One of the fascinating aspects of living in a time of great religious flux is the boom in religious (and irreligious) innovation. Young adults who are leaving established institutions are forming new kinds of associations to nurture a sense of purpose and belonging. Congregations with empty pews are experimenting with novel forms of music and liturgy to try to attract converts as well as to retain the faithful. Service-oriented groups that welcome all comers, regardless of religious affiliation, are flourishing across the country. And a variety of spiritual practices that focus on the experience of individual believers are flourishing in the West as well in as in the global South.
- ReportUncharted Pilgrimages: Mapping Contemporary Spiritual JourneysTopics: Innovation and Change, Southern California, weforum
- EventReimagining Religion Conference Program and Livestream – Feb. 9, 2017Scroll below to watch the livestream (times of panels noted on conference schedule) February 9, 2017 University of Southern California Preview: Increasingly, Americans are choosing not to identify with a particular religious …Topics: Innovation and Change, Politics, Religious "Nones", Religious Affiliation, Southern California
- ArticleMapping the New Landscape of Religion in Los FelizThis 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 …Topics: Buddhism, Christianity, Innovation and Change, Nalika Gajaweera, Nick Street, Religious Affiliation, Richard Flory, Southern California
- VideoGod’s Resistance: Mobilizing Faith to Defend Immigrants
- CommentaryA Year of Crisis and Opportunity: 2024 Trends in Religion and SocietyIn CRCC’s annual trends post last year, we wrote about surviving, if not thriving. We write this year’s trends with a special place in our hearts for CRCC’s senior editor Nick Street, …Topics: Innovation and Change, Racial Justice, Religious Leadership, trends
- CRCC in the NewsWashington Post: Richard Flory on Saddleback’s Rick Warren Ordaining WomenRick Warren, founder and pastor of Saddleback Church, is challenging the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) belief that women should not be pastors in their church. Saddleback was disfellowshipped by SBC officials after …Topics: Christianity, Evangelicalism, Innovation and Change, Religious Leadership, Southern California
- CRCC in the NewsKPCC LAist 89.3: Richard Flory on How Gen-Z Are Finding (Or Moving Away From) ReligionHow has living in a time of tremendous social change influenced Gen Z’s attitudes towards religion–organized or otherwise? CRCC’s executive director Richard Flory was on KPCC LAist 89.3’s Airtalk with Larry Mantle …Topics: Innovation and Change, Religious "Nones", Religious Affiliation
- ArticleTen Characteristics of Thriving Communities of FaithEven as religious affiliation continues to decline, CRCC’s research on religious creativity and innovation has found groups that are thriving across religious traditions. While not necessarily large (though some are), these groups …Topics: Christianity, Innovation and Change, Thriving Congregations
- ArticleReimagining (Again): Key Lessons on Ministry Sustainability in a Post-Pandemic WorldThe USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture (CRCC) recently held its first in-person event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2019. More than 70 clergy and faith-inspired community …Topics: Innovation and Change, Nick Street, Religious Affiliation, Religious Leadership, Thriving Congregations
- ArticleSitting in the Fire Together: People of Color Cultivating Radical Resilience in North American Insight MeditationThis article appeared in the Journal of Global Buddhism’s Special Issue on Buddhism and Resilience, Vol 22, No 1 (2021), co-edited by Nalika Gajaweera. Abstract Drawing upon ethnographic research conducted in California …Topics: Buddhism, Innovation and Change, Nalika Gajaweera, Racial Justice, TAS
- ArticleJournal of Global Buddhism: Special Issue on Buddhism and ResilienceNalika Gajaweera co-edited a special issue of the Journal of Global Buddhism on Buddhism and Resilience with Darcie DeAngelo. Below is an excerpt of their introduction along with a list of articles …Topics: Buddhism, Innovation and Change, Nalika Gajaweera, Racial Justice, TAS
- BookReligion in Los Angeles: Religious Activism, Innovation and Diversity in the Global CityReligion in Los Angeles: Religious Activism, Innovation and Diversity in the Global City Edited by Richard Flory and Diane Winston (Routledge, 2021) Why has Los Angeles been a hotspot for religious activism, …Topics: Books, Buddhism, Catholicism, Christianity, Diane Winston, Hinduism, Innovation and Change, Interfaith/Multifaith Movements, Judaism, Pentecostalism, Religious Leadership, Richard Flory, Southern California
“Most people would probably be surprised to hear ‘faith’ and ‘innovation’ used in the same sentence. But any conversation about leaders in entrepreneurship and innovation has plenty of space for the topic of faith.”
—Rebecca McQuigg Rigal
“A Leap of …Entrepreneurship? Finding a Place for Faith in Social Innovation”
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