Imagine: Each morning begins with an AI-generated devotion, tailored to mood, schedule, and spiritual preferences. Faith is self-curated and algorithmically optimized: comforting, unchallenging, and free from the messiness of community. In a world shaped by digital companions, where social anxiety, digital fatigue, and mistrust make solitude feel easier than belonging, church feels optional… even burdensome.
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This is a glimpse of a possible future. A world shaped by self-curated spirituality, AI, personalization, emotional fatigue, and institutional mistrust. It’s not a prediction, but a scenario grounded in real , evidence-based signals of change identified by the Futuring Hub for Theo-Futures Research. While entirely plausible, I don’t think this is a desirable future. It reflects a future where formation is shallow, isolated, and detached from community and relationships. Recognizing the possibility of this future should cause Christian leaders to pause and consider the need for us to grow in wisdom, sensitivity, and awareness of possible futures. Only then can we discern what faithfulness might look like in the face of such disruption.
At the heart of this specific scenario is not technology, but spiritual formation. These signals of change press us to ask: who is shaping us, into what image are we being formed, and for whose sake?
Spiritual formation is the foundation for Christian life and practice. Robert Mulholland describes it as “a process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others.” Henri Nouwen frames it as a lifelong movement from illusion toward a prayerful and honest life with God. At its heart, formation is the Spirit-led transformation of persons and communities shaped by Scripture, spiritual practices, and (whether we like it or not) the world we live in.
In an age of the attention economy and algorithmic authority, spiritual formation cannot afford to remain static. Signals of change such as hyper-individualized faith, increased mental health challenges, and deep generational and cultural shifts are already reshaping how people experience discipleship. Formation can no longer be assumed through attendance or programmatic models alone, it must be reimagined as intentional, embodied, relational, and adaptive.
This is where theo-futures thinking offers a meaningful path forward. It is not about prediction, but instead theo-futures thinking is a form of theological inquiry that holds together cultural analysis and spiritual discernment. It helps Christian leaders recognize emerging realities, imagine possible futures, and prayerfully discern how to respond with integrity and hope.
So what might formation look like in that future world?
Now imagine: In smart homes and semi-public gathering spaces reclaimed from disused malls and modular greenhouses, small diverse, intergenerational communities form spiritual ecosystems. Fluid, decentralized, and deeply intentional. Often offline, often awkward, but deeply present. They eat, pray, listen, and fumble toward Christ together, resisting the pull of curated lives and frictionless AI companions. In a world optimized for comfort, formation reclaims discomfort as sacred learning to sit with doubt, difference, and silence. It is deliberately slow, rooted in ancient practices and communal rhythms that help people hold on to what it means to be human: to be known, to be changed, and to belong.
There is no single future of formation; this is just one of many possibilities. The futures-oriented question we need to ask is not simply how to maintain our structures and programs, but how to best nurture lives shaped by the love of Christ amid disruption and change. The good news is that the Church has always adapted, from desert fathers to house churches to the Chinese underground church. Our moment is no different.
By paying attention to the signals of today and responding with intentional, prophetic imagination, we can shape communities of formation that are faithful, resilient, and active.
Dr. Joel Murphy (’13) is the Director of Futures Research and Director of the Andrew D. MacRae Centre for Christian Faith and Culture at Acadia Divinity College.
