Thinking FaithAssociates
You’re invited to join a community of people
learning to follow Christ in every sphere of life.
Connect, learn, and grow with others as we explore
how the Christian Faith can transform the world.
THE GAP
The Bible presents a vision that encompasses the whole of creation. Jesus Christ is Lord not only of the Church but of all God’s world: he created it, he sustains it, and he will ultimately renew it. His authority extends over every area of life, and his wisdom speaks into every sphere of human activity. The Christian faith, therefore, offers more than a set of religious practices. It provides a way of understanding reality itself and a framework for living faithfully within God’s world.
Many Christians recognise this instinctively. They want their faith to shape not only what they do on Sundays, but also how they work, learn, create, raise families, serve their communities and contribute to society. Yet often they haven’t been given opportunities to explore these connections in depth. The result is a gap between Sunday and Monday, between what is confessed in church and what is lived out in everyday life. Thinking Faith Associates are helping bridge that gap.
THE VISION
Becoming a Thinking Faith Network Associate is an opportunity to grow in your Christian discipleship across all of life. You will get access to resources, mentoring, and become part of a community of people who are excited about how imaginative Christian thinking, rooted in the beautiful complexity of God’s world, can transform and enrich every part of human life.
Thinking Faith Network is an organisation for Christians who are convinced that the Bible does not divide the world into sacred and secular compartments. Rather, Christian wisdom reveals a God who created all things, sustains all things and is bringing all things under the gracious rule of Jesus Christ. So our discipleship cannot be limited to personal spirituality alone – it also includes how we think about our work, studies, families, communities, and the wider culture around us. Thinking Faith Network has been inspired and equipped by the Reformational philosophy represented by Dutch thinkers like Abraham Kuyper, a tradition of thinking and action based on this Biblical, holistic understanding of God’s world.
For more than forty years, we have been helping people to apply this Biblical worldview to their everyday lives, their work, and their approach to talking to others about the Gospel. At the core of our mission is the idea that there is Christian wisdom to be found for every area of our lives, every kind of work, every aspect of our cultures and communities, an idea captured in our vision statement: ‘Faith in All of Life’.
What does it mean to be an associate?
LEARN
Access books and other resources to help deepen your thinking.
CONNECT
Be part of a community and meet regularly with a mentor.
CONTRIBUTE
Create reflections and resources that encourage others in their faith.
THE NETWORK
Being a Thinking Faith Network Associate is meant to provide you with motivation and resources to learn and grow by digging deeper into what it means that Christ is Lord over your whole life – whether you’re a teacher, a business owner, a scientist or engineer, an artist, a parent or carer, or however you spend your days! It’s not a formal programme, and it can be shaped to fit the time and priorities you have.
You will benefit from becoming an Associate if:
- You’re excited about this vision of God’s interconnected, diverse, complicated world and how it relates to your life and faith.
- You’re interested in putting aside some regular time to deepen your thinking about what it means to be a Christian in your particular context.
- You’re willing to contribute reflections on what you’re learning to benefit others in the Network.
- You’re willing to meet regularly with a mentor.
As an active Associate, you’ll be eligible for small grants towards books or other learning resources. You’ll get a starter pack of resources from us, tailored to your choice of one of Thinking Faith Network’s three streams
LifeMatters explores how a holistic Christian perspective can inform and inspire work to enrich all kinds of workplaces and professions, and what Christians have to offer to big issues of culture, ethics, and public life. It aims to broaden our horizons about what God’s Spirit is doing in the world and how we can be involved.
RealityBites focuses on helping Christians understand and communicate the good news of Jesus as Lord in a culture shaped by competing worldviews. It aims to help believers recognise the idols that shape modern lifestyles and do evangelism in a fresh, life-affirming way.
Faith-in-Scholarship encourages Christian reflection within education, research and academic disciplines. It seeks to support those who are exploring how God’s wisdom relates to scholarship, intellectual life and the pursuit of knowledge – at all levels, from students and bloggers to lecturers and professors.
We will link you up with a mentor within our network. Then you’ll have the opportunity to meet regularly with them over a year, developing a plan for what you want to learn about or think through. At the end of the year, we invite you to produce a reflection – a blog post or short video, for example – that can bless others and become part of our growing bank of resources at Thinking Faith Network.
And it’s not just for one year: you can remain an Associate at a basic level, or continue your active learning and maintain access to grants and support.
You’ll have a profile on our website and access to our directory of Associates. You will be invited to join other events and initiatives of Thinking Faith Network, such as our monthly Iron Sharpens Iron online gatherings. We also plan to organise an in-person gathering of Associates each year.
This is a pilot scheme, and we hope that some of those who get involved as Associates will in future become Mentor Associates, as we aim to ‘encourage one another and build each other up’ (1 Thessalonians 5:11), becoming people who think more biblically, engage with others more graciously, and live out our faith more confidently in each sphere of life.
There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: “Mine!” – Abraham Kuyper
Choose your stream
Explore how a holistic Christian perspective can inform and inspire public work and life.
Find out more →
Helping Christians understand and communicate the Good News in a culture shaped by competing worldviews.
Find out more →
Encouraging Christian reflection in education, research and academic disciplines at all levels.
Find out more →
Your Associate journey
START
Receive your starter resources and be paired with a mentor.
EXPLORE
Follow a personal learning plan to grow in your understanding.
SHARE
Produce a reflection to bless others and build our shared resources.
Associate levels & benefits
FRIEND
Anytime.
Web profile.
On general mailing list.
ASSOCIATE
(First year)
Mentor connection.
Apply for small reading grants.
Access resources and events.
EXPERIENCED ASSOCIATE
(Second year)
Apply for larger grants.
Continued support.
Access further resources and events.
MENTOR / FELLOW
(By mutual agreement)
Mentor others.
Business card.
Special networking opportunities.
Contribute to the work of TFN.
READY TO EXPLORE?
We’d love to hear from you. Take the next step and express your interest in becoming an Associate. This is not a formal commitment or an automatic acceptance into the programme. Completing this form simply lets us know you’re interested, so we can begin the process of considering your application.
FAQs
No, this is a free scheme. We’re very grateful to our donors who are making it possible for us to launch this new initiative, and we always welcome one-off or regular donations: see here for more details.
The grants are intended to pay for resources – books or other types, like online courses – that you can use as part of a personalised learning plan in discussion with your mentor. We have a list of pre-approved recommendations that you can choose from, or you can request a specific resource for approval.
No. We assume that you are keen to think deeply, openly and prayerfully about your callings in the light of orthodox Christian faith and the established creeds of the Church, but we don’t require formal assent to a particular statement.
Yes! Our pilot scheme has limited capacity, but soon we hope to welcome larger numbers of Associates.
Being an Associate need not add much to your schedule, and we hope that the time invested in mentoring meetings, reading and creating resources will soon bring rewards in your own day-to-day projects. Nevertheless, you can at any time move to the “Friend” level (no commitments), or withdraw from the scheme altogether. Simply let us know.