Prayers Of The Disinherited

While depictions of conventional middle-class religion are widely visible, rarely seen are the sacred worlds of society’s marginalized: the outcasts, the fallen, those that have been labeled “other” - ironically, those for whom religion was first formed. “Golden States of Grace” aims to give image and voice to some of those whom are active parts of our nation’s diverse religious landscape, but who because of the world, society, or their own actions, may have been silenced, and now worship as a means of finding refuge, family or of forging community.

Using California as the lens, “Golden States of Grace”, posted on the socialdocumentary.net website, highlights eleven marginalized communities at prayer in eight different faith traditions. Through photographs, oral histories, and actual prayer, this work represents groups who are reinventing time-honored modes of worship, pushing their respective traditions into the 21st century.