Welcome to innoFaith

There's a moment from my theoretically successful but short-lived piano-playing phase in my youth that I will never forget.  At a lesson one day, my piano teacher, Mrs. K, took away the music sheets and told me to just play something of my own. I can't remember if she articulated it quite this way, but in my memory, she effectively told me to compose something on the spot. I held my hands over the keyboard for what felt like an eternity of silence. I froze. I was terrified to play even a single note. Mrs. K finally relieved me of the embarrassment, and we went back to our usual lessons.

Meet Dr. Sherry Molock, creator of HAVEN-Connect, an initiative to engage Black churches to help prevent suicide among Black youth. As a pastor and a psychologist, Dr. Molock understands both the challenges and potential of the church as a player in the mental health arena. She decided to help churches overcome stigma around mental health to become part of the solution to the crisis. Dr. Molock lives in the Washington, DC, area where she teaches at George Washington University, and her pilot initiative with Black churches is currently running with twelve churches in the state of New York.

Something quietly powerful is happening at the intersection of two forces that have long been kept in separate rooms: mental health care and faith. For decades, the relationship between clergy and clinicians was marked more by suspicion than collaboration — the pulpit on one side, the therapist's office on the other. But that wall is coming down.

Meet Jonathan Walton, poet, writer, speaker, and facilitator who is not afraid to say hard things and to challenge people, while also supporting them to be their best selves. Jonathan, who lives in Queens, NY, with his wife and daughters, is a generative creator in pursuit of a more just world. Among other things, he is the co-founder of the Center for Beauty and Resistance, which supports the wholeness of leaders and activists, and author of six books, including Twelve Lies that Hold America Captive, and Beauty and Resistance: Spiritual Rhythms for Formation and Repair.

As congregations and social impact organizations, we often sell ourselves short by describing our impact only in terms of easily quantifiable metrics, such as the number of people we reach or events we host. We should take pride in those numbers, but then we should ask, “so, what?” It’s great that people show up, but what does that actually mean? A congregation's value to the community isn’t measured by worship attendance, and a social impact organization's value isn’t just how many people its services reach. We create real value for our communities, and learning to articulate why our work matters helps grow support. 

Meet Sara Luria, rabbi, community builder, and Executive Director of Beloved, a fiscal sponsorship and community hub for spiritual innovators. Sara, who is based in Western Massachusetts, brings to her work a deep appreciation of her Jewish identity and community, and a conviction that we are living in a generative in-between time that calls for experimentation.

We’re thrilled to share this essay by innoFaith founder, Danielle Goldstone, published in Duke Divinity’s Faith & Leadership. In it, she shares an insight emerging from the 2024-25 Mapping Spiritual Innovation Project in which innoFaith was a collaborator: Spiritual innovators and legacy religious institutions both have important roles to play in supporting the flourishing of our communities, so let’s design thriving local spiritual ecosystems that empower all spiritual stakeholders in a place to bring their gifts into collaboration for the good of all.

Meet Dr. Fallon Wilson, public interest technologist and digital inclusion leader and innovator. Fallon is Executive Director and Founder of the BlackTechFutures Research Institute, as well as Vice President at the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council, a civil rights public interest tech organization. Fallon, who lives in Virginia, just outside of Washington, DC, leads at the forefront of the digital equity movement, driving research and advocating for policies that support digital infrastructure for Black people and building opportunities for Black people to excel in the emerging tech democracy.

Wherever we sit or stand—in a pew or behind a pulpit, in a policy meeting or at a community action, behind a screen or in front of a classroom—AI is raising questions that matter to all of us. And some of the most thoughtful responses are coming from places you might not expect.

Meet Daniel Pryfogle, Cofounder and CEO of Sympara, which helps communities reimagine underutilized religious properties for social impact. Daniel has been at the forefront of a movement of sacred/civic placemaking that re-envisions sacred spaces as civic spaces, transforming the tangible real property of religious institutions into assets for the broader communities where those institutions sit. With deep grounding in spiritual discernment, Daniel helps faith communities look outward, engaging with the people and organizations beyond their doors, to see and seize opportunity to help their neighborhoods and cities thrive.