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.
AnnouncementNominate a Spiritual ExemplarDo you know someone who is changing the world? Is their work inspiring but not widely known? The USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture is launching a global project on spiritual …Topics: Engaged Spirituality, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleFar from Being Anti-Religious, Faith and Spirituality Run Deep in Black Lives MatterThis article was originally published on The Conversation, and was written with Ann Gleig. Black Lives Matters (BLM) has been portrayed by its detractors as many things: Marxist, radical, anti-American. Added to …Topics: Creativity and Innovation, Engaged Spirituality, Protests and Uprisings, Race and Culture
ArticleIndira Ranamagar: Nepalese Women in Prison Turn to AmaThis article was originally published in Indian Country Today, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. Our aunties are the same all over the world. They are the “go to” women …Topics: Asia, Criminal Justice, Economic Inequality, Engaged Spirituality, Gender, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleHow Covid-19 and the Fight Against Big Oil is Reviving One Alaskan People’s Spiritual TraditionsThis article was originally published in Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. ARCTIC VILLAGE, Alaska — Arriving home on one of the last regular flights before pandemic …Topics: Engaged Spirituality, Environment, National and Cultural Identity, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleSamuel Chu: Hong Kong Issues Warrant for an American Citizen, Activist and Pastor’s SonThis article was originally published by Religion News Service and GroundTruth, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. On the morning of July 31, Samuel Chu, a Hong Kong …Topics: Asia, Engaged Spirituality, International Affairs and Policy, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleJulie Coyne: Creating A Community of Care in Highland GuatemalaOn any given afternoon, for the last 22 years, Julie Coyne has waited eagerly at the doorway to Education and Hope, green eyes twinkling. Children emerge from the surrounding streets dressed in …Topics: Catholics and Catholicism, Economic Inequality, Education, Engaged Spirituality, Immigration, Latin America, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleMasue Katayama: Changing Nursing Care Industry in Japan with KindnessThis article was originally published in Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. YOKOHAMA, Japan (RNS) — In what used to be an elementary school in …Topics: Asia, Catholics and Catholicism, Engaged Spirituality, Healthcare, Spiritual Exemplars
CommentaryWill Our Sense of Solidarity Fall Victim to the Pandemic?I recently argued in a piece for Religion News Service that the pandemic is leading religious institutions and our moral perceptions through a process of creative destruction, one in which an increasing …Topics: COVID, Engaged Spirituality, Faith-Based Organizations, weforum
ArticleChao-hwei Shih: Buddhist Nun Leads Asia’s Fight for Gay MarriageThis article was originally published in Harvard Divinity Bulletin, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. BUDDHIST MASTER THE VENERABLE Chao-hwei Shih beamed at two 30-year-old brides kneeling before her …Topics: Asia, Buddhists and Buddhism, Engaged Spirituality, Gender, LGBT Issues, Religious Leadership, Spiritual Exemplars
CommentaryFaith, hope and creative destruction: religious responses to COVID-19This article was originally published in Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. (RNS) — In France, a hip female rabbi has improbably developed a large interfaith …Topics: COVID, Engaged Spirituality, Religious Leadership
ArticleRNS: France’s ‘hip’ female rabbi draws Muslims, Christians and Jews in a time of crisisThis article was originally published in Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. (RNS) — On Tuesday nights at 8:30 p.m., tens of thousands of people throughout France …Topics: COVID, Engaged Spirituality, Europe, Interfaith/Multifaith Movements, Jews and Judaism, Religious Leadership, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleRNS: In Togo, a Catholic nun fights COVID-19 for the sake of her AIDS patientsThis article was originally published in Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. (RNS) — “Here, people won’t die from COVID-19 but mostly from its consequences,” said Sister …Topics: Catholics and Catholicism, Christians and Christianity, COVID, Engaged Spirituality, Healthcare, Nuns and Women Religious, Spiritual Exemplars, Sub-Saharan Africa
“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.