it to continue. I …
L.A.’s First Jewish Mayor?
Since the mid 1950s Los Angeles has been the second largest Jewish community in the United States, but has never had a Jewish mayor. New York, by contrast, elected its first Jewish …
Second Acts: Portraits from Christian Renewal Movements in Brazil
The name Silas Malafaia was on everyone’s lips. A sociologist at a secular university near Brasilia, the rector of a Catholic seminary in Campinas, a Pentecostal lawyer in Sao Paulo and a …
The Sacred in the Profane: Storefront Churches in Los Angeles
I was an undergraduate at Columbia College where the Great Books were built into the freshman curriculum. My doctorate is in experimental particle physics. I now teach city planning and public policy. …
The Jewish Religious Scene in Southern California
This post originally appeared in The Jewish Journal. As I wrote upon my return from from the annual meeting of the Association for Jewish Studies, embarrassed that Los Angeles was conspicuously absent …
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— …
Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Speaking in Tongues in Africa
In this video, Senior Writer Nick Street explores glossolalia (speaking in tongues), the Pentecostal movement in Jos, Nigeria, and a Charismatic Catholic congregation in Nairobi, Kenya.