The Lilly Endowment-funded Project on Religion and Urban Culture 2.0 continues research on how Indianapolis congregations are responding to the many changes of the since 2002 when the first Religion and Urban Culture project ended. RUC 1 (1996 – 2002) worked through community-based partnerships, cultivating public inquiry and civic conversation about the role of religion in this exemplar metropolitan community.

Current challenges for congregations include growing economic inequality, awareness of systemic racism, immigration, political polarization, violence, and the pandemic. We have developed five issues of the Research Notes publication, which provide monthly updates on what the project is learning. We have completed two issues of the Responsive Congregations publication, which offers in-depth stories of local creative initiatives to address such challenges. Check them out here. Subscribe to future Religion and Urban Culture newsletters to learn more about our research here.