Friday, May 02, 2025
Exploring Christian practices research cohort
I was very excited to begin a social impact of religious practices cohort this week. It was great to welcome participants with a hot drink and a heated room as I gathered their consent forms.
We then made introductions, first of ourselves, next of the research. As a Psychology and Theology Cross-training Fellow, I am learning about Christian practices through action-research, exploring practices with others over 8 weeks, gathering their feedback through several short surveys, focus groups and individual journal keeping.
A key resource is Adele Ahlberg Calhoun’s Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform us (IVP, 2005). She defines spiritual practices as processes that “put is in a place where we can begin to notice God and respond” (Calhoun, 20).
As part of the introduction, I talked about two approaches to exploring spiritual practices. One is the smorgasboard approach, where you spread out a buffet of practices and pick and choose across a wide range of practices. Another is the savour approach, where you go deep by focusing on a specific practice.
I introduced the “go deep” spiritual practice we will be savouring and we began our first week of exploration. How people respond is already providing rich insights into how people experience Christian practices.
I am wanting to recruit several cohorts, as part of learning with and among different communities. So if you or your church community might be interested, do message me.
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