This paper argues that spiritual belonging is not institutionally conferred but ontologically given — realized through participation in the life of the Triune God whose sovereign declaration holds all things from before creation to consummation in Christ...
What if belonging isn't something we build incrementally — but something we inhabit immediately by living a future society in the present? Vision Lab is a socially-engaged global contemplative arts and education platform operating as a "laboratory of...
The Beloved Community is a poetic performance sharing a youth-led exploration of belonging co-founded by a 13-year-old. Prior to the conference, middle school girls from diverse backgrounds will gather for an interfaith dinner and respond to one question...
This interdisciplinary panel is the outcome of a year-long collaborative inquiry within the Spiritual Healing and Art Workgroup, bringing together scholars, artists, therapists, educators, and practitioners from diverse backgrounds. Exploring belonging as...
Humankind starts in the “Eden” of automatically experienced unity with the divine. For the sake of our high destiny, we experience exile and a descent whose nadir includes the complete dissolution of every instinctively given sense of belonging, including...
The main purpose of this presentation is twofold. First, I explain how the kinds of personalization offered through digital technologies can undermine belonging. We are getting used to the convenience of being tailored to, and this can undermine virtues...
This paper examines how African Pentecostal churches in Czechia, drawing from the case of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), serve as social architecture that helps African immigrants feel like they belong. It investigates how practices,...
Christian churches have historically adopted different models of belonging: some are united by creed, some by language, and some by charismatic leaders. There is also often a difference between the declared model of belonging and actual practice. In this...
The central thesis of this paper is that mainstream spiritual and academic frameworks frequently pathologize non-belonging as a social or psychological deficit to be remedied through assimilation. In direct contrast, this work theorizes non-belonging as a...
This study examines how spiritual communities cultivate a deep sense of belonging amid political polarization in the United States. Drawing on interdisciplinary theories of belonging as a core human need, it analyzes two contrasting cases: a lay Buddhist...
