This month, we are focused on the future of faith —and the Future of Faith is listening! Religious communities have a tremendous role to play in the formation of the next generation, and the transformation of their communities, simply through learning to listen to their neighbors well. Josh Packard, in his new book Faithful Futures, describes it this way. Historically, the relationship between connectedness and spirituality has run in both directions. Loneliness affects the ability of people to be spiritually and religious connected, but it can be mitigated by a strong religious community, especially for young people who often lack stability in their lives just due to the chaotic nature of being a teenager. Religious communities have traditionally served as one of the primary points of connection for people, what sociologists refer to as “agents of socialization.” In this way, they provide not only guidance for how to act and behave in social situations but also critical training grounds and safe spaces for young people to learn social skills inside a community. When it comes to loneliness, the role of spiritual and religious well-being cannot be overlooked. Individuals who have a strong sense of spirituality or engage in religious practices tend to experience lower levels of loneliness because these communities provide a sense of meaning, purpose, and belonging in life, which acts as a powerful buffer against feelings of isolation. In a special bonus episode of Cruciform Conversations, I talk with Dr. Jonny Morrison, who is a pastor in Salt Lake City, UT. Jonny offers a helpful perspective on shaping a listening community that seeks to understand its neighbors and intentionally shapes its life, language, and practice to best embody good news for them. Jonny offers a helpful example of how we might approach this work in our own context. One particular statement from Jonny about listening to and responding to your neighbors really stood out. Two things that come to mind when you say that. The first one is that you can’t make any assumptions about faith, theology, or the language that you use in a place like Utah or Salt Lake City because the dominant religious community is LDS and certain things are very shared about the way, like you and I would talk about the gospel and the way that Mormons would, but there is also some very key distinctions and we may use the same words, but we will not have the same definitions for those words. And that’s actually, I think, kind of a beautiful gift if you’re willing to think then about what words you’re using and what they mean. And so I think if you want to do ministry here, if you want to just be a Christian here, you’re kind of constantly having to set aside Christianese and be like, what is this thing? Like, what does it mean? Like when I say salvation, what do I mean? When I say atonement, what do I mean? When I say reconciliation or restoration, what do I mean? And I think as a leader, you’re constantly having to do contextual theology to say, can I explain this without using theological and religious words, which I think is really formative to my own heart, sense of good news and the community around me. So that’s the first answer is doing ministry in a context like Utah means you are constantly having to re-encounter what you believe so that you can communicate it to others. But in the process, you are changed and formed by doing it. Connect with the Cruciform Conversations on other platforms: Connect with Jonny Morrison Follow Jonny’s SubstackBuy Jonny’s book Prodigal Gospel! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drgregarthur.substack.com
