Our goals
CRCC’s cohort-based programs and public events seeks to support leaders.
- Let your values guide authentic leadership
- Gain practical skills and resources
- Build a network of leaders in and beyond your community
- Find space to think differently, be revived and be challenged
- Become a force for positive social change
Sign up for CRCC’s Newsletter for future events and opportunities.
Compelling Preaching
The Compelling Preaching Initiative at the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture creates space for faith leaders to think about their preaching in an ever-changing social and cultural landscape.
Thriving Congregations
The USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture supports faith leaders as they seek to reimagine their ministries and help their congregations thrive in a time of significant religious and social change.
Economic Empowerment
The late Rev. Dr. Cecil L. Murray maintained the importance of teaching people how to “own the pond” rather than simply teaching them to fish. CRCC’s Economic Empowerment programming aims to provide basic financial education for attendees and encourage leaders to bring that information back to their communities.
CRCC also assists leaders of faith organizations to be better fiscal stewards, access alternate sources of income and resources and lead community development efforts.
Recent Events
Watch recent events from the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture
You can find out about future events by signing up for CRCC’s newsletter.
Passing the Mantle 2.0: The Murray Legacy
This roundtable discussion features LA faith leaders continuing the legacy of spiritual giants while adapting to new circumstances.
God’s Resistance: Mobilizing Faith to Defend Immigrants
Stories of Social Change: Spirituality in Action
Other Leadership Development Programs
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The American Muslim Civic Leadership Initiative (AMCLI) builds the capacity of emerging Muslim leaders from across the United States. AMCLI has hosted 20 cohorts for about 400 participants since 2008.
AMCLI supports American Muslims in becoming authentic and effective leaders within their communities and beyond. Participants gain practical tools around leadership, community organizing, courageous conversation, storytelling and more.
The initiative hosts leadership retreats, virtual programs and a deeply connected network made up of the hundreds of American Muslim leaders who have been through its programing.
Programs are currently on hold while CRCC seeks new funding for AMCLI.
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The Faith Leaders Institute (FLI) continued the efforts of the Passing the Mantle Program, under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray.
FLI helped organizations build their capacity to respond to their communities’ needs. Through the Institute, clergy and lay leaders of churches and faith-based organizations gained the knowledge and skills necessary to make and change public policy and hold government accountable. Annual cohorts met with public officials and held forums, protests and educational events about transportation, immigration reform, gang violence, health disparities within communities of color and other social issues.
FLI was hosted by the Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement, which was housed within the Center for Religion and Civic Culture. Today, Rev. Murray’s legacy is infused in all the programming offered by the Center for Religion and Civic Culture.
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Neighborhoods with the highest rates of gang violence also seemed to be populated with numerous religious institutions. CRCC partnered with the California Endowment in 2009 to research and run programming that sought to increase the effectiveness and engagement of congregations and other faith-based organizations to stem the flood of violence in their communities.
After three years of research and programming, CRCC drew the following conclusions.
- Faith organizations in gang-impacted neighborhoods often function as locations where residents can escape violence, rather than confront it.
- Congregations that seek to intervene in the cycles of violence in their neighborhoods often lack the organizational capacity to do so.
- Many Christian churches in these neighborhoods operate out of a theological framework that does not motivate or equip them to confront the tough social problems that they face on a daily basis.
- Despite these challenges, faith communities have a latent capacity to address community needs if they are equipped with the appropriate training, mentoring, and technical assistance.
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The Passing the Mantle Clergy and Lay Leadership Institute (PTM) helped African American churches reclaim the activist legacy of the 1960s and become agents of positive social change in their communities.
The Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray organized the program at CRCC after he retired from First African Methodist Episcopal Church, Los Angeles and joined USC in 2005.
Specifically, PTM equipped pastors, clergy, faith-based nonprofit leaders and church board members for better mission conceptualization, civic engagement modeling, strategic planning and partnership building with the public and private sector. The program created a learning environment with leading practitioners, politicians and professors with expertise in areas related to civic engagement and community development.