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“There is more beauty than our eyes can bear, precious things have been put into our hands and to do nothing to honor them is to do great harm.”

-     Gilead

Whenever I speak or meet with a group, I always look for the beauty that a particular community stewards: a memory, a song, a sense of place, the hope they carry, a sense of call, the good work they have done together. Sometimes the beauty is already known, other times our time together calls it forth. In all things, seeing the beauty and creativity that we carry in our communities is a way to bend our collective imagination toward hope.

Here are some of the good places and people I’ve had the pleasure to spend time with:

2024

  • “Theological Education for the Future: A Methodological Structure for Collaborative Theological Inquiry,” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and the Religious Research Association, Pittsburgh, PA, October 18-20, 2024.

  • “Belonging in the Church: Men and the Future of Ministry,” Calvary Baptist Church Men’s Breakfast, September 3, 2024.

  •  “The Craft of Academic Writing: A Workshop on Writing for Practical Theology,” British and Irish Association for Practical Theology, July 4, 2024.

  •  “Gathered: A Theology for Institutions in a Changing Church,” Keynote for Summer School, Swanwick, UK, July 1, 2024.

  •  “Collaborative Research and Learning: From Theology to Practice,” (with Juli Kalbaugh, The Association for Theological Schools

2023

  •  “Join or Die: A Film Screening and Panel Discussion about Robert Putnam’s Work,” Baylor University, Waco, TX, November 15, 2023.

  •  “Bending the Light: Piloting Future Forms for Theological Education through Collaborative Research” (with Juli Kalbaugh), Lilly Endowment, Pathways for Tomorrow Coordination Program, Indianapolis, IN, November 6-9, 2023.

  •  “Faith of our Futures: Institutions, Individualism, and the Possibility of Life Together,” Faith of our Futures, October 19, 2023.

  •  “Rendering an Adaptive Church: Order, Collaboration, and Leadership on the Edge,” Public Lecture for Baylor Sociology Department, Waco, TX, October 6, 2023.

  • “Beyond Leading Alone: Collaborative Leadership for a Shared Ecclesial Future,” International Consultation on Ecclesial Futures, San Francisco, CA, July 17-21, 2023.

  • “Theology and Qualitative Research: A Q &A about the Craft of Qualitative Research.” In Material Religion at Hispanic Study Program. June 21, 2023.

  • April 27-29, 2023: “Leading Structures of Belonging: A Relational Paradigm for Collaborative Christian Leadership,” Academy of Religious Leadership, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, PA.

  • April 19, 2023: “Belonging: An Invitation to Community,” Calvary Baptist Church, Waco, TX,

  • April 5, 2023: “Beyond Leading Alone: Leadership for the Future Church,” Baylor University Department of Religion (undergraduate), Waco, TX.

  • March 27, 2023: “Fundraising in Higher Education: The Craft of Grant Seeking and Development,” Planning, Budgets, and HR in Higher Ed (M.A in Higher Ed seminar), Baylor University.

  • March 24-26, 2023: “The Crisis of Belonging: Collaborative Research and the Question of this Generation,” Ecclesiology & Ethnography North America, Princeton, NJ.

  • March 4-6, 2023: “Is There a Future for the Church in North America?: Fieldnotes from the Center to the Edge of Christendom,” Southwest Commission on Religious Studies/American Academy of Religious South West Region Annual Meeting, Dallas, TX.

  • January 31, 2023: “Is There a Future for the Church?: Fieldnotes from the Center to the Edge of Christendom,” Centre for Studies of Religion and Society, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC.

2022

  • October 31, 2022: “Pioneering Practices for an Adaptive Church,” Church Mission Society, London, UK, January 18, 2023.

    “A Religious Journey Panel,” Baylor University Chapel, Waco, TX,

  • October 11-13, 2022: “The Structure of Collaborative Partnership: Relational Wisdom in a Crisis Weary World,” Together at the Table: Hunger and Poverty Summit, The Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, Waco, TX,

  • October 5-7, 2022: “The Power of Local Partnership: Six Practices to Lead Change Right Where You Are,” No Need Among You Conference, Texas Christian Community Development Network, Waco, TX.

  • September 16-18, 2022: Keynote for the Ecclesiology and Ethnography Conference,“Theology for an Adaptive Church: Ecclesial Ecologies as Site and Source for Theological Inquiry,” Durham, England.

  • August 7, 2022: “Pulled by Hope: Innovation and Imagination for a Changing Church,” South Main Baptist Church Summer Seminar, Houston, TX.

  • July 11, 2022: “The Craft of Writing a Journal Article,” British and Irish Association of Practical Theology (BIAPT) Annual Meeting.

  • June 25, 2022: “Leading in Times of Crisis,” The Discover Conference, Waco, TX.

  • June 18, 2022: “Going Far Together: The Conditions for Collaborative Mission,” American Society of Missiology, Notre Dame, IN.

  • May 31, 2022: “Practical Theology Guild: Publishing Workshop” (with Nigel Rooms), McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario.

If you’d like to talk about your next event or explore other ways I can support you and your community, please contact me below.