A Guide to Religion in America: Finding Stories of Change

The USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture invites journalists to propose story ideas for its “Stories of Change in American Religion” initiative. CRCC’s Storytelling Initiative will fund deeply reported stories in all types of media from journalists who are both veterans and new to the religion beat.

This guide aims to provide a basic overview of the state of religion in the United States and introduce journalists to how scholars at CRCC think about religion and social change.

You will find sections on:

• Religion in Individuals’ Lives
• Congregations
• Religion in Society
• Demographics
• Landscape of American Christianity
• Stories of Change: Themes and Ideas
• Resources and Reading List

A Social Science Perspective on Religion

CRCC approaches religion from a social scientific perspective. Other scholars may look at religious groups’ histories, texts and theologies. We are interested in how religion “works” in its social and cultural context.

Social scientists are interested in stories of religious groups not only for their own religious ends, but also for what they say about how people organize communal life, movements, networks, and how religions intersect with race, gender, economics and other social and cultural variables. Social science frameworks can provide ways for journalists to think about potential stories that capture important changes in religious beliefs, practices and work in the public sphere.

This guide also summarizes the statistics that undergird some of the dominant narratives about religion in the U.S. today, such as religious decline, claims of revival and the ascendency of Christian nationalism. The first 100 stories of Change in American Religion initiative will focus on Christianity. According to Pew Research Center statistics, 63 percent of Americans currently identify as “Christian.” This number itself represents a drastic shift in religious affiliation, as 78 percent of Americans identified as Christian as recently as 2007. Recent surveys indicate a plateauing of decline, with significant differences generationally and geographically.

These statistics are not the only “story of change” we seek to tell through this initiative; rather they provide the backdrop for how people understand and live out their spiritual and moral commitments in an increasingly pluralistic and divided society.

This project is animated by these questions:

• How are people of faith adapting their congregations, faith-based organizations, perspectives and theologies?
• What kind of change are they making in society and how?
• How are they evolving spiritually?

Throughout the guide, you will find additional questions that may help you develop rich story angles. We also conclude with themes and ideas that may point you to stories that you can explore in your local community.

We look forward to hearing from journalists about the stories that answer these – and your own – questions about American religion.

A useful framework that scholars use to think about religion is that it provides its adherents with a sense of identity, community, meaning and transcendence (a similar schema describes religion in terms of belonging, belief, behavior).

Identity

Religion functions as a social identity framework — a way for people to locate themselves within moral, cultural, and political worlds. Religious labels (“Catholic,” “Evangelical,” “Jewish,” “Muslim,” “none”) operate as shorthand for values, lifestyles and group boundaries. One’s religious identity may be “ascribed” through family, ethnicity or region, or it may also be “chosen” through conversion or another form of affiliation.

• Who is choosing to switch religions (to the “nones,” Orthodox, evangelical, exvangelical, Catholic, Buddhist, etc.) and why? How does their past religious identity influence their understanding of where they are today?
• How do social artifacts and symbols (crosses, bumper stickers, t-shirts, social media memes) define and shape Christian identity? For Christians? For non-Christians?

Community

Religion provides community, offering social structures and networks that are difficult to replicate elsewhere in American life. Congregations organize regular face-to-face interaction, shared rituals, life-cycle events (births, marriages, deaths), and mutual aid.

These communities generate social capital: members are more likely to volunteer, give charitably and receive support during crises. Historically marginalized groups — especially Black Americans, immigrants and religious minorities — have relied on religious institutions not only for worship but for political organizing, cultural preservation and social services.

• What difference does it make that a congregation is in a particular community? Economically? Socially? In what ways do they show up beyond worship services?
• How do church services, small groups and community service efforts create belonging and moral community in American life?

Meaning

People can find meaning and moral narratives, both private and public, through participation in a religious community. Religion answers existential questions — why suffering exists, what a good life looks like, what obligations people owe one another — while embedding those answers in shared stories and practices. This creates a sense of belonging that is emotional as much as institutional: it comes from feeling known, morally affirmed and connected to something larger than oneself.

• Thinking of religious participation as a social practice, how do community and ritual matter within the congregation and in the larger community?
• How are American Christians making sense of increasing technological advance, political polarization, cultural uncertainty and their impact on communal life?

Transcendence

Finally, religion offers the individual believer and the larger community opportunities for transcendence from oneself and the everyday world. Transcendence speaks to the experiential aspect of religion that allows one to feel connected to something bigger and otherworldly. It feeds back into one’s sense of identity, emotional bonding with the community and commitment to their religious ideals. The experience of self-transcendence serves religious organizations by deepening the commitment of members, while also deepening one’s commitment to and understanding of a larger world.

• How and where do people experience transcendence today? How do these experiences translate in their worldview, identity, actions and communal life?
• How does the loss of sacred spaces and architecture in communities — and the opportunities these represent for transcendent experiences — impact their communities, whether people are members or not?

Asking about Religion

Journalists reporting on religion will encounter leaders and lay people who have given great thought to the place of religion in their lives and can articulate their beliefs clearly. Journalists will also interview those who may have little training in their own faith tradition or have not reflected deeply on it.

One’s sense of identity, community, meaning and transcendence may be more or less important to different individuals, which is why it is possible to find people whose beliefs and behaviors may seem to contradict one another. For instance, one person may identify strongly as Christian without taking part in congregational life, while another person who is agnostic in their beliefs nonetheless leads a religious initiative because it aligns with their values.

It can be helpful to understand the various roles religion may play in a source’s life, and to not make assumptions based on one’s identity, affiliation or practices.

Religious congregations and other organizations are repositories of how particular traditions provide identity, community, meaning and transcendence. Because congregations are critical places for individuals to engage with the teachings and practices of their faith tradition, both scholars and practitioners have sought to understand what makes a congregation healthy. This question of congregational vitality has become more urgent as religious affiliation has declined.

Scholars who study congregations argue that numerical growth does not necessarily encapsulate vitality (and in fact, congregations that grow too large may lose aspects of vitality). Rather, vitality can be measured by a congregation’s “connection to God, connection to each other and connection to the world” (Linda Bobbitt).

Still, thousands of congregations close or combine with other congregations each year across the United States because they lack the ability to sustain their operations. In 2024, 4,000 Protestant congregations closed and 3,800 opened. It’s important to note that the success of a local congregation is more likely to reflect a shift in where and how people find belonging, rather than a religious revival (read more in section on demographics below).

10 Qualities of Thriving Congregations

As part of a research project on religious creativity and innovation in Los Angeles and Seoul, South Korea, CRCC identified 10 qualities of what we call reimagined or thriving communities. We found these qualities in groups across faith traditions (and no faith) that provide members with a strong sense of identity, community, meaning and transcendence.

Not all of the following ten characteristics are found in the same combination or strength in all thriving communities. However, we believe that the presence of these characteristics is what separates thriving faith communities from those that are declining or perhaps relying on their history and tradition for their survival.

Thriving communities are:

• Adaptive, responding to a new social challenges and opportunities with sense of possibility, rather than a sense of fear
• Activated, enacting their faith with a vision for a better world
• Authentic, grounding truth in intuitive resonance for both members and those outside the group, such that the beliefs, practices and identity of the community “makes sense”
• Bounded by their religious traditions but push those boundaries through innovative ideas and practices; they remain true to their tradition while expanding how those traditions can make sense in contemporary society.
• Embedded in a particular place, committed to the well-being of their local communities
• Embodied, integrating somatic experience with their written and oral teachings and traditions
• Empathetic, centered on care and compassion for both their members and for those in their host communities
• Enfranchised, practicing no strict hierarchy, instead, they welcome ideas from leaders and members alike, as well as from sources outside their community
• Networked through strong connections with other groups, within and across faith traditions and those with no faith tradition or identity.
• Pollinating, being more interested in sharing ideas and practices than in developing institutions or institutional structures

• Which of the below characteristics are strongest for the congregation, community or organization that you are reporting on?
• What qualities does the group lack, and how does it affect their ability to thrive?

Religious institutions and people of faith play a central role in American civic life. How religious groups navigate political and social issues and seek to address the needs of their communities provides a wealth of story ideas.

Perhaps the last decade’s most significant storyline in religion and politics has been the role of white evangelicals in supporting Donald Trump’s presidency, which can be seen as a reaction to rapid social changes that have challenged established social hierarchies.

In his book, The Violent Take It by Force, Matthew D. Taylor argues that evangelical support for Trump emerges from Christian supremacy (watch his talk at CRCC), which advocates for the superiority and dominance of Christians and Christianity in society. In this worldview, Christians are mandated by God to exert control over society and to reshape political and cultural institutions around their interpretation of Christianity. The networks behind it are fast growing and have gained a significant influence on the more traditional “religious right” organizations that have worked to build political power since the 1970s.

Read more about the politics of evangelicals in The Varieties of American Evangelicalism.

Though smaller and less organized, Christians can also be found on the other end of the political spectrum (and all points in between). Liberal-leaning Christians advocate for the separation of church and state, the rights of religious minorities and other social justice concerns.

The groundswell of activism against the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement in his second term has brought media attention to the role that ordinary congregations play in responding to the needs of their communities. Social crises — including immigration, natural disasters, housing, police brutality, civil unrest — often mobilize and strengthen multifaith networks.

Regardless of their political persuasions, religious leaders and organizations provide both moral justification and organizational infrastructure to social movements. Because congregations are rooted in their communities, they can provide a platform for grassroots organizing. Leaders can use their moral authority to mobilize citizens and influence public officials.

• How do individuals’ understand the role of their faith in public life? What influences their viewpoint?
• How do ideas, practices, aesthetics move across media and networks?
• How do different understandings of Christianity’s place in American society affect congregations, families and interpersonal relationships?

Religious institutions also run schools, hospitals, charities and social service organizations. While some groups may proselytize through such activities, others run religiously neutral programs with public funding or partnerships. Both congregations and faith organizations can play a significant economic role within their communities, often through an affiliated community development corporation that may operate housing or support entrepreneurs and local businesses. Social scientists are often interested in the impact of place on a congregation and how congregations shape a sense of belonging in their communities.

• How do religious communities and faith-based organizations address and adapt to changes within their local ecosystem (e.g., gentrification, demographic transitions, natural disasters)?

Religion also influences how individuals participate in public life, whether they are politicians or businesspeople. Religious Americans, especially those who attend services regularly, are more likely to vote, volunteer, donate money and participate in local civic organizations than the nonreligious. They cultivate civic skills — public speaking, organizing meetings, fundraising, leadership — through participation in religious institutions.

• Why do people in your story do what they do? Do they have a spiritual calling, moral motivation or practical help from their faith community?
• How does one’s work in the world affect theological understandings and spiritual practices?

For “Stories of Change in American Religion,” we are interested in stories of traditional faith-based organizations as well as stories of faith-inspired efforts which may lie outside of traditional religious organizations. While the first 100 stories will focus on American Christianity, we encourage journalists to look to the places where the boundaries of faith are being pushed — and changed. This includes Christians working within secular or multifaith spaces and living within increasingly pluralistic contexts.

American religion is highly diverse and deeply shaped by race, ethnicity, immigration, and generational change. According to the most recent Pew Research Center Religious Landscape Study, about 62% of U.S. adults identify as Christian. That includes:

• Evangelical Protestants (23% of U.S. adults)
• Mainline Protestants (11%)
• members of historically Black Protestant churches (5%)
• Catholics (19%)
• Other Christians (3%)

All these numbers are down significantly from 2007, when 78 percent of Americans identified as Christian.

More than one third of adults have switched religions, with most joining the ranks of the unaffiliated (29% of adults). Seven percent of U.S. adults identify with other religions, including 2% who are Jewish and 1% each who are Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu.

The first 100 stories in CRCC’s storytelling initiative will focus on American Christianity. We are interested in stories from underrepresented communities and from diverse denominational, racial, ethnic, gender and class backgrounds.

Race and Religion

White Protestants were once dominant in the U.S., making up 55 percent of the American population in 1976, yet their share has declined steadily since then. Particularly since Donald Trump’s election in 2016, more attention has been paid to the diversity within Christianity, with polls recognizing that race plays a significant role in shaping Christians’ political and social views across denominations.

Evangelicals are predominantly white, particularly in the South and Midwest, but evangelicalism is also theologically and culturally influential among many Latino and some Asian American churches.

Black Protestant churches form a distinct tradition rooted in the historical experience of enslavement and the struggles for emancipation and civil rights; they remain central institutions in African American communities and tend to have relatively high levels of religious participation across age cohorts.

Roman Catholicism is the most ethnically diverse tradition in the U.S., with a plurality of Catholics under age 40 identifying as Latino, alongside growing numbers of Asian and African immigrants.

It is important to recognize racial diversity within groups. The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act brought greater racial and religious diversity into the United States. Notably, Muslim Americans include significant Black, South Asian, Arab and white populations, with a growing Latino Muslim community. There has been a greater recognition of the experiences of People of Color within predominantly white traditions, including American Judaism and Buddhist and mindfulness movements. The religiously unaffiliated are disproportionately young, white and male, though racial diversity among the “nones” is increasing.

Members of Indigenous communities may practice Christianity, though many Indigenous communities have maintained and restored their own spiritualities, languages and practices.  The legacy of Christian institutions, from the Catholic missions to boarding schools, in perpetuating genocide and erasing Indigenous cultures complicates Christianity’s relationships with Indigenous communities.

• Read more about Race and Religion from Pew Research Center
• Public Religion Research Institute’s Landscape report breaks down race and religious demographics in more detail.

Age and Religion

Over the past two decades, the dominant trend in American religious affiliation has been a marked decline in Christian identification and a rapid rise in the religiously unaffiliated, often called “nones.”

Younger generations are driving much of the change as they are substantially more likely to be unaffiliated than older cohorts. For instance, 75% of those born in the 1950s are Christian and 17% are unaffiliated, while 46% of those born in the 1990s are Christian and 44% are unaffiliated. The current plateau in the decline may only be temporary, as younger, more disaffiliated generations replace older age cohorts. There is no evidence of religious revival among young people.

Religious diversity is also increasing with generational replacement. Non-Christian religions are, on average, younger than white Christians and more urban and highly educated.

• Watch: CRCC’s Executive Director Richard Flory on Youth and Religion

Gender and Religion

Women tend to be more religious than men across traditions, reporting higher levels of belief, prayer and participation. While formal leadership positions are often reserved for men, women predominate in the membership, volunteers and workforce of congregational life.

Recent articles have pointed to the rising religiosity of Gen Z men. The data points to a narrowing of the gender gap between men and women across time and age cohorts, though it’s important to note that both young men and women are less likely to be religious. The declines in religiosity have been greater among women than men in recent years.

Place and Religion

Religious demographics — and people’s experiences of religion — vary based on their geographic location or region. For instance, evangelical Protestantism and Black Protestant churches play outsized roles in electoral politics, civic life and moral discourse in the South. The Catholic Church has experienced church closures and consolidations in the Northeast and Midwest, while immigration from Latin America and Asia has influenced Catholicism in the West. Non-Christian religions — Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism — are concentrated in large metropolitan areas and coastal regions.

People’s experiences of religion are not only affected by their region but also their location — urban, suburban, exurban or rural.

Geographers define “place” as a specific location that is imbued with meaning, identity and lived experience. The concept is useful in understanding how physical settings are shaped by human activity and, in turn, how people develop emotional, cultural, social and symbolic attachments to particular locations. “Places” become meaningful through history, memory, power and everyday interaction. Journalists may consider how religious groups are emplaced in their physical location and how place influences their activities, beliefs and practices.

The first 100 stories of Change in American Religion initiative will focus on Christianity. We are interested in stories from underrepresented communities and from diverse denominational, racial, ethnic, gender and class backgrounds. Below we will provide a glimpse at major groups within American Christianity. We also want to point to the diversity within groups.

• How does an individual or group’s background influence how they live out their faith in the world?
• What about a particular denomination or movement appeals to its members, even when members are at odds with the larger body?

Building new relationships

As a journalist, you may not know everything about a religious group’s theology and beliefs, but you can be prepared with basic knowledge and a willingness to ask for guidance and clarification, understanding that individuals within a community will not agree on every idea. We encourage you to use resources such as this religious literacy app to find information such as common beliefs, holidays, greetings and titles for 27 unique faith traditions. Do not be turned off by the app’s title, as it is geared to disaster response professionals! The information is relevant to anyone who wants to build a new relationship with a faith community.

Find more resources and books in the final section of this guide.

Evangelical Protestant

At its most basic, evangelicalism is characterized by a belief in the literal truth of the Bible, having a “personal relationship with Jesus Christ,” the importance of encouraging others to be “born again” in Jesus and lively worship in church. The emergence of white American evangelicalism in the early 20th century — then calling itself Fundamentalism — was from its outset a reform movement, seeking to rally traditionalist Christian forces against “modern” developments within Christianity and the increasingly progressive and permissive American culture, restoring its Christian roots. The rise of Donald Trump and the Make America Great Again movement has brought the culture, fault-lines and political commitments of American evangelicalism into sharp relief.

While often found in nondenominational, Pentecostal and Southern Baptist churches, you can find people who identify as “evangelical” in all types of churches, including “evangelical Catholics,” signifying that “evangelical” can be both a religious and political marker.

Read more about the different ways evangelicals have responded to today’s social and political changes in our report, The Varieties of American Evangelicalism.

Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity

The Pentecostal/charismatic movement emphasizes a direct, personal experience of God through the Holy Spirit. Worship may include popular music, clapping, healing, dancing, sharing of testimony, speaking in tongues and prophecy.

Pentecostal denominations include Assemblies of God, Church of God, Pentecostal Holiness Church, Foursquare Church. Non-denominational congregations with the same beliefs and practices generally define themselves as charismatic.

A relatively recent development within charismatic Christianity is the emergence of networks of independent leaders and their churches rather than traditional denominational structures. This development has facilitated religious experimentation not only in how these groups are organized, but in their theology, which often focuses on supernatural practices and emphasizes a highly participatory and experiential faith. Many of these leaders have developed teachings about Christian dominionism that link itself to Donald Trump and the MAGA movement as a method to achieve Christian rule in the U.S.

Mainline Protestant

Mainline Protestants include historic denominations such as American Baptist Churches USA, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ and United Methodist Church. The number of mainline Protestants and congregations have shrunk significantly since the 1960s, losing members both to evangelicalism and to religious disaffiliation.

While Mainline denominations tend to be theologically liberal and have a focus on social justice issues, it is important to note that Mainline congregations can be found across the ideological spectrum. Some are more conservative and resemble evangelical churches, and others are progressive on all matters social justice, including immigration, race, gender and LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Black Christian

Historically Black Protestant denominations include the African Methodist Episcopal Church, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Church of God in Christ, National Baptist Convention of America, National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., and the Progressive National Baptist Convention, International Inc. While the vast majority of Black Christians are Protestant, there are 3 million Black Catholics in the U.S., a quarter of whom worship in predominately Black parishes.

Historically Black churches, founded primarily in response to racial segregation and exclusion, are cornerstones of Black communities. They provide not only spiritual but also social and economic support. They also serve as sites for the development of Black identity. African American churches emphasize a participatory worship experience that focuses on engaging with the music and interacting with the preacher and their sermon.

The Black Church was the foundation for the civil rights and social justice movements, with theology and preaching focused on liberation, uplift and community engagement. However, several Black Church denominations maintain conservative Christian doctrine.

Read more:

• Black American Religious Groups: This report provides essential information about historical Black denominations as well as Black Americans in other Christian and Islamic traditions. (It was created for real estate brokers working to address housing inequalities, but is informative if you plan to report in these communities.)

Catholic Church

The Catholic Church is a global institution of 1.2 billion adherents that traces its authority back to Jesus’ apostle St. Peter. Today, it is led by Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago. Local dioceses are led by bishops (larger dioceses are called archdioceses and are led by archbishops), who oversee the operations of parishes, schools, hospitals and charitable organizations under their jurisdiction. Religious orders of consecrated men and women (e.g., Jesuits, Augustinians, Dominicans) also run educational and charitable institutions.

Catholic life centers around the seven sacraments: baptism, communion (Eucharist), confession, confirmation, marriage, holy orders (priesthood) and the anointing of the sick. Adherence to Catholic practices and beliefs vary widely, with a significant share of people identifying as “cultural Catholics.” Views on theology and politics range — from those who promote traditional gender roles and the Latin Mass (which was abandoned in reforms to modernize the church in the 1960s), to those who advocate for women’s ordination to the priesthood. The church seeks to guide its members and affect social issues (the economy, immigration, abortion, family life, climate change, the death penalty) through Catholic Social Teaching, papal encyclicals and statements from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, though ordinary Catholics may not be aware of these teachings or statements.

Other Christian Traditions

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints makes up 2% of America’s Christians. In addition to following the Bible, the church also follows the Book of Mormon, published in 1830 by founder Joseph Smith. With an emphasis on family and strong moral code, members of the LDS church are often politically conservative. The LDS history of persecution as a religious minority and the church’s commitment to its global missions and community service, however, can lead it to break with the views and policy priorities of conservative Christianity.

The Orthodox Church traces its lineage to the time of Jesus. The Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches split in 1054. There are multiple jurisdictions, called Patriarchates, within Orthodoxy, primarily organized geographically. Each is self-governed and led by their own bishops. While the majority of Orthodox adherents are outside of the U.S., there are eight Patriarchates with 14 different Orthodox churches in the U.S. While each church has its own bishop, there is an overarching association of Orthodox bishops that meets yearly.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in one supreme God, whom they call Jehovah. Witnesses consider Jesus to be significant but not one with God. Witnesses have a unique translation of Biblical scripture and vision of the end times. They are known for their evangelism, strict moral codes, not participating in politics, and not celebrating holidays other than the memorial of Jesus’ death.

At CRCC, we understand that it is important for journalists to find newsworthy stories that will catch the attention of an outlet and media consumer. Dominant narratives often determine what editors and producers consider newsworthy.

It is our hope that by spending time and reporting deeply within communities, journalists will be able to find new and interesting story angles that help us deepen our understanding of the overall trends in religion, show their implications for individuals, communities and wider societies, and raise new questions.

The above information and questions are meant to be simply a starting point for your exploration of religion in society.

The following themes provide a sense of the stories we are interested in, though the following list should not be seen as comprehensive or restrictive. You may find stories in your local communities that reflect these themes.

• Religious responses to social/political crises, from natural disasters to civil unrest
• Political division within congregations
• Effects of Christian Supremacy in congregations/organizations
• Inclusion/belonging/accessibility around gender, sexuality, race, class, neurodiversity and/or ability
• Creating a sense of place through land use and culture
• Shifts in communities due to generation change, immigration, gentrification, conversion
• Shifts in local religious ecologies
• Community and economic development (jobs, homelessness, housing, etc.)
• The changing role of faith leaders in the public sphere
• Environmental issues (urban, suburban and rural)
• Emerging spiritual spaces and spiritualities outside of congregations:
  • Service as a form of worship
  • Therapeutic models
  • Community and relationship building
• Technology use in spirituality and digital communities
• Success and failures of innovations
• Evolving spiritual beliefs, practices and theologies emerging from social change
• Networking and Collaborations:
  • Dealing with division within a tradition
  • Multi-faith efforts

We welcome your ideas within or beyond these themes.

Outside Resources

• Pew Research Center’s Religion Landscape Study – Dig deeper into the demographics shared in this guide.
• TheARDA (The Association of Religion Data Archives) – Find congregational data and create community profiles
• Public Religion Research Institute – Find demographic information, including county level data, and opinion data about current social issues
• Religion Link – Ideas and sources for journalists reporting on religion
• Exploring Spirituality and Culture in the U.S.  – Geared to journalism students, this free handbook includes information about reporting about American religion
• Faith & Leadership – A publication from Leadership Education at Duke Divinity, its archives include numerous story ideas that may be revisited and told in wider outlets. Its editor is also open to pitches. 

CRCC Resources

Most are listed at dornsife.usc.edu/crcc/resources.

Research: 

• Journalists may be interested in a guide on ethnographic religion reporting, produced in partnership with Religion Link, which came out of our journalism fellowship on engaged spirituality.
• We also have interview scripts and survey questions available from past projects

Faith Fluency/Religious Literacy

• Being “fluent” in a faith or religious tradition involves understanding enough about it to respectfully engage with adherents of that tradition. It also requires knowing how to act and learn more when you do not have all the answers.
• Disasters and Religion App: This app is geared to disaster response professionals, but its content is relevant to anyone who wants to build a new relationship with a faith community. It includes information such as common beliefs, holidays, greetings and titles for 27 unique faith traditions.
• Black American Religious Groups: This report provides essential information about historical Black denominations as well as Black Americans in other Christian and Islamic traditions. (It was created for real estate brokers working to address housing inequalities, but is informative if you plan to report in these communities.)

Trends in Religion

• CRCC’s team has examined trends in religion and society annually for the last decade. Read the 2026 trends and review past trends here.

Relevant Reports (more at dornsife.usc.edu/crcc/reports)

• The Varieties of American Evangelicalism: Explore 5 types of evangelical engagement with public life
• The Latino Church Next: The report describes the religious impact of the Latinx population, with a focus on Los Angeles.
• The Black Church Next: This report shines a light on some of the challenges and opportunities facing the Black Church in Los Angeles and across the nation.
• Examples of faith-based engagement in the wider community:
  • The Next Generation: Social Action Today (part of CRCC’s report on the 30th anniversary of the LA Civil Unrest)
  • Story Map: Laundry Love
  • Opening the Gate: Institute for Violence Prevention
  • Faithful Action: Working with Religious Groups in Disaster Planning, Response and Recovery
  • Reimagining Impact: An Evaluation of Avanth/CORCDC Partnership (after school program, civic engagement program, low-income housing development)
  • Faith, Health and Policy: Public Health Reentry in San Diego
  • U.S. Catholic Sisters: Overview of Domestic Human Development Interventions (human trafficking, immigration, environment, ministries to Indigenous communities, impact investing)
  • Building Bridges, Building Power: Developments in Institution-Based Community Organizing 

For more from CRCC, you can explore CRCC’s areas of expertiseissues and view content by religious groups or social issue.

Reading List

Overviews

Timothy Beal. 2008. Religion in America: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press)

Ryan Burge. 2025. The American Religious Landscape: Facts, Trends and the Future (Oxford University Press)

Mark Chaves. 2017. American Religion: Contemporary Trends (Princeton University Press)

Lisa Pearce and Claire Chipman Gilliland. 2020. Religion in America (University of California Press)

Robert Putnam and David E. Campbell. 2011. American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us (Simon and Schuster)

Trends

Brad Christerson and Richard Flory. 2017. The Rise of Network Christianity: How Independent Leaders are Changing the Religious Landscape (Oxford University Press)

Maureen K. Day, et. al. 2025. Catholicism at a Crossroads: The Present and Future of America’s Largest Church (NYU Press)

Jack Jenkins. 2020. American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country (HarperOne)

Wes Markofski. 2023. Good News for Common Goods: Multicultural Evangelicalism and Ethical Democracy in America (Oxford University Press)

Dick Houtman and Galen Watts. 2024. The Shape of Spirituality: The Public Significance of a New Religious Formation (Columbia University Press)

Christian Smith. 2025. Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America (Oxford University Press)

Matthew D. Taylor. 2024. The Violent Take It By Force: The Christian Movement that is Threatening Our Democracy (Broadleaf Books)

Place

Katie Day. 2013. Faith on the Avenue: Religion on a City Street (Oxford University Press)

Katie Day and Elise M. Edwards. 2022. The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Cities (Routledge)

Justin Wilford. 2012. Sacred Subdivisions: The Postsuburban Transformation of American Evangelicalism (NYU Press)

Gender

Beth Allison Barr. 2021. The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth (Brazos Press)

Jonathan S. Coley. 2018. Gay on God’s Campus: Mobilizing for LGBT Equality at Christian Colleges and Universities (UNC Press)

Laura Hall. 2026. Erecting the Pulpit: Muscular Christianity from Teddy Roosevelt to Donald Trump (Bloomsbury Academic)

Rebecca Moore. 2015. Women in Christian Traditions (NYU Press)

Race, Ethnicity, Immigration

Jonathan Calvillo. 2020. The Saints of Santa Ana: Faith and Ethnicity in a Mexican Majority City (Oxford University Press)

Brad Christerson, Alexia Salvatierra and Nancy Wang Yuen. 2023. God’s Resistance: Mobilizing Faith to Defend Immigrants (NYU Press)

Penny Edgell and Grace Yukich. 2020. Religion is Raced: Understanding American Religion in the Twenty-First Century (NYU Press)

Korie Edwards. 2008. The Elusive Dream: The Power of Race in Interracial Churches (Oxford University Press)

Korie Edwards and Mishelle Oyakawa. 2022. Smart Suits and Tattered Boots: Black Ministers Mobilizing the Black Church in the Twenty-First Century (NYU Press)

Michael Emerson. 2024. The Religion of Whiteness: How Racism Distorts Christian Faith (Oxford University Press)

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2021. The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song (Penguin Books) (Also see PBS Documentary Series)

Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. 2014. African American Religion: A Very Brief Introduction (Oxford University Press)

Russell Jeung and Carolyn Chen. 2012. Sustaining Faith Traditions: Race, Ethnicity and Religion Among the Latino and Asian Second Generation (NYU Press)

Robert P. Jones. 2021. White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity (Simon and Schuster)

Rebecca Y. Kim. 2015. The Spirit Moves West: Korean Missionaries in America (Oxford University Press)

Sharon Kim. 2010. A Faith of Our Own: Second-Generation Spirituality in Korean American Churches (Rutgers University Press)

Juan Francisco Martinez. 2018. The Story of Latino Protestants in the United States (Eerdmans)

Jason Shelton. 2024. The Contemporary Black Church: The New Dynamics of African American Religion (NYU Press)

Grace Yukich. 2013. One Family Under God: Immigration Politics and Progressive Religion in America (Oxford University Press)

Youth

Melinda Denton and Richard Flory. 2020. Back Pocket God: Religion and Spirituality in the lives of Emerging Adults (Oxford University Press)

Richard Flory and Donald E. Miller. 2008. Finding Faith: The Spiritual Quest of the Post-Boomer Generation (Rutgers University Press)

Christian Smith and Melinda Denton. 2005. Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Teenagers  (Oxford University Press)

Almeda M. Wright. 2017. The Spiritual Lives of Young African Americans (Oxford University Press)