sustain:if:able kiwi

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.

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.

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.

the anxiety of interdisciplinary research

Interdisciplinary research is certainly anxious making. Last week, I presented my social impact of selected religious practices research at the biennial International Association for the Psychology of Religion conference in Birmingham.

Presenting internationally to psychologists researching religion was certainly not on my 2025 bingo sheet as the year begun. But with the encouragement of the Psychology and Theology Cross training team at the University of Birmingham and the generous offer of financial support from the John Templeton Foundation, my abstract was accepted and I found myself as a practical theologian stepping across academic disciplines.

It was a work in progress presentation. I had completed data collection the evening before I departed New Zealand, so my paper focused on the value of listening in community building and the lack of empirical research into participant experiences of engaging in religious practices. I introduced my research methods, sharing how I was doing action research, inviting participants to share in 8 sessions of lectio divina and gathering data through focus groups, a longitudinal survey, individual diaries and my participant observation. I offered some memorable quotes, from an initial code of two focus groups that I wrapped up, one in June, the other in early July.

And then the time for questions. From experts from other disciplines! How would they respond to my research? Anxiously, I invited questions.

• A first hand went up. They asked why I called what I was doing action research. I noted first that I was researching action, in the sharing together of the practice of lectio divina. Further, as I implemented my design, I made adjustments in response to events that occurred during sessions. Third, my grant application included the words “pilot study” and one of my stated outcomes was to make connections with other scholars researching spiritual practices with a view to further research. So I hoped my initial work would spiral into further research of action.
• A second hand went up. They said they liked the design and asked what Bible passages I used in the lectio divina sessions. I replied the story of Moses and the burning bush in Exodus 3 and the transfiguration in Matthew 17.
• A third hand went up. They congratulated me on my research and asked for more understanding of how practising lectio divina might strengthen community. I responded with a story shared by one of my participants in an interview.

The five minutes for questions was complete. I was done. I had survived. And still alive.

My research into the social impact of selected religious practices had been treated with thoughtful respect. The questions had been genuine.

“It’s really a joy to listen to other people” research poster

My research poster I presented at the Psychology-engaged Theology Conference in Birmingham, 2025 as part of a Capstone event for the Psychologically-Engaged Theologians Cross-training fellowship I have been part of. The poster is a “work in progress” – a preliminary analysis of half of the data from half of the research cohorts I have conducted.

a researching life and 24% of my winter evenings

Last night was another session in my research into the social impact of spiritual practices. It was raining and misty as I drove to Cohort D for our sixth evening sharing in spiritual practice.

I began this data gathering phase of the research on 1 May. It’s now the 31st of July. I’ve conducted 26 sessions with 4 cohorts over the last 92 days. 24% of my evenings this winter have been out and about researching!!

Thankfully, only a few nights have been raining. Pleasingly, all my participants have been engaged, engaging and informative. Gratifyingly I expect to shortly have 7 focus groups, 23 weekly journals and 64 survey forms. That’s a very rich store of qualitative data to inform my research into the social impact of shared spiritual practices (as part of the Psychologically engaged theology crosss-training with John Templeton)

(I know that social media posts are supposed to have visual images to draw attention. But honestly, it was too wet, dark and cold last night to grab an image of a wet and cold Dunedin night!)

baking cakes and marking research transitions

Three of my action research cohorts have finished in recent weeks. As part of our ending, I’ve enjoyed baking cakes.

Banana cakes, with either chocolate or lemon flavoured icing!

I’ve baked cakes for several reasons.

1. It marks a change. Probably as much for me as for my participants, it’s a way of marking and ending. As I cream the sugar and mash the bananas, there’s a chance to reflect on our time together and be aware of a change.
2. It expresses gratitude for time. My participants have generously given eight hours to share together in spiritual practice over eight sessions. Some research projects offer incentives to participants, like book vouchers or cash payments, to thank them for their time. However, financial incentives can make the research feel more transactional and might not match the motivations of my participants. A homemade cake feels an appropriate thankyou for my particular cohorts.
3. It manages the debrief. Once the final pieces of data are gathered, I offer to share a brief explanation of the research design. Some participants are interested. Other participants aren’t. Having a cake provides a way to relationally manage the range of responses. I offer serviettes and invite people to take a slice of cake and leave if they wish. Or to stay, enjoy the cake and learn a bit more about the research. People are different and the cake help manage the debrief with a bit of humour and humanity.
4. It navigates a relational transition. The ending of data gathering means there is a farewell. This is with myself as the researcher. It can also be between the participants. Some people want to linger, to ask me a specific question, to make an observation or to arrange to connect in a different way with someone they have enjoyed connecting with a bit more deeply. Having cake helps with this relational transition.

I’ve not baked cakes for other research projects. But it’s been an appropriate way to end this project and mark transitions with the different cohorts who have shared with me in religious practice over this particular piece of John Templeton funded research.

Blessed are the ethnographers

Blessed are those who observe (Psalm 106:3).

After 21 sessions facilitating shared spiritual practice, this week I found myself starting to run out of pages in my participant observation research journal. Which meant I was blessed to be able to buy a second research journal.

I am conducting action research into the social impact of spiritual practices. As part of a John Templeton funded project, I’m currently running 4 cohorts in the late afternoon and evenings. I’m gathering data through focus groups, along with short surveys at the start, middle and end. I’m also inviting participants to keep a weekly journal, to help me understand their individual experiences over time. Finally, I’m also observing. Which means taking notes of responses and interactions.

After every session, I write these notes up as research memos. Often stretching to 3 pages, these research memos will help me remember what happened, when I come to analyse the data in a few months time. The research memos also enable me to record my experiences, helping me get the impressions in my own head down on paper, as a further source of data.

My observations of 21 sessions mean pages and pages of notes. So a milestone this week, after 20 hours of facilitating and observing, at the three-quarter mark, to realise I would need a another brand new research journal.

In a curious quirk, the Psalm for this morning offered encouragement. First, in ways similar to the beatitudes, God blesses those who observe. Ethnography and research memos gain God’s favour. They are empirical methods that value human interactions, create structure in gathering data from lived experience and make the researcher transparent.

The rest of Psalm 106, verse 3 provides a reason for observing – “do what is just.” Ethnography invites critical reflection on the practices of the church. Practical theologians use observation as a tool in bringing change.

Sometimes church practices contribute to injustice. When that happens, ethnography and observation become a prophetic call for change. Sometimes church practices contribute to life. When that happens, ethnography and observation offers encouragement in the seeking of God’s justice hear on earth.

I’m glad that my ethnographic research is blessed :).

spiritual practices when life is out of balance

Spiritual practices when life is out of balance – how might psychology informed research offer resources for preaching on spiritual practices of lament, rest and mindfulness? How might psychology insights and resources be woven with Christian scripture?

Lament – Psalm 69:1-3; 13-16; 33-36; John 11:17-22; 30-37.

Rest – Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message translation).

Christ-centred mindfulness – Psalm 62:1–3; 5–8; 11-12: Matthew 6:24-34. A thoughtful reminder to stop rushing and instead remember we’re a part of something bigger than our individual worries. This practice involves experiencing the world as being filled with signs of God, and slowing down long enough to see heaven in ordinary things.

These resources are drawn from Dr Lynne Taylor’s teaching with medical school students, my (Dr Steve Taylor’s) current research into the social impact of spiritual practices and our combined experience of the Psychology and Theology Cross-training through University of Birmingham.

researching the sounds of silence

As I explore spiritual practice, I find that sounds are being magnified. This week, as I researched the social impact of the spiritual practice of silence, I recognised

• a heater whirring
• human voices making introductions
• the turn of paper, the scratch of pen on paper as survey forms are completed,
• a match being struck and a candle lit, calling us to silence
• a phone timer sounding to call us out of silence
• the exhale of a person’s breath as a lit candle is blown out
• the rustle of lolly wrappers as an ending treat

Such are the sounds of Cohort C experiencing the spiritual practice of shared silence. This is one of 5 cohorts I am researching with as part of my John Templeton funded 12 month research of the social impact of spiritual practices.

an open door to welcome cohort C

Cohort C in my action research into the social impact of spiritual practices began last night. There was an open door on a chilly autumn evening.

Cohort C is a variation of cohort A, B and D (which begins tonight). Cohort C is shorter – 4 weeks not 8. Cohort C has different snacks – Werthers Originals. Cohort C is a different practice – silence. There are reasons for these variations, which I might explain in a future post.

But amid the changes, the same four ways to gather data remain. As part of the Psychology and Theology Cross-training research fellowship funded by John Templeton through the University of Birmingham (my project is described here), I am gathering data using surveys, focus group, individual journals and my participation. Together, this gives me qualitative and quantitative data, shared individually and with others.

On the first night we made introductions. Spiritual practices were introduced, first in general, then specifically in relation to silence. A candle was lit and we settled into a period of shared silence. We began with 10 minutes on our first night. It will be 20 minutes the second week, and 30 minutes the third week. Could sitting in silence with others have a social impact?

a table to welcome research cohort B

Yesterday involved laying a table of welcome for cohort B in research investigating the social impact of spiritual practices. The welcome included the offer of participant diaries to record individual experiences and a pre-survey. Plus cheese and crackers and my research diary for ethnographic observations as I introduce spiritual practices and we begin 8 weeks of exploration.

There is a lot of energy involved in recruiting participants, then finding a time and venue that works. So week 1 has a sense of anticipation and expectancy, as strangers connect, questions are clarified and we settle in our shared experience of spiritual practice.

The highlight was a participant holding two types of journal diary – one hard cover, the other white daisy – one in each hand, weighing which they would choose as a companion for recording their experiences over 8 weeks.

Recruiting research participants = buying journals

One of the best parts of researching spiritual practices is buying research journals for my participants.

Journals are one of several ways I am gaining feedback. A survey at start, middle and end offers insight into impact over time. A focus group middle and end allows participants share their experiences with each other. An individual journal, completed weekly, captures unique insights and individual experiences. Together this mix of quantitative and qualitative data illuminates how people experience spiritual practices (for more on this 12 month Cross-training research fellowship with University of Birmingham, go here).

It was a joy this week to observe a participant in cohort A write something in their journal as they made a connection in the middle of exploring a spiritual practice. While I am learning with and from cohort A, now into it’s third week of exploring, I have been busy recruiting for further cohorts. I have waved journals as part of a verbal notice in a church service and providing information for church newsletters. I have even provided short videos, to play in church services when I have been busy with other commitments.

As a result of my recruiting, I have 3 more cohorts getting underway over the next few weeks. Which is quite daunting, as it means a very busy data gathering phase. But also really exciting as the number of participants increase and the variety of experiences multiplies.

And I get to buy more research journals! All with research ethics information pasted inside, along with the four writing prompts to get people started. All arranged in piles on the floor – for cohort B, C and D.

Because one of the best parts of researching spiritual practices is buying research journals!