sustain:if:able kiwi

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.

Prayers for others Jeremiah 18:1-12 Year C 2025

It was a privilege to offer prayers for others at the Scots Kirk in Paris on Sunday 7 September. The Old Testament Bible passage was Jeremiah 18:1-12, where Jeremiah watches the potter work with clay, which is then compared to God’s dealings with the nation of Israel. The passage suggests a way of praying as thinking about God the potter putting the world (cities, nations, congregations, individuals) on the wheel.

God our maker, Working at the wheel that is our world,
Moulding, remoulding, making communities of hope and justice,
In our prayers for others, we place on Your wheel this city of Paris
We pray your blessing on town planners and city officials and those who clean our streets
We pray your wisdom for teachers and patience for students returning to school
We pray your compassion for those who support and care for the homeless and isolated
Working at the wheel, Moulding our cities, as places of justice for all; Lord in your mercy, Hear our prayer

God who moulds us, working at Your wheel, We bring to you the nations of the world,
We pray for Presidents and Prime Ministers, diplomats and trade negotatiators
We pray your blessing on cities under siege, in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan and the countries of Benin, Ivory Coast and Togo,
We pray for nations in the Pacific, like Papua New Guina celebrating 50 years of independence this week, and Pacific nations still seeking independence
God, mould the nations, as places of hospitality for all
Lord in your mercy, Hear our prayer

God who moulds us, We bring to you this congregation and the wider Church
We pray your blessing on Scots Kirk, on the ministry of Word and Sacrament here each  Sunday, on the mission of all of us in our apartments and places of vocation
We pray your wisdom for the International Presbytery of Church of Scotland and the moderator Rosie Frew, as she speaks for justice and offers words of hope
We pray your grace and abundance on other Christian communities in this city
Working at the wheel, Moulding our churches, as places of abundance for all;
Lord in your mercy, Hear our prayer

God who moulds us, We bring to you ourselves and those we know,
We pray your blessing – for health and wholeness for those who are sick and grieving
For clarity for those seeking for the words of eternal life
For courage for each of us to embrace the cost of discipleship,  to let you mould our passions and possessions. Working at the wheel, Moulding each of us through the cost of discipleship;
Lord in your mercy, Hear our prayer