sustain:if:able kiwi

the social impact of shared Lenten practices: congregational life research in 2026

I’m delighted to be working with six congregations during Lent 2026. I am researching the social impact of Lenten practices.

Spiritual practices are often considered to be individual and to connect us with God. I’m looking to see what happens when practices are shared and how that impacts on social relationships.

It has been so fascinating talking with congregational leaders over the last month about the research. It is one thing for me to idealise a research design. It is quite another thing to talk through how that research design might land in the real world. I am so grateful for the honesty and insight of congregational leaders and to hear how they value good research, care for their communities and might go about introducing change.

Some of the feedback from congregational leaders has been so encouraging:

“The practice is very straightforward, we will find out what sort of difference it makes and Steve has been great to talk with.”

How good is that for unsolicited and publicly posted feedback!

This research in Lenten practices is a follow-up to my social impact of shared spiritual practices research from 2025. During last year, I had begun qualitative data gathering in congregations, working with small groups to experience a practice and provide feedback. I had also done work on what would be involved in quantitative data gathering, inviting congregational leaders to introduce an intentional practice and gather feedback using a short survey at the start and the end.

I hope to gather enough data during Lent 2026 to complete two research articles, one on the qualitative data that is being gathered, the other for a Registered Report on the quantitative data that is being gathered. I will probably also do a public webinar on the research toward the middle of the year, once I’ve reported back to the participating congregations. So if you are interested keep an eye out or drop me a message so I can add you to the list.

I’m very grateful not only to congregational leaders, but also to a private trust who is funding this research and is willing to invest in the practices of Christian faith.

pen labyrinths and centring prayer

For those interested in cultivating spiritual practices, the article (“How to Use a Pen Labyrinth for Reflection or as a Centering Practice“) provides some very practical resources for centring prayer and reflection. The author, Bruce Stanley, has a track record of design, innovation and spiritual care. He brings all these dimensions together to offer some paper labyrinths, that can be printed out.

You can walk the labyrinth without leaving home!

The designs are based on real places, which is connects with real places (Ely in England, Chartes and St Omer in France) and the spiritual lives of thousands of people who have, and continue, to walk these paths. You might be at home but you are not alone!

Bruce also offers suggestions for how to use the labyrinth as a tool for reflection and centring prayer.

Climate justice in digital spaces across transnational margins paper presentation

It was a late night, but I was very pleased to present at paper at the Digital Marginality & Plural Subjectivities conference hosted by the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, at the University of Edinburgh. My thanks to the organisers for all their work to draw together a 3 day hybrid conference.

After several experiences of presenting in the conference room at Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, it was quite different to be online and seeing the room digitally. But very appropriate for a conference titled Digital Marginality.

I was presenting in a panel with presenters researching digital solidarity with Papua, Māori responses to AI and the ethics of digital representations of indigenous cultures.

My paper, titled “Climate justice and the performing of prayer in digital spaces across transnational margins,” explored the visual nature of the 2024 Tuākoi ‘Lei Declaration emerging from the 2024 Pacific Conference of Churches gathering. I placed the visual representation of kneeling for prayer alongside other visual images, from COP in 2021 and CHOGM in 2024, and used visual grammar analysis to reflect on the role of prayer in digital activism and what that means for how the West understands climate justice and digital activism. (The full paper proposal is here).

The followup questions were valuable and give shape to further work I might want to do turning the presentation into some writing.

• is the kneeling in the 2024 Tuākoi ‘Lei Declaration an act of solidarity in that moment, or are there other spiritual and theological dynamics that emerge over time including through the digital sharing?
• how were the digital images shared? Did they ripple out or were they kept within closed networks? do we need to account for different lifecycles and uses of digital images?
• what are the complexities involved in sharing contextual actions on global digital platforms? how are Pacific voices heard in the West?

The presentation builds on my IASH Research Fellowship in 2024 into grassroots digital activism. Specifically it is the 5th conference presentation using visual grammar analysis to think theologically about online visual images. I have also written a book chapter and two journal articles. Based on the feedback from last night, there could well be a third article.

Making as connecting: IAMS 2026 conference paper

I’m pleased to have a paper proposal accepted for International Association of Mission Studies, July 17-21, 2026 in Pretoria, South Africa. I am so grateful the conference is offering a hybrid option, to enhance accessibility for global scholars.

The theme is “Walking Together in Mission: Facing Global Challenges for a Sustainable World.” My paper responds to this theme and brings together two of my research interests, craftivism and digital technologies.

Making as connecting: the role of digital technologies in the diffusion of handmade missional innovation

Key words: digital technology, innovation, knitting, local Christian communities, making, missio Dei

This article analyses the role of social media in the diffusion of innovation among local Christian communities. In Making Is Connecting (2018), David Gauntlett argues that the internet is a new media technology that amplifies makers and making in our world today. He proposes a shift from a ‘sit back and be told’ culture to a ‘making and doing’ culture. This paper examines the implications for the missio Dei in local Christian communities by bringing empirical case study research into dialogue with contemporary theories of innovation in digital technologies.

In research published elsewhere, I have used the five Marks of Mission to analyse craftivism in local community outreach, including yarnbombing knitted Christmas angels, knitting scarves in climate justice activism, and knitting strawberries in solidarity with victims and survivors of church abuse.

Different Christian organisations initiated these knitted missional innovations, including a local Methodist circuit, a parachurch organisation and a Diocesan staff team. In each case, an active web presence and grassroots social media activity were essential in how individuals in local church communities became involved. Despite online toxicity, digital technologies enabled a peer-to-peer diffusion of innovation, driven by grassroots interest rather than top-down strategies. Digital technologies facilitated unplanned innovation at the speed of authentic sharing and peer-to-peer local connections.

Theoretically, the research supports claims that digital culture is a domain of God’s action in the world. Practically, it outlines how digital systems can support local Christian communities as they participate in the missio Dei.