For many people working on humanitarian causes, spirituality is the force that compels them to be engaged with the world. They may have a ministry to serve the poor or be an activist fighting for human rights. They may be Buddhist, Muslim, Christian or not adhere to any particular tradition. What they share is an engaged spirituality.
From our first project following the 1992 civil unrest in Los Angeles, CRCC’s research and training programs have sought to understand and support faith leaders committed to improving their communities. CRCC continues this work today by studying the lives and work of exemplary people committed to advancing human flourishing across the globe. The following page includes stories of such people, created by CRCC’s researchers and journalist fellows. From the individual stories, CRCC aims to define and establish a field of “spiritual exemplars” and understand how engaged spirituality operates in their lives. This endeavor is supported by the John Templeton Foundation and Templeton Religion Trust.
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Above, Maggie Gorban ministers to children in a slum on the outskirts of Cairo.
AudioRussell Jeung: He Started A Movement to #StopAAPIHateThis radio documentary was originally produced by KALW’s The Spiritual Edge, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. To hear this and other profiles, subscribe to The Spiritual Edge podcast …Topics: Christians and Christianity, COVID, Engaged Spirituality, race, Spiritual Exemplars, Violence
ArticleSameer: Leading the Peaceful Resistance Against Israeli OccupationThis radio documentary was produced by KALW’s The Spiritual Edge, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. To hear this and other profiles, subscribe to The Spiritual Edge podcast in …Topics: Engaged Spirituality, International Affairs and Policy, Middle East and North Africa, Muslims and Islam, Spiritual Exemplars, Violence
AudioIsmael “Melo” Moreno: A Voice of Opposition in HondurasThis radio documentary was produced by KALW’s The Spiritual Edge, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. To hear this and other profiles, subscribe to The Spiritual Edge podcast in your …Topics: Catholics and Catholicism, Engaged Spirituality, Latin America, Spiritual Exemplars
AudioSister Dianna Ortiz: A Tribute to a Survivor of Torture Who Became a Voice for VictimsThis radio documentary was originally published by KALW’s The Spiritual Edge, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. Listen to it at KALW.org. To hear this and other profiles, subscribe …Topics: Catholics and Catholicism, Engaged Spirituality, Gender, Latin America, Nuns and Women Religious, Spiritual Exemplars, Violence
CommentaryEngaged Spirituality at COP26 – UN Climate TalksCRCC has been collecting the stories of 100 “spiritual exemplars,” people inspired by their faith to work on some of the world’s most intractable issues since 2019. What we did not expect …Topics: Engaged Spirituality, Environment, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleRev. Gary Mason: Faith on the Peace Lines of Northern IrelandThis article was originally published by Religion Unplugged. Amid the bombings and murders of Northern Ireland’s decades-long conflicted called the Troubles, Rev. Gary Mason would go to the bars that he had …Topics: Christians and Christianity, Engaged Spirituality, Europe, Spiritual Exemplars, Violence
AudioRosalina Tuyuc Velasquez: Calling on Ancient Maya Wisdom to Heal Guatemalan WidowsThis radio documentary was originally published by KALW’s The Spiritual Edge, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. Listen to it at KALW.org. To hear this and other profiles, subscribe …Topics: Engaged Spirituality, Latin America, Spiritual Exemplars, Violence
AnnouncementThe Spiritual Edge Sweeps Religion News Association Radio AwardsThe Spiritual Edge swept the Religion News Association’s 2021 radio award, with audio documentaries from its Sacred Steps series placing first, second and third. Sacred Steps, a series of profiles of people …Topics: Engaged Spirituality,
AudioMichelle Clifton-Soderstrom: An Evangelical Professor And Her Students Inside A Maximum Security PrisonThis radio documentary was originally produced by KALW’s The Spiritual Edge, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. To hear this and other profiles, subscribe to The Spiritual Edge podcast in …Topics: Christians and Christianity, COVID, Criminal Justice, Engaged Spirituality, Evangelicals and Evangelicalism, Spiritual Exemplars
AudioMehool Sanghrajka: A Jain Tech Innovator Combines A Religious And Worldly Perspective In EducationThis radio documentary was originally produced by KALW’s The Spiritual Edge, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. To hear this and other profiles, subscribe to The Spiritual Edge podcast in …Topics: Education, Engaged Spirituality, Europe, Media, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleBrother Chân Pháp Dung: Where the Search for Simplicity LeadsThis article was originally published in Yes Magazine, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. Before entering monastic life, Brother Chân Pháp Dung gave away his worldly possessions. The last step …Topics: Buddhists and Buddhism, Engaged Spirituality, Environment, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleBishop Isaiah: The Bishop, the Art school and the Conflict ZoneThis article was originally published on Eurasianet, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. In the village of Zemo Nikozi, reminders of the 2008 war are hard to hide. …Topics: Christians and Christianity, Education, Engaged Spirituality, Race and Culture, Violence
“Pessimism, cynicism, despair—these words are not in the vocabulary of spiritual exemplars such as Sister Rosemary and Jean. Instead, I kept hearing the words hope, compassion and love. What really struck me was their entrepreneurial spirit in the face of poverty and trauma. Perhaps visionary action is an antidote to paralyzing anxiety and fear.”
— Donald E. Miller, Countering Pessimism and Despair: An Encounter with two Spiritual Exemplars
CRCC Experts
To schedule an interview with one of our experts, please contact CRCC:
crcc@usc.edu or 213-743-1611
Hebah FarragAssistant Director of ResearchHebah Farrag manages the center’s research and evaluation projects while engaging in research focused on religion, social change and new spiritualties.
Donald E. MillerDirector of Strategic InitiativesDonald Miller focuses on global religious trends, genocides of the 20th century, and the role of religious NGOs in addressing issues of moral concern.
Arpi MillerContributing FellowArpi Miller is a sociologist who studies secular and faith-based immigrant advocacy and accompaniment.