An unprecedented number of religious "nones" are walking away from church while, at the same time, Catholic monastic communities are facing precipitous decline. Nuns and Nones, a national, grassroots coalition of "spiritual but not religious" millennials and monastic women, has sprung up in this unlikely soil, coming together to ask: "What's next?” Newly established Nuns & Nones sites are hosting intergenerational conversations, finding a common desire for community, spirituality, and service.

In this project, I will collaborate with Nuns & Nones colleagues to gather key learnings and case-studies from current Nuns & Nones sites in Grand Rapids, MI, Boston, MA, and San Francisco, CA. My hope is to create starter resources for this burgeoning movement, as well as explore the question of how these communities can best learn from one another. In addition, I hope to start a new Nuns and Nones group in the Twin Cities in partnership with the Visitation Sisters of North Minneapolis. I will help recruit participants, as well as host and facilitate conversation (meeting 8 times over 16 months) around the mutual needs and offerings of these distinct communities.

In addition, I have a book contract to write a spiritual memoir (InterVarsity Press) about my ministry as a Visitation Companion and experience as a Christian married to a religious “none.” In writing this book, I hope to explore how monastics and millennials can mutually encourage one another around questions of faith, doubt, and community. I plan to interview interested nuns in the Twin Cities about their spiritual lives for the book. In these one-on-one conversations, I will gain insights to weave into my own faith story as a member of a generation where many of my peers are leaving religion altogether.