Project Numinous – SenseMaker®

We are aiming to collect stories and provide tools for mapping how people make sense of their experiences and their relationships to the world through their participation within, or connection to, religious belief, sense of spirituality, community of faith and/or a community of spiritual practice. By joining this programme you will have access to a collection of relevant SenseMaker® projects.

Cynefin Centre COVID-19 Membership Pack

Transcendence

Whether it be a thoughtful walk with the sun dappling through the trees onto your skin, enjoying a piece of artwork in your local gallery, dancing at a festival, singing in a choir, or dedicating an hour a day to the withdrawal of the senses in mindful meditation, contemplative and reflective practices conjure up a plethora of possibilities and a multitude of meanings.

There is a certain ineffable ‘truth’ in the ‘beauty’ of these experiences. From life’s bigger questions, such as “how did the world begin?”, to being swept away by a blissful melody or beautiful landscape, these experiences have the power to move us beyond rational knowledge and take us to a place of feeling. It is a deep and powerful place, yet not one necessarily visible to others or expressible through words.

But how do we and why should we attend to these more ineffable experiences of life? In research and everyday practice, how do we recognise the magic in the mundane?

Coming soon.

The Sacred Earth

“We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home.”

Australian Aboriginal saying

It is no secret that the environments we live in are vast and varied, from the savannahs, to the rainforests to the big city buzz. But just as wide-reaching are the means we have available to connect and make/give meaning to our surroundings.

Our connection to place is important. Taking the time out to situate ourselves in time and space yields an appreciation of the natural and built worlds around us, and importantly a chance to collectively understand how such spaces mediate the ways we relate to one another. Yet in today’s world of diasporic populations and virtual networks, how do we connect back to our roots? What do “roots” even mean in this ever-changing context? And how often do we take a moment to reflect upon our shared and sometimes difficult histories?

Coming soon.

Congregational Living

Throughout history religious buildings have been the epicentre of the community; connecting, educating, inspiring, and influencing the social, communal and political landscape. But in the modern day the impact of the church has radically changed, with congregational numbers in rapid decline and even certain denominations predicted to fade into non-existence within the next 30 years.

This bespoke SenseMaker® framework has been designed to help understand the complex reasons behind congregational decline. Exploring key constructs such as attitude, motivation, social equity, identity, what success means, and future-thinking, this framework will help illuminate voices from the community, congregations and clergy to better understand what is going right, what is going wrong, and highlight possible avenues for change.

Coming soon.