I'm a researcher and sociologist at heart. I love data as a general rule. But data that isn't in service to action is just navel gazing, and that's where a lot of church leaders are right now.
We wait for the next round of big data to come out or we want to study the issue a little bit longer. But the truth is, we have all the information we need to start acting.
You don't need another national survey to confirm what we know to be true. The old models of helping people to connect with the divine and sacred simply aren't effective in this modern era.
It's time to move from understanding to action.
All of the best information we have points to relationships formed around listening as the most promising pathway forward for re-vitalizing people's faith and spirituality.
In a world that shouts and screams all the time, religious leaders can show grace, beauty, awe, wonder, service, sacrifice and all the good things about their tradition by simply being quiet, asking the right questions, and listening deeply.
You don't have to correct, just connect.
We have all the information we need. The time to act is now.
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