University of California Press Blog

Global Pentecostalism: Documentary Video Excerpt

Donald Miller, executive director of the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture and director of the USC School of Religion, co-wrote Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement with Tetsunao Yamamori.

This video highlights some of the documentary footage that Miller shot during research visits to more than 20 countries.

Additional clips and interviews are available on a DVD included with the book. Video edited by: Mira Zimet

Holiday Shopping with UC Press

It’s that time of year again: chestnuts are roasting, sleigh bells are ringing, and yes, UC Press books are selling. Have you ever thought of giving a UC Press book as a gift? Well, in case you haven’t purchased your presents yet, then let us suggest a few.

For the history buff in us all, why not give our highly regarded book, Historical Atlas of the United States? This fascinating and beautiful book showcases more than five hundred historical maps, uniquely telling America’s story from a geographical perspective.

Like wine? No amateur vintner can resist
The Way to Make Wine: How to Craft Superb Table Wines at Home. This easy-to-read manual was written by Sheridan Warrick, a vintner and science editor with over twenty-five years’ experience. Another popular wine book is the Wine Atlas of Australia, a comprehensive guide to the increasingly popular wine-grape-growing regions of Australia.

Finally, are you feeling contemplative this holiday season? Then perhaps you need to pick up Arthur J. Magida’s
Opening the Doors of Wonder. This superb book explores religious rites of passage.

For more holiday gift ideas from UC Press click here.

Magida Expounds on Rites of Passage

As part of our ongoing effort to help readers get to know our authors a little better, we asked Arthur J. Magida to discuss some of the ideas presented in his book, Opening the Doors of Wonder: Reflections on Religious Rites of Passage.

Magida: Rites of passage may contain some of the most pivotal moments in our lives, even if they seem to have little effect on us at the moment. They provide a psychic charge, a spiritual direction, a communal identification, which is, ultimately, hard to shake and hard to deny. Without bar and bat mitzvahs, baptisms, and confirmations, Zen Buddhist jukais, Hindu sacred thread ceremonies, and Muslim shahadas, life might be a blur—a shapeless, endless stream of time and energy. These ceremonies provide the lulls—the time out, if you will—to consider where we're going, and why; and where we've come from, and why; and what the rhythm of life is, and why. As the hurdy-gurdy of life speeds up in our ever more "modern" age, it's a relief to be thrown back—at least momentarily—on a steadier rock where time slows down to a crawl, and we are almost palpably certain that we are not alone. The brilliance of these ceremonies is how well they connect us to an almost infinite DNA of time and space. They are our antennae outward, inward, and God-ward. These rituals are an atlas of our soul. They can introduce us to what Martin Buber called a “Presence,” and they can introduce us to our self, although there are no certainties that either of these introductions will occur. Rather, they are a testimony to our possibilities, to seeking William Blake's most shining, most rudimentary of proclamations: "Everything that lives is holy."

Opening the Doors of Wonder: Reflections on Religious Rites of Passage is a collection of interviews with celebrities, journalists, and artists on the importance of religious rites of passage ceremonies in their lives. Included are interviews with Deepak Chopra, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), Julia Sweeny, Huston Smith, among others.

Magida is a columnist/contributing editor for the online religion magazine Beliefnet.com, a contributing correspondent for PBS's Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, senior editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times, and a speechwriter for Ralph Nader.

Tanya Erzen on Fresh Air

This Monday, October 9, Tanya Erzen, author of Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement, was interviewed on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross along with former ex-gay Shawn O'Donnell who discussed his time in Exodus International, the ex-gay network of local activist groups and ministries.

In her book, Erzen, an Associate Professor at Ohio State University, looks at New Hope Ministry, a place where gay and lesbian men and women go to change their homosexual orientation in a twelve-step-like manner combining therapy, prayer, and bible study. One of the group's co-founders, Frank Worthen, was also a founding member of Exodus International North America, the group with which Fresh Air guest Shawn O'Donnell was affiliated.

On September 23, an organization called Focus on the Family hosted an ex-gay conference, "Love Won Out," in Palm Springs, California. The gathering saw over a thousand people in attendance and drew protests from local residents. Focus on the Family has planned another controversial "Love Won Out" conference for November 4 in Atlanta, Georgia that will include speakers from Exodus. More protests are also likely.