Research Field Notes

This is the second installment of a new series entitled Field Notes. It gives you bite-sized, personal insights and stories into connections being made within our research in real time from members of our research team. 

As Research Director at Future of Faith, I often joke that I have my “fingers in many pies” as I oversee and learn from our different research projects. Each project offers insights into how churches, organizations, and programs are connecting with current and future generations of faith. While these projects explore different contexts and questions, I often wonder what we might learn if we brought all these pieces together.

This October, I attended the Tenx10 Summit in Chicago, where diverse organizations, churches, and leaders explored next steps to strengthen relational discipleship and support young people in their faith journeys. Throughout the two days, one theme continued to emerge: sacred listening, approaching conversations with curiosity, openness, and a willingness to learn from one another.

As I participated in these conversations, I found myself connecting what I heard not only to our Sacred Listening Study with youth, but also to findings from many of our research projects over the past couple of years. Whether we are exploring how young people experience belonging, how congregations navigate change, or how organizations engage their communities, similar themes continue to emerge: the importance of relationships, trust, and creating opportunities for people to share their experiences and shape what comes next.

What struck me was how these different projects, communities, and research questions we have been exploring at Future of Faith revealed pieces of a much larger picture. Each organization brings its own experiences and insights, but when we bring those perspectives together, we begin to see connections that might otherwise go unnoticed.

For me, this is one of the most exciting parts of research. It is not just about collecting data or producing findings for individual projects. It is about learning across contexts, asking bigger questions, and helping organizations move from listening to understanding and, ultimately, to action.

I left Tenx10 reminded that none of us has the full picture on our own. But through shared learning and a commitment to listening to one another, we can begin to connect the pieces and imagine new ways to support the next generation and the communities around them.