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Edited by Ken Chitwood (Bloomsbury, 2026)

This story map is best viewed on the Arcgis website on a computer.

The work of holistically resilient spiritual exemplars shows that it is possible to give equal and simultaneous attention to individuals, communities and the wider systems in which they are embedded, striving for a model of resilience that is not simply persisting but also flourishing.

The Spiritual Exemplars Project (SEP), funded by a grant from the Templeton Religion Trust, has spent the last two years collecting stories of individuals who are inspired by their faith or spiritual values to do extraordinary good in the world. SEP’s team of two-dozen journalists and social scientists has collected stories from exemplars around the world like Dr. Tom Catena, who left everything behind to direct the only hospital in a war zone in South Sudan.

“I'm a 27-year-old girl from the San Fernando fucking Valley, who spoke Farsi before I spoke English,” Sumekh said in a moment of candor. “And I get to be literally the leading voice on this issue… sometimes it blows my mind.”

Hebah Farrag, assistant director of research at the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, discusses the intersection of religion and Black Lives Matter.

As scholars of religion, we believe such views fail to acknowledge - let alone engage with - the rich spiritual and religious pluralism of Black Lives Matter.

Mourners enter the inner sanctum as if entering a holy space. They quiet themselves. They kneel. They cry. They sit in silence to reflect and grieve. The sites where black people are killed by police often become altars—sacred spaces to mourn Black death.

With so many Americans across the country seeking to get their voices heard both in the streets and on social media this week, CRCC is hosting a conversation about what it means to engage online and off around issues that are important to you.