ArticleJimmy Swaggart’s rise and fall shaped the landscape of American televangelismThis article is originally published by republished from The Conversation. Jimmy Swaggart, one of the most popular and enduring of the 1980s televangelists, died on July 1, 2025, but his legacy lives. …Topics: Christianity, Media and Technology, Politics
ToolsPreaching Beyond the Walls of the Congregation: How Faith Leaders Can Use MediaCongregations are often on the frontlines of significant social issues, from poverty to immigration to polarization. Clergy’s moral leadership on these issues is grounded in both their spiritual traditions and the lived …Topics: Christianity, Media and Technology, preaching, Religious Leadership
CommentaryBringing Religion Reporting—and Understanding—to NigeriaInspired by a fellowship with CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality (2019-2023), journalist Innocent Eteng has found ways to improve reporting on religion in Nigeria. Nigeria is a country with over 250 …Topics: Engaged Spirituality, Media and Technology- VideoAI Tips for Preachers
AnnouncementCRCC Launches Compelling Preaching InitiativeThe USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture is launching a new project that seeks to help faith leaders think about their preaching in an ever-changing social and cultural landscape. With support …Topics: Black Church, Catholicism, Christianity, Evangelicalism, Media and Technology, preaching, Religious Leadership
ResourcesEthnographic Religion ReportingThis reporting guide was originally published on Religion Link, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. When asked to make predictions about newswriting for 2021, Kevin D. Grant, co-founder & …Topics: Engaged Spirituality, Media and Technology, Spiritual Exemplars
CommentaryThe Moral Power of Stories: How Exemplars Help Us Find Meaning and PurposeWhat has more emotional salience, an abstract moral principle such as love or justice or a good story of someone whose life commitments exemplify these values? Shortly after I finished my Ph.D. …Topics: Donald E. Miller, Engaged Spirituality, Media and Technology, Spiritual Exemplars- VideoUnveiling the Heart of 100 Humanitarians
ReportStories of Social Change: Spirituality in ActionA multimedia exhibit A global team of journalists and researchers at the University of Southern California produced more than 100 stories about people dedicated to working for positive social change as …Topics: Engaged Spirituality, Media and Technology, Spiritual Exemplars
CommentaryDonald E. Miller: ‘Spiritual exemplars’ change the media narrative about religionThis article was originally published on Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. Media stories about religion often focus on corruption in religious institutions, politicians’ alliances with conservative Christians and …Topics: Donald E. Miller, Engaged Spirituality, Media and Technology, Religious Leadership, Spiritual Exemplars
CommentaryThriving (or Just Surviving): 2023 Trends to Watch in Religion and SocietyIf CRCC’s annual trends to watch have been growing more ominous in recent years, then 2023 feels like a pivotal year for many of the issues we’ve been tracking: Like our final …Topics: Christianity, Evangelicalism, Media and Technology, Politics, Racial Justice, Southern California, Thriving Congregations, trends
CommentaryStudent Reflection: Curating Religion: Pluralistically, Singularly, or Not At All?By Caris White Caris White is a student at Dartmouth College studying religion and art history. The following blog post was an independent project she worked on during a summer internship with …Topics: Christianity, Evangelicalism, Media and Technology
CRCC Experts
To schedule an interview with one of our experts, please contact CRCC:
crcc@usc.edu or 213-743-1611
