Multiple wildfires broke out across Los Angeles the day before our team was scheduled to discuss 2025 trends to watch in religion and society. Our leader canceled the meeting, while other team members fled power outages and smoke. In the hours and days to follow, we would learn that former colleagues and friends had lost their homes. We tracked at least 18 congregations destroyed or damaged by the flames.
All of our ideas about what 2025 would hold in store seem distant now. As the fires subside, we are entering what will be a multi-year period of recovery in Los Angeles. At the same time, many of the issues that faith leaders and affiliates told us would be important in 2025 — housing, immigration, climate change — are connected to this tragedy. Across the various issues, a central theme emerged: Solidarity.
When the city burned in 1992, faith leaders mobilized their congregations and business leaders to first help clean and then invest into impacted communities. In 2025, who will harness our solidarity and help us emerge from the ashes stronger?
This year’s trends are prescriptive, suggesting ways that faith communities can take the lead — and how government, philanthropy and the private sector can follow.
Read each directive and find resources below:
- Encourage — and direct — generosity
- Care for people’s whole selves
- Find solidarity in the face of climate disaster
- Reimagine and rebuild more just communities
- Protect the dignity of immigrants
- Government and Private Partners: Listen to community and faith leaders
Contributors
Christopher Baker, Maureen K. Day, Vanessa Gomez Brake, Tarra McNally, Kimiko Yamada, Meg Tiller. CRCC team: Soraya Ahyaudin, Richard Flory, Napah Phyakul Quach, Najuma Smith, Megan Sweas
Encourage — and direct — generosity
As of this writing, we are still in the mode of immediate disaster response. Displaced people are in temporary shelters, trying to navigate insurance claims, apply for FEMA aid and find places to live.
Many have noted the communal spirit of Angelenos. People have collected clothes, blankets, hygiene kits, diapers and toys for distribution to people in need.
The outpouring of generosity is not unique to these wildfires. And yet it creates a perennial distribution challenge of sorting through donations (a CRCC staff person threw out a half-used toothpaste tube and holey socks on one volunteer stint) and then getting them in the hands of people in need, who may not have a place to put them. After all types of disasters, aid organizations recommend that people send money, not goods.
Faith leaders can help direct people’s generosity. They can partner with other congregations rather than duplicating efforts, pay close attention to the changing needs from organizers and think about long-term recovery. Congregations without directly impacted members might “adopt” affected families, following them from temporary shelters into rental units and through the process of rebuilding.
Most importantly, congregations’ generosity can allow disaster survivors to do what they need to do. How can your gifts maintain their sense of dignity and grant them a sense of control at a time when they have lost all of their worldly possessions? The answer is to give people what they need, not what you want them to have.
RESOURCES
- Give to Faith-Based Relief Funds – List of affected congregations and county-wide/coalition faith efforts (compiled by USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture)
- Donation and support links – Other funds and lists of Go Fund Me’s for displaced families (compiled by the USC Equity Research Institute)
Care for people’s whole selves
The immediate needs are so great right now that it’s difficult to stop and reflect on the emotional toll of these disasters. As our friend Rev. Dr. Grace Park shared from the Palisades fire, there are no words to respond to congregants’ (or one’s own) grief. When the loss is not just a home, but blocks of homes, houses of worship, schools, parks, grocery stores, and family-owned businesses, residents will need collective rituals of grief.
But in order to serve each other in the long run, it is critical for faith leaders, their congregations, first responders, and displaced people to prioritize their mental and physical health. Even people far from the flames have been affected by witnessing their city burn and living in clouds of toxic smoke.
Congregations must use good theology in the wake of trauma, Dr. Thema Bryant shared with us at the beginning of the pandemic (watch her talk on being a trauma-informed congregation.) Bad theology says that faith protects people from anxiety and painful emotions. As former president of the American Psychological Association and an ordained AME minister, Bryant says that God is with us in our suffering.
She says faith leaders can name and acknowledge traumas, preach about emotions and wellness practices, give congregants permission to engage in practices such as therapy and lead by example by caring for oneself.
Studies show that when congregations address health issues, it improves congregants’ health metrics, our affiliate Dr. Kimiko Yamada has shared. Faith leaders hold sway when they model and preach healthy behavior, from wearing the proper protective gear in a disaster zone to prioritizing physical activity.
As we commented last year, self-care has nearly become its own religion. While introducing wellness practices to a congregation is not without risk, their popularity suggests that congregants may embrace practices that acknowledge our embodied selves. In one sermon after the fires, a pastor led his congregation in breathing and humming together, explaining that humming relaxes one’s nervous system. “Now that I’ve raised our expectations unbelievably high…,” he joked before leading the exercise.
This might be the opportunity for congregational leaders to try something new, and if it works, institute a longer-term focus on wellness and wellbeing.
RESOURCES
- Healing Heartwork: Exploring Loss – Toolkit on grief from Islamic perspective
- Disaster Mental Health Resources – LA County Department of Mental Health
- Cali for Prayer list – more than 50 social justice religious leaders willing to provide spiritual/emotional care
- Jewish Federation lists health resources
- SoCal Muslim Mental Health Collaborative (information from Islamic Center of Southern California)
- West Angeles CDC’s Wellness center
- Climate Psychology Alliance
- Climate Psychiatry Alliance
- Pro-bono counselors list
Find solidarity in the face of climate disaster
The role of climate change in exacerbating these fires is undeniable. A wet winter brought plant growth, which turned to tinder after a hot, dry summer and fall. Then strong Santa Ana winds carried sparks far into neighborhoods. Then before the fires were even out, Trump pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Accords.
Some people have what seems to be a blind faith that either the rapture, technology, or Mars will save us. Yet, an astonishing number of young people have fallen into despair and fear for the future (returning to the issue of mental health). In the arena of climate policy, there’s a growing awareness that simply appealing to facts will not motivate humanity to change its course; rather, we have to tap into something deeper.
This is work for faith leaders. It would be wise to listen to indigenous leaders around the globe, who recognize that people are part of the land. We cannot continue to think of ourselves as separate from nature. Neither nature, nor fires stop at the edge of a national forest. You can find theologies and spiritualities that help us reconsider who we are and how we relate to the earth in nearly every tradition.
There is also a practical side of dealing with climate change. More congregations can turn into community resilience hubs with solar power and air purifiers. Faith and values-based shareholders can push insurance companies on disaster coverage, just as they have on health coverage. We can respond to Pope Francis’ reminders that the poorest of the poor bear the brunt of climate change.
We return to solidarity. We cannot escape the shared experiences of fires and floods. Following a decade’s long trend, people understandably distrust large systems like government and insurance. While some may be looking out for themselves, others are turning to mutual aid. Perhaps faith communities can help us rediscover sources of solidarity and build horizontal networks of support.
RESOURCES:
- Interfaith Power and Light
- Village Solutions Foundation Community Solar
- Read Parable of the Sower by Pasadena’s Octavia Butler. A bookstore named after her became a center of mutual aid (and now healing).
Reimagine and rebuild more just communities
The sense of distrust — and “we save us” solidarity — extends to nascent conversations about rebuilding. We are already hearing stories about fake Go Fund Me pages. As rents spike, activists are pushing for protections for renters.
There’s a fear that developers will buy properties, especially from residents who do not have the means or energy to rebuild, and build protective enclaves of wealth with private firefighting services. Billionaire developer and former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso has set up a nonprofit for rebuilding efforts in the Pacific Palisades.
Post-fire gentrification could displace families who have lived in these neighborhoods for decades. In Altadena, in particular, it threatens a Black community established when redlining prevented people of color from buying elsewhere. It also would have ramifications for congregations, whose members may be far flung or not have the same means to give. Faith leaders and activists are spreading a message that it’s important that residents protect their legacy and community by not selling property.
While it’s difficult to conceive of while still grieving what was lost, there is also an opportunity to reimagine what these communities might become — and how spaces of ritual and remembering might be incorporated into the neighborhoods. How might Altadena and the Pacific Palisades rebuild in a way that promotes economic justice while still being safe and sustainable?
Southern California is already experiencing a housing crisis. Before the fires, homelessness was the most frequent issue that faith leaders told us they want to focus on in 2025. The fires are simply exacerbating the issues, both for the recently displaced and those already unhoused.
There are government policies that encourage rebuilding from disasters with affordable housing. A new law makes it easier for congregations to build affordable housing as well. Rebuilding with the needs of the community in mind will require discernment, listening, watchfulness and advocacy. We have long advised congregations to assess their assets, capacities and mission before undertaking a new initiative. Throughout our programming on Reimagining Church, we repeatedly heard the call to collaborate on community engagement efforts. Rebuilding efforts will be no different. Congregations — and particularly coalitions that bring together faith leaders across traditional boundaries — can take the lead in imagining a better future for these communities.
RESOURCES:
- Operation Hope is offering services of “recovery coaches” to help with financial recovery
- The LA Times shared articles on how to avoid scams and how to deal with rents and mortgages
- Economic Empowerment resources for Congregations
Protect the dignity of immigrants
The LA fires show what is always and always has been true — we rely on immigrants to do the hardest, most dangerous, and least paid essential work, not only in California but in the rest of the country. We saw this during the pandemic as well. Immigrant communities lost more people to COVID-19 than other communities because of their role as “essential workers.” Migrant workers are already cleaning up neighborhoods, even as they have lost homes and jobs.
Yet politicians continue to demonize these communities in order to win votes and distract voters from the sources of the economic problems that they face. Trump is just one in a long line of politicians to do this. Now Democrats are joining in the “crack down on immigration” rhetoric to try to win votes that they lost to Republicans in the last election. All of this signals a new wave of anti-immigration policies that will surely harm immigrant communities, increase hate crimes, separate families, and lead to shortages of essential workers in many vital industries — construction included.
In Southern California, there is a rich history of faith communities working to advocate for and defend vulnerable immigrant communities, especially since the sanctuary movement in the 1980s. They do this work, year in year out, whether it makes the news or not. Networks of faith based and secular organizations like CLUE, CARACEN, CHIRLA, Matthew 25/Mateo 25, IRIS, LA Voice, Al Otro Lado, CLINIC and many others within specific denominations are actively meeting together and preparing for what will come with the Trump administration.
These organizations always welcome collaboration with congregations and faith communities — there will be plenty of work to do. We don’t know the specifics of what is coming, but these groups are preparing to adapt to whatever changes in immigration policy emerge.
While there seems to be a lot less energy among the public for resisting Trump 2.0 compared to 2016, since new immigration policies and their harmful effects will probably be highly publicized, public support for pro-immigrant advocacy movements will likely grow in the coming months in resistance to the harsh anti-immigrant sentiment that was unleashed in the recent election.
RESOURCES:
- Know Your Rights – California
- Know Your Rights – CHIRLA
- Guide to Disaster Assistance for Immigrant Californians
- Explore listed organizations for more on fire relief funds for immigrants, legal aid, advocacy and education: CLUE, CARACEN, CHIRLA, Matthew 25/Mateo 25, IRIS, LA Voice, Al Otro Lado, CLINIC
Government and Private Partners: Listen to community and faith leaders
Despite the “we save us” spirit, recovery will require the resources and organization of local, state and federal governments. Yet, government agencies still struggle to accomplish much — and often stand in the way of community revitalization. Help from the federal government may not materialize or may be contingent on fulfilling a political agenda. How does grassroots solidarity converge with large scale recovery efforts?
Affected community members can best speak for what is needed rather than an agenda set by government entities, the private sector or philanthropy. The faith community is well positioned to be an intermediary that can represent their communities — if they are willing and able to listen to the people they serve, and then represent those concerns to government and private sector interests.
Following the civil unrest in 1992, multi-religious coalitions — congregations and also community organizers and nonprofits — were the engine that drove necessary change. These efforts laid the groundwork for today’s robust, publicly involved faith community. CRCC has long argued that sustaining and strengthening faith actors’ relationship to local government would bolster the ability of both to meet the needs of local communities, especially following a disaster. On the federal level, partnership with faith communities to serve those in need (a hallmark of compassionate conservatism and Charitable Choice) are on the way out at the very time when it is needed here in Los Angeles. If done well, Los Angeles could show why such partnerships continue to be important.
Effective partnership with faith communities involves choosing well respected partners and earning buy-in by showing respect. It means not giving faith actors tasks at a time when they are already overburdened. It also requires open communication — whether sharing critical information about resources or receiving constructive criticism.
Trust in all types of institutions has declined greatly in recent decades — an issue in the United States and globally. Trust builds upon a consistent track record of doing the right thing. It also requires showing trust in others first, such as when a congregation opens its doors to strangers. If faith actors and government can establish effective partnerships and stay focused on the community’s needs following this disaster, it might help us all expand our radius of trust.
