USC Dornsife College Of Letters Arts and Sciences

University of Southern California

LA Times: CRCC on the Impact of Covid-19 on Religious Groups

LA Times: CRCC on the Impact of Covid-19 on Religious Groups

LA Times: CRCC on the Impact of Covid-19 on Religious Groups

Mosques generally raise a significant portion of their funds during Ramadan. But due to Covid-19, people are not coming in to pray and break fast together. The LA Times interviewed Brie Loskota on Covid-19’s effects on mosques throughout the United States.

Here is an excerpt:

“Congregations are microcosms of the world around them. They are not insulated from them,” said Brie Loskota, executive director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at USC. “Faith institutions sometimes get a double or triple impact because their leadership is impacted, the congregation is impacted … that compounds to create a greater crisis.”

Loskota said that every mosque she knows is trying to figure out its next steps.

Click here to read the article.

 

Black churches have also had to adapt during the Easter season. In Los Angeles, faith leaders are recording public service announcements in empty churches, urging their members to stay home. On their websites, they are replacing links to Scripture with warning links from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. The LA Times interviewed Najuma Smith-Pollard on black leadership during these times:

“The black church has always done our community development, civic engagement, advocacy in this very visible space where they are on corners, in front of cameras and convening,” said the Rev. Najuma Smith-Pollard. “Right now, it might feel like black leadership is not present, but we are.”

Click here to read the article.

Photo Credit: Tom Hart / Flickr