sustain:if:able kiwi

an essential tool for workshopping reviewer feedback

Last week I received reviewer feedback on a Registered Report I had submitted to undertake quantitative research into the social impact of silence as a spiritual practice.

A Registered Report involves submitting an academic journal in two stages. Stage 1 involves blind peer review of the proposed methods and analysis plan. If these are accepted, Stage 2 involves doing the research and writing up the results and discussion for further blind peer review.

Registered Reports have many advantages. First, they promote transparency by sharing research results no matter the outcome. Second, they enhance research quality by allowing a study design to be workshopped. It’s far better to catch a mistake in my design before I begin, rather than have it pointed out after I’ve gathered the data.

After letting the feedback sit for a few days, this week I have built a table.

It has a column for each of the 3 reviewers. It also has rows to gather the different areas of feedback. In this case, the feedback included comments with suggestions about my design, theory, data gathering and analysis.

I make a table to ensure I hear the affirmations. When reviewers say things like “exciting” and “compelling” and “interesting,” I need to be encouraged and say thankyou.

A table also helps me look for patterns across the reviewers. Where are the reviewers saying the same thing that I really need to do more work? Are there questions raised by Reviewer 1 that might actually be answered by Reviewer 3?

Finally, a table gives me an overview of what needs to be done. I can feel a bit overwhelmed by the feedback. In this case it was over 3,000 words! So having a table breaks things down and and enables me to develop a checklist of things to work through.

Over time, I will add a further column, which is what I have actually done in response to the Reviewer feedback. What have I changed? What do I disagree with and why? This I will use when I resubmit the Registered Report, to show my workings.

(For more on responding to reviewer feedback, I have co-authored an open-access journal article with Lynne Taylor, Elaine Heath and Nigel Rooms, “Courageous, purposeful, and reflexive; Writing as a missional and emergent task,” Ecclesial Futures 2 (2), (2021), 99-120, here.

Academic paper proposal – Climate justice and the performing of prayer in digital spaces across transational margins

A paper proposal I submitted today, for a hybrid conference early in 2026.

Climate justice and the performing of prayer in digital spaces across transational margins

The 2024 Tuākoi ‘Lei Declaration by the Pacific Conference of Churches outlined how neighbourly love within creation can turn the tide for climate justice. The twelve-page document called for a decolonising of climate change language, using stories grounded in the faith and wisdom of Pacific people. The Declaration included digital photographs of church leaders kneeling together in prayer on a Fijian island. At this moment, performances of prayer were being digitally curated to assert indigenous identity and to express solidarity with communities experiencing the impacts of climate change.

This presentation will use visual grammar analysis of digital images in an interdisciplinary study of the performance of prayer in digital activism. First, selected indigenous digital activist social media sites will be examined to document how, in the Pacific, digitally performed prayer is framed as a holistic and communal activity. Second, the theological implications for prayer when climate justice is located in neighbourly love, as in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, rather than in rights and responsibilities derived from Genesis creation stories. Third, how digitally performed acts of Pacific prayer compare and contrast with digitally performed acts of prayer from the Global North.

The paper will outline how digital media plays an important role, first in allowing Pacific communities to voice an integrated worldview and second in weaving solidarity among global neighbours. However, such digital Pacific activism requires secularised approaches to digital activism that circulate in the Global North to renegotiate how they respond to cultures that kneel in public prayer.

Whether the proposal is accepted, time will tell. But I’m placing the proposal here because it’s another marker in my thinking around the digital activism research project, which I have been working on since my Visiting Research Fellowship in Edinburgh in 2024.

Earlier this year, I had an article published in Theology journal (Taylor, S. (2025). Visualizing online climate change activism: public eco-theologies in grassroots climate-justice organizations. Theology, 128(4), 247-256. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040571X251354942). The article drew on two case studies to describe the presence of prayer as a distinct contribution being made by faith-based digital activists online.

Since I submitted that article to Theology, I have continued to read and think around the practices of prayer in contemporary climate justice organisations. The paper proposal I submitted today frames some ideas and puts them in writing.

Global Mission Consultation participation

It was a privilege to be a resource person at the “Let Your Light Shine (Mt 5:26): Witnessing to Radical Hope in Catastrophic Times,” Global Mission Consultation (GMC), 26 November – 1 December 2025, Lake Kivu, Rwanda.

GMC was jointly organised by three Protestant mission societies, CWM, Cevaa and UEM. Participants came from 36 countries to explore the challenges and trends in mission today. We were splendidly hosted by the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda and enjoyed the scenic backdrop of Lake Kivu during our various breaks.

I was asked to present a paper on my research, which I titled “Let Your Light Shine” (Mt 5:16): A Prophetic Reclaiming of making in the Church’s Mission of resistance and renewal in Catastrophic Times. In my paper, I drew together my research into knitting as activism and digital eco-justice praxis among indigenous and grassroots communities. I suggested these were expressions of mission as making and that making provides distinct ways to share in God’s mending and re-making of a broken world. I brought these acts of making into dialogue with the parable of the woman lighting a lamp in a search for lost coins. She was a maker, of a household and a joyous community. Prior to the conference, I provided the talk as a 5,000 word chapter, which I understand will in time be published.

My work was well received. There were several requests for further articles. (An article I work on knitting as a making in mission will be shortly published in Colloquium journal, while my research into digital activism has been published in Theology). Further, the conference statement drew on my research in outlining contemporary trends in global mission.

While it is a long way to travel, from Aotearoa New Zealand to Rwanda, it was gratifying to draw ordinary acts of making, like knitting and content creating, into a mission framework. I return motivated to keep writing up the research. I also have some new friends and possible further connections, particularly around the digital activism research project.

the social impact of lectio divina: an artist reflects

There’s a fascinating article in the latest Image journal, titled “Lectio Divina under Covid.”

I’ve been researching lectio divina as part of my social impact of selected spiritual practices research, so I read the article with great interest.

The author of the article, Rob Larsen, is also an artist. So Rob’s words describing his experience of spiritual practice are stunningly paired with his art. These include a contemporary response to Rublev’s icon The Hospitality of Abraham, also known as The Trinity.

Rob describes the gift of joining an online lectio divina group during Covid and discovering a new rhythm: “sitting in silence, listening to Scripture, then mixing a color and laying it down.”

The social impact is expressed in words and visual art. Rob finds himself painting a series Into the Silence. The densely layered canvases express the movements of contemplation for Rob, including paying attention, being present and letting go. They are stunning (check them out in the Image website).

The social impact of the lectio also appears in Rob’s words. He writes of being:

calmer at work and at home, attended by an oceanic peace, even amid the chaos of trying to keep up with endless emails in one room while attending to my children’s meltdowns in the other. I sensed God’s presence in difficult moments

This experience resonates with my social impact research, where 20 participants in 3 cohorts joined me to share lectio divina for 8 weeks. I gained insight into their experiences through surveys, focus groups and inviting them to keep a research journal.

My participants shared how spiritual practices have a social impact. As one of my participants in a focus group observed:

“Stopping, breathing, listening – not just here but transfer to other areas of my life” – Cohort A Survey

The internal impacted on the external, including their sense of being more fully present and with a greater empathy toward others. I’m keen to research other spiritual practices, to see if they have the same or different impacts in community and living.

Digital faith-based activism special issue – call for papers

I’m delighted to be editing a special issue for Ecclesial Futures journal on Digital faith-based activism: grassroots and indigenous insights.

Ecclesial Futures is a diamond open-access journal published through Radboud University Press. The publisher provides human copyediting and design layout and are at the forefront of open access publishing. You retain your copyright, you don’t pay for online publishing and your publication is available to everyone, without obstacles.

The Ecclesial Futures editorial board have agreed to a special issue on Digital faith-based activism: grassroots and indigenous insights to be published August 2026. All submissions will experience double blind peer review, by an editorial team committed to growing scholarship.

The special issue builds on my IASH Edinburgh Research Fellowship in 2024 and a Colloquium earlier in 2025.

We already gave a rich set of papers, but there is space for more. Details of the Call for papers are on the PDF here. Timelines are tight, with proposed abstracts due 1 December, 2025 and papers 15 January, 2026. But there is some flexibility so if you are interested drop me a line – kiwidrsteve@gmail.com.

box half-open on the social impact of selected religious practices research project

Are you a box half-empty or half-full sort of person?

Yesterday marked the end of funding in a 12 months research project. Thanks to John Templeton, the University of Birmingham Cross-training Fellowship and the Centre for Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago, for a day and a half each week, I’ve worked away on the Social Impact of Selected Religious Practices.

I could thankfully close the box on what has been a wonderfully productive period. The outputs include

• my first every open science Pre-registration
• five cohorts exploring spiritual practices over either four or eight weeks in three different church communities
• three visits to the University of Birmingham in England – in July 2024, April 2025 and August 2025 – to be with and learn from other researching Fellows
• five sermons, shared with Dr Lynne Taylor, on spiritual practices that contribute to life balance and well-being
• my first ever poster presentation at the Psychology-engaged Theology Conference
• three academic presentations, including a paper at the International Association for the Psychology of Religion, another paper at Ecclesiology and Ethnography and a seminar for the University of Otago Theology Programme.
• two online presentations on Listening in Ministry and Listening in mission to people training for Anglican ministry
• two blog posts for the Cross-Training Fellowship, Interruptive Interviews at the Intersection of Psychology and Theology and Listening with Purpose II: A Theologian Reflects on the Interface between Theology and Psychology
• my first ever go at a Registered Report with an academic journal (a Registered Report is a form of journal article where the methods and proposed analyses are peer-reviewed prior to research being conducted)
• a Listening training in religious contexts: theoretical and empirical research resource (also uploaded to the open science platform I’m building). The resource identifies 6 practices that could be used for listening training in religious communities, as a platform for further research.

With so much work, and so many outputs, it would be fitting to close the research box with a deep sense of gratitude.

However, I’m thankful and excited that this particular research box remains half-open.

• First, a private trust is funding another 11 weeks of part-time research at the start of 2026. This will enable work to make public more of the resources I’ve developed, plus conduct several more spiritual practice cohorts to thicken up the data I’ve been gathering, looking at the social impact of silence.
• Second, I have 6700 words of results from the data gathering I’ve done to date that I need to tidy up for a journal article (or three actually!).
• Third, I have that Registered Report under academic peer review. If/when it’s accepted, I hope to crank into a quantitative study of Advent spiritual practices and I’ll be looking for congregations to work with me.
• Fourth, I’m running a webinar during 2026, as part of my Research Affiliate role with the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at the University of Otago | Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka. This webinar will summarise for church leaders what I’ve learnt from my 12 months of research into the social impact of spiritual practices (message me if you want an invite).
• Fifth, I’m hoping to develop further research collaborations. I am looking for academics, congregations and denominations who are interested in the social impact of spiritual practices and the role of listening in the processes of change.

In other words, I’m hoping that the research box in relation to the social impact of selected religious practices is not half full, but is really half empty. And that over the next 1 to 5 years there will be more empty boxes to fill, exploring in broader and greater depth the spiritual impact of spiritual practices. If you’re interested in the results or further collaborations, email me on kiwidrsteve@gmail.com.

Listening training in religious contexts: theoretical and empirical research resources

I’ve just uploaded the Listening training in Religious Contexts: Theoretical and Empirical Research Resource. The resource lists 6 practices that can be used for listening training in religious communities. Each practice is described in theory and action. Relevant literature on listening in religious contexts is referenced and new research opportunities become evident.

The resource is intended to be a living document. I plan to continue the research into the social impact of shared spiritual practices. I am seeking collaborators, both academic and church, to share in further research.

As part of my learning about, and commitment to, open science, the resource is placed online at the Open Science Foundation. It sits alongside other resources from my Social Impact of Selected Religious Practices research project, including the pre-registration of my action-research design, a teaching lectio divina content outline and interview schedules.

This new resource is a public output from the Social impact of selected religious practices. Thanks to the Cross Training Psychology and Theology Fellowship at University of Birmingham and to John Templeton Foundation for valuing research that has public outputs.

listening capital defined

I define listening capital as an asset that results from being fully present in high-quality listening. Investing in listening capital has benefits that are immediate and long term. It builds trust, encourages partnerships and cultivates capacity for risk.

The possibility of capital being more than simply economic is present in a definition of capital as “heterogeneous resource combinations” (Endres & Harper, 2020: 161). They observe that capital includes land, natural resources, financial capital, human capabilities and other intangibles.

While capital is often interpreted in monetary terms, the concept of social capital has received increasing attention within social economy research (Lewis & Chamlee Wright, 2008). Chris Woods summarises social capital as “bundles of knowledge obtained through social interactions, such as networking, [that] creates norms of trust, reciprocity, and respect” (Woods, 2025: 13).

High-quality listening strengthens connections between speaker and listener. Community relationships are intensified as listening cultivates a positive emotional climate and mutual understanding (Kluger & Mizrahi, 2023). High-quality listening results in a sense of togetherness and increased interpersonal disclosure (Kluger & Itzchakov, 2022). The elements of high-quality listening include attention, comprehension and intention. High quality listening results in feelings of belonging, connection, and acceptance and thus contributes to social connection and human flourishing.

Hence listening capital is a social asset that grows as listeners invest in high-quality listening. Investing in listening capital becomes an important element in leading through change.

The concept of listening capital and the benefits for change management and community development emerge from reflection on my research. This includes my John Templeton funded research into the Social Impacts of Listening Practices in Religious Organisations. It also includes impact evaluation research I have done for organisations in Australia and New Zealand, including ethnographic observation of consultancy processes and interviews with participants about their experiences.

Across these different research projects it is clear that being listened to builds trust and opens people to consider different perspectives and new insights.

Pop-up chaplaincy spaces

I’m looking to connect with people who make (or inhabit) what I’m calling “Pop-up chaplaincy spaces.” You might be (or know of) a chaplain, perhaps working in university, military, school or hospital. You might have a knack of creating “pop-up” spaces. These “pop-up” spaces don’t assume that the people you minister among come to you, at your office, or attend worship services, or sign up to attend groups. Rather, they “pop-in” to shared communal spaces like staff rooms or foyers and in ways that feel safe for them and for you as a chaplain. These spaces are transient and informal and work in ways that build conversations and connections between you as chaplain and the communities you serve.

If this is you (or you know someone), I would love to chat about how you go about making these “pop-up” spaces and what you are learning.

I am asking because it is for a piece of contract research I’m doing for a community chaplaincy provider. When you get in contact (email me on kiwidrsteve at gmail dot com), I’ll explain a bit more about the project and outline the ethics, including what happens to the information you provide. I’ll answer any clarifying questions you have and if you are willing to have a conversation, make a time.

Photo thanks to Photoz ace on Unsplash

Interruptive Interviews at the Intersection of Psychology and Theology blog piece

I’m pleased to have a collaborative blog piece published on the Crosstraining Psychology and Theology blog.

Titled Interruptive Interviews at the Intersection of Psychology and Theology, it’s a collaboration with two colleagues in my Crosstraining cohort, Dr. Alison Woolley, Dr. Allen Jorgenson and myself.

The blog emerged from a comment made by Allen during a presentation, which resonated with my research experience and prompted a conversation with Alison afterward, who provided some intellectual resource. The result was the blog, in which we offer three qualitative research experiences from our interdisciplinary research in the Crosstraining programme and bring it into dialogue with theory in psychology and theology.

It was a delight to write with colleagues like Alison and Allen, who are not only smart and competent, but delightfully human. I’m grateful for the experience.

(The blog is the second blog piece I’ve had published with on the Crosstraining Psychology and Theology blog. The other was back in January, when I wrote a blog on Listening with Purpose II: A Theologian Reflects on the Interface between Theology and Psychology).

Listening in ministry and mission

It was lots of fun over this weekend speaking online to ordination candidates at Cuddesdon, England. We lived as a family at Cuddesdon for a Northern Hemisphere Christmas experience in 2011. So it was a delight to be able to offer something back to a place that had kept us warm and snug during several snow snaps.

I was asked to speak for two 90 minute sessions. One session was on listening in ministry. Another session was on listening in mission. It was fun to work over zoom and to invite participants into various listening experiences all while I was projected on screen. To help with engagement, one session involved lectio divina and sharing in pairs (the photo was taken while participants were sharing in pairs). The other session involved two case studies with group work.

The sessions were based on my cross-training research into the social impact of shared spiritual practices. It has been really helpful to think about the implications of the research for congregational leaders. I am 11 months into what is a 12 month project. So to be asked to think about the “so what” was perfect timing really.

It was also an integrative and redemptive experience. With Mark Johnston, during 2015-2020, I had developed and taught a course called Listening in Mission. So it was a rich experience five years later to return to those notes and think about how my current research into shared spiritual practices might inform and expand my thinking.

Thanks Cuddesdon for inviting me. Thanks Psychology Cross-Training Fellowship for the current research opportunities.

praying with wool and coin for others (working with Luke 15:1-10)

I was preaching and leading worship on Sunday. The Bible text was Luke 15:1-10, the shepherd who looks for one lost sheep and the woman who looks for one lost coin. Sitting with the two parables, I was struck by the value of sheep and coins. They were significant assets in first century Israel. I wanted the value inherent in these lost things to shape how we prayed.

Hence my prayers for others began by handing out wool (snippets from the end of some balls of wool) and coins (chocolate wrapped in gold foil). Each person was invited to take some wool and a coin.

Then we prayed for others. Here are my words.

Let us pray. As we begin, I invite us to hold our wool. With our eyes closed I invite us to consider how we always see sheep in flocks. Sheep like other sheep. Sheep get very anxious when they are separated from their flock.

Today we pause in silence and think of people we know who might be anxious, who might feel separated from other people and isolated from community.

We ask that they would know that you seek them, look for them and that we would be a community that rejoices when they are found.

As we continue to pray, I invite us to swap our wool for our coin. As we hold our coin, I invite us to consider how coins have value. They are an asset to be treasured. They allow us to have choices and make decisions. Coins empower us.

Today we pause in silence and think of people we know who need to feel valued and be empowered. It might be us. It might be others.

We ask that you would seek them, look for them, and that we would be a community that rejoices when they feel valued and empowered.

With wool and coins, we thank that you value the lost, the anxious and those who feel a long way from home. Thanks that in Jesus Christ you seek us and look for us and call us and welcome us home.

We love. We praise you. We bless you.

Help us as a congregation to celebrate your love and welcome in God’s presence forever.
We pray in the name of the good shepherd and the searching woman. Amen.

Relational labour and faith-based digital activism book chapter acceptance

A chapter I wrote – “Relational labour and faith-based digital activism: theorising the interplay between online and offline” – has been accepted by the editors and signed to the publishers (Bloomsbury). Hooray.

The initial research was presented at the Global Network for Digital Theology in June 2024. I thought I was just clearing my throat methodologically. So I was delightfully surprised to be invited to turn the paper into words a few months later. I submitted a chapter in April 2025 and revisions in June 2025. The chapter is due for release in 2026 in a volume titled – Disconnected: Digital Theology in and between Contexts, edited by Florian Hoehne and Frida Mannerfelt.

The book chapter is the second publication resulting from my stint as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh in the summer of 2024. The first was a journal article, recently published in Theology.

Visualizing online climate change activism: public eco-theologies in grassroots climate-justice organizations. Theology 128(4), 247-256. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040571X251354942

Having multiple academic outputs (with more announcements to come) from a Visiting Fellowship is most encouraging.

Here’s the abstract for “Relational labour and faith-based digital activism: theorising the interplay between online and offline”:

Real life is invariably more complex than ideal theories. This paper describes research into how digital activists in faith-based organisations advocate for justice.

An initial literature review located typologies of online activism that originated in the USA and Europe. This raised the question of how to decolonise existing theories of digital activism. Identity, power and ethics in research suggested the need for a case study approach to centre the digital activism of indigenous communities. A side-by-side approach in research was also developed that brought visual grammar analysis of digital images into dialogue with interviews with activists.

However, in the real world, this ideal research design encountered the reality that my participants were conducting digital activism in their spare time. Auto-ethnographic reflection on how activists responded to my requests for interviews helped me realise that their responses were a valuable source of data. Relational labour is a concept that explains how my participants were activating for justice amid the mundane realities of their offline lives. Theologically, Jesus affirmed relational labour when he observed the tax collector and the widow making offerings in the temple.

My description of idealised methodologies, real-world research experiences and a theory of relational labour has implications for digital theology. Digital worlds are profoundly contextual worlds. Research must consider not only identity, power and ethics but also how offline realities shape online representations. While most researchers express gratitude to their interview participants, in this paper, I am equally grateful to the research participants who said no and later.

presenting social impact of shared spiritual practices research at Ecclesiology and Ethnography conference 2025

It was really helpful to present my social impact of shared religious practices research at the 2025 Ecclesiology and Ethnography conference in Durham, UK last week.

First, it’s a long way from New Zealand to England and there are geographic degrees of isolation that inevitably result. So it’s always good to be presenting internationally, maintaining connections and developing networks.

Second, the Ecclesiology and Ethnography conference is a lot of fun. There’s live music on the Wednesday. There’s a constructive and encouraging ethos. There are people who remember me from previous years, and I remember them. So it’s simply a great conference to be part of.

Third, I had presented on the research at the biennial International Association for the Psychology of Religion conference in Birmingham a few weeks earlier. So it was good to be able to return to a powerpoint and a presentation I had already worked on, rather than starting from scratch.

Fourth, it was fascinating presenting the same research to practical theologians (Ecclesiology and Ethnography conference) and not psychologists of religion (IAPR). Different audiences, different interests. So it was interesting reflecting on what I wanted to change, and why and what that said about psychologically-engaged theology. It was also interesting to have different questions being asked. The IAPR questions focused on research design. In contrast, several E and E conference questions pushed me to consider further research.

• Could I imagine doing shared spiritual practice online?
• Was there any indication that some participants might struggle with Bible engagement? How might those who are neurodiverse engage with Christian practices like lectio divina?

Several other E and E conference questions suggested further theoretical dialogue partners.

• Had I thought of engaging John Zizoulas and his work on somatic modes of attention?
• Was there any resonance with my work and that of Helmut Rosa’s work on resonance?

These are helpful suggestions and give me food for thought.

Finally, my thanks to the Ecclesiology and Ethnography conference organisors for accepting my paper. My thanks to the John Templeton Foundation, for providing the funding to make possible not only the long haul travel but also the in-country train travel, conference fees and accommodation.