The Upper Room Center for Christian Spiritual Formation is in partnership with MediaCom Australia in exploring how to reach those who define themselves as spiritual but have no ties to a particular church, denomination, or religious institution. We’ve named our partnership The Affinity Project, and it is primarily a research initiative. The Upper Room and MediaCom have a long history of partnership around the daily devotional guide and book publishing. The Affinity Project focuses intently on the future. How do we as publishers listen to and reach out to those who have strong faith but have disaffiliated from the institutional church? The Affinity Project seeks to respond to three particular questions. 

• How do we serve the spiritual formation needs of a post-Christian church? 
• How is faith born among non-church Christians? 
• What community life and formational leadership will serve post-Church Christians? 

We’re tending to these questions through the work of Rev. Dr. Ian Price, Sharonne Price, and Rev. Jenny Tymms. Ian is the former CEO of MediaCom Australia and is a minister in the Uniting Church in Australia. Sharonne has years of experience overseeing ministers, chaplains, and congregations and has spent 25 years in palliative care and hospital chaplaincy. Jenny is a writer and Minister in the Uniting Church of Australia who seeks to integrate contemplative practices into the active working day. The Uniting Church in Australia and the publishers that support these Uniting congregations are in the throes of a culture shift that offers a vision for the future of the church in the U.S. Through a series of retreats and intentional conversations over the course of 2019, Ian, Sharonne, and Jenny will glean insight and information from the populations they serve and in turn share that insight with our Upper Room staff. If you are curious about the future of the church and want to learn more, we welcome you to follow the work of The Affinity Project.