What is spiritual innovation?
As practitioners and interpreters of the rapidly changing landscape of religious and spiritual life, we at Sacred Design Lab define spiritual innovation as the novel ways to address spiritual longings that contribute to the flourishing of individuals, communities, and the ecosystems of which we are part.
Other practitioners and scholars might offer alternative definitions (some of which you can read here), but we think of spiritual innovation as the creative, courageous work of meeting the soul needs of our time. It’s about helping people feel a deeper sense of belonging, grow into who they’re called to be, and experience connection to something greater than themselves. Whether through community gatherings, digital formation tools, or embodied practices of healing, spiritual innovation offers new pathways to meaning, connection, and wholeness.
We see spiritual innovation happening inside of religious traditions, outside of them, and on the edge—where sacred and secular meet. Wherever they’re working, spiritual innovators are weaving together the old and the new, the sacred and the everyday, and creating spaces where people feel more human, more connected, and more free.
In a cultural moment where policy makers are looking to community and religious institutions to secure democratic norms, where healthcare professionals point to the vitality of human connection and meaning-making, where new technologies are changing every element of our lives, and where radical changes in religious affiliation and attendance mean long-standing institutions are less secure, spiritual innovation is a phenomenon that has caught the interest of many.
And there is a vibrant conversation among practitioners and scholars around the world as to what exactly spiritual innovation is, why it matters, and whether it’s even the right language to describe contemporary developments in religious and spiritual life.
As practitioners, we’ve created this collection of vignettes to share what we’re seeing—and to invite scholars into the conversation. Though we know our goals and assumptions might not always be shared with our friends in the academy, we hope to highlight sites of potential future study and introduce key questions that define the emerging field.
How do we evaluate the success of spiritual innovation?
As part of our ongoing exploration of spiritual innovation, Sacred Design Lab developed a seven-component rubric designed to help evaluate the likely success of individual projects and organizations. Originally, the rubric was created for grantmakers making funding decisions so that they might use the seven lenses as a way to evaluate spiritual innovations.
The seven categories listed below are not intended to be the final word, but rather an informed attempt to identify key ingredients of successful spiritual innovation and innovators. In practice, we suggested a developmental scale, from high-potential but untested efforts, to those with demonstrated but constrained success, to those which are thriving and sustainable. But for this collection of vignettes, we use the rubric as an organizing tool to point to a number of remarkable spiritual innovations that might pique the interest of scholars exploring this field.
An important limitation to this rubric is that each element must be understood within a project’s and innovator’s own context. The “number of potential participants” that is “significant,” for example, would differ widely if the project were in Cairo or rural Chile. An innovator’s connection to lineage will look different in Mombasa than it will in Amsterdam. We encourage scholars to consider each category relative to the circumstances, history, and setting of the innovation and innovators.
Finally, no rubric will ever replace relationships over time. In the work of supporting spiritual innovation, we hope for deep collaborations among innovators, scholars, funders, and other stakeholders to help cultivate a vibrant future for spiritual life all over the world.
The seven components of the rubric are:
1. Innovation
- Novelty: Does the project provide a new concept, context, offering, or pathway for engaging spirituality?
- Rootedness: Does the project grow out of and/or learn from existing spiritual or religious systems or traditions?
2. Spirituality
- Belonging: Do participants care for one another and contribute to something that matters?
- Becoming: Do they move toward meaning, purpose, and/or wholeness?
- Beyond: Do they experience a sense of ultimacy, transcendence, or something more?
3. Effectiveness
- Content: Does the project address spiritual longings in a way that is relevant, credible, compelling, and coherent?
- Engagement: Does it demonstrate understanding of participants and work with them in meaningful ways?
- Impact: Does it help people flourish and contribute to the greater good?
4. Accessibility
- Justice: Is the project designed to meet unmet needs and/or serve those who are underserved, without financial barriers?
- Trustworthiness: Does it offer clear pathways in and out of the experience? Are leaders and stakeholders known and accountable?
- Opportunity: Is it meaningful to people at a range of skill and commitment levels, with pathways for growth?
Vignettes on accessibility still to come!
5. Sustainability
- Financial: Does the relationship of revenue to expenses enable the project to create, deliver, sustain, and grow what it does?
- Structural: Does the project have a sound approach to organization and leadership, with safeguards against unethical activity?
- Ecological: Do the activities and outcomes do no harm and/or contribute to the health and vitality of the planet?
Vignettes on sustainability still to come!
6. Reach
- Availability: Is the project discoverable and welcoming to a significant population of potential participants?
- Resonance: Does the intended audience recognize the value of the offering and demonstrate increasing commitment to its values and practices?
- Scalability: Is there opportunity for widespread impact, influence, or effect on a large number of people?
7. Leadership
- Alignment: Do leaders have skillsets and personal qualities that match what the project needs?
- Pipeline: Are there processes in place to identify and support new leaders?
- Integrity: Does the approach to leadership match the values being espoused?
Vignettes on leadership still to come!