I highly commend Sue Phillips’s recent essay, “The Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future: Stewards of Religious Assets Should Embrace Spiritual Innovators.” Sue is on the founding team of the Workshop for Emotional and Spiritual Technology, a tech startup working to help people live more meaningful lives. After serving as a denominational executive for the Unitarian Universalist Association, she co-founded Sacred Design Lab, a nonprofit that interprets innovation to the religious world and ancient wisdom to the world of innovation. Here’s my summary, of the essay, but check it out…
Religious communities evolve and build complex systems to manage and distribute resources, similar to other communities. They codify and distribute wisdom and practices through denominations and related organizations, performing numerous roles such as establishing creeds, standardizing rites, and credentialing leaders. However, these infrastructures often rely on outdated assumptions, such as the need for local congregations and physical buildings, which no longer align with the needs of younger generations who seek spiritual fulfillment through diverse, unbundled means.
Most of the current religious infrastructures fail to adapt, hindering the effective dissemination of wisdom and resources. Declining membership and outdated methods exacerbate this issue, leading to weakened local groups and reduced resources. Younger generations access spiritual content through modern means like apps and social media, bypassing traditional paths. Despite ongoing soul needs, the old infrastructure cannot support new spiritual innovations adequately due to a lack of resources, mentors, and sustainable business models.
While technology offers new avenues for spiritual engagement, traditional religious infrastructure struggles to keep up. Successful adaptation requires embracing technological platforms and innovative approaches to reach people where they are. Religious entities must refit their systems to transmit meaning effectively in the contemporary landscape, ensuring the continued distribution of spiritual wisdom.
So I have a burgeoning “Innovation” that I will post about in the coming days.
Peace, dwight
