FAQs

Integral Christian Network is an online, global community embodying an evolutionary approach to Christian spirituality that is based in authentic connection and dedicated mystical practice.

We exist to support an integral and mystical approach to living out Christian spirituality, working to evolve into more complex and inclusive forms that better serve the world and one another. 

We gather together people from around the world in WeSpace to practice embodied mysticism, find like-hearted community, and grow in our holistic consciousness. In this way, we are building a mystical community from which a broader network might emerge, a network that works together to cocreate new and better forms and methods that might serve the evolution of Christianity and broader spirituality.

Learn more about who we are here

"Gathering a global community of dedicated mystical practitioners for the loving evolution of Christianity and the world."

Because spirituality and evolution are not solo endeavors. However, those of us who continue on the path of growth often find ourselves lonely within the landscapes of church options and local communities. Where are the others seeking—and being a part of bringing forth—a deeper spectrum of Christian love and expression? Hopefully, here. 

This community is a space of connection, support, and collaboration. We call it “WeCreating” amidst and from the Beloved Community. 

We hope that you might find meaningful relationships with like-hearted spiritual companions. We hope that you might find affirmation and loving support, encouraging you in your ongoing journey. We hope that you might find collaborators and co-creators who share a common vision and want to be a part of bringing forth greater love and evolution in the world.

Online forums, social media groups, and educational opportunities abound, but real growth happens through the application of these ideas in our lives, and through dedicated practice together and within a community of presence and devotion. 

For many, this has often been difficult to find. Now, we hope, no longer.

Learn more about joining here

“The only love which brings true happiness is that which is expressed in a spiritual progress effected in common.” —Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

This network is a fully inclusive community. We welcome people of all identities and self-definitions. As of now, we are primarily existing in the English-speaking world, although we are also affiliated with a German-speaking Integral Christian platform and have participants from over 30 different countries.

You are also invited to join our free online community page, The Mystical Garden. You can request an email with an invite link here. <link to email form>

“We cannot reach our own ultimate without emerging from ourselves by uniting ourselves with others, in such a way as to develop through this union an added measure of consciousness.” — Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

No. Our common core at the heart of what we do is coming from the Christian tradition—but an integrally-informed, evolving expression. This gives us a commonality of language and story as we share in experiencing the Divine. People who do not claim the title “Christian” are very much welcome in this network, as we are inclusive and welcoming of a variety of conceptions, experiences, and understandings of the divine and how we live out our spirituality. 

We hope to be a part of the loving evolution of the Christian tradition, helping to bring it forth further into greater love and inclusivity. But all are welcome connect in the variety of ways we gather and practice together. 

Our expression of Christian spirituality is born out of the loving companionship, transforming wisdom, and guiding presence of Jesus—as well as other forms of the divine. Our communion is not separated by boundaries, but united in the heart of love and holistic, incarnational spiritual growth and development. 

“We don’t need a new religion — just a more evolved version of our old one!” —Ken Wilber

Learn more about our approach to Christianity as one of our living lineages

No. ICN is a community without creed, doctrine, or dogma. 

Rather than gathering around perspectives, viewpoints, and “being on the same page” in terms of specific beliefs, we seek to gather around the heart of Christ, the spirit of love, the way of Jesus as we all understand it imperfectly and incompletely. 

Of course, we do have shared “generalizing orientations,” as expressed by our values, our practices, our stories, and the living embodiment of a community made up of people with different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences.  

We are an evolving community, and as such, our understandings will evolve over time as well. We seek to share in this evolution together in ways that are increasingly more inclusive, more embodied, and more loving in ways that are generative and supportive to ourselves, one another, and the world.

Learn more about how our approach to gathering around being an embodied expression of the beloved community, the body of Christ, serves as a core foundation for us.

“In simpler terms, a growing number of our contemporaries want to be religious, believers, and also Christian, but without the ‘contaminations’ they feel have been added to those words. They aspire to rediscover roots in order to grow in a soil that has not been spoiled by either the compost of ancient times, the grafts of the Middle Ages, the pesticides of the modern age, or the radiation of postmodernity.” — Raimon Panikkar

ICN is intentional and dedicated to being an “evolving” expression of mystical, integral Christianity, which means that we embrace processes of deconstruction and reconstruction in understanding our beliefs, our practices, and 

Or, another way to put that, is that we must go through necessary differentiations in our evolving faith journeys—stepping out of what once was and what no longer serves us. And, then we are ready and when the time is ripe, we also must do the wholeness work of reintegration. Differentiation and reintegration.

For example, one way that we as a community have explicitly differentiated and reintegrated (and still do so regularly) can be seen in this article excerpt:

Today, we need to expressly emphasize the feminine—especially in an evolving Christianity—because of the great imbalance and oppression that has been ongoing for centuries. Only with this rebalancing and healthy integration can we inhabit a holistic divine being, a Christ consciousness that is incarnated through matter in particular forms. 

ICN embraces and celebrates the Divine Feminine

And we also recognize and honor the feminine and masculine in both male and female forms, across the spectrum and beyond. While most often linked and associated, the energies and qualities of the feminine and masculine are not the same as nor bound to biological sex and gender identity. 

We acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers, that we are all in the process of evolving, and that we each and all have shadows, allergies, aversions, and addictions in various ways that limit our seeing and our understanding. This is why we need one another—and need the commitment to continue in our growth, evolution, and healing. And to do it together. 

Learn more about ongoing processes of evolving Christianity by reading part one of Paul Smith’s eight part series, “Moving from Toxic Beliefs to Transforming Ones”

“You have heard it said … but I say to you . . .” — Jesus

In short, “integral” means to be integrative. To hold together all of the parts that make up the whole. Bringing together all that is essential to arrive at completion.  

We also use this word to convey that something is really important, something indispensable and vital. That which is necessary for the completeness of the whole. Although it’s up to you if that definition applies! 

On another level, the word “integral” also points to an arena of philosophical/spiritual/psychological understanding that brings together an evolutionary approach to reality and consciousness, integrated with ancient spiritual wisdom. 

Jean Gebser and Sri Aurobindo are the two main initiators of the tradition, with Ken Wilber coming along later and popularizing it with his own perspective on “Integral Theory.” And then our co-founder Paul Smith wrote the book, Integral Christianity, applying it directly to the state of Christianity, the church, and individual Christians today. He described so many of the current dynamics through the understanding of stages, states, standpoints, shadow, and steps. It’s well worth the read if you haven’t before!

Click here to learn more about how we see what it means to be integral

“The new mutation of consciousness . . . receives its decisive stamp from the manifest perceptual emergence of the spiritual. . . . the coalescence of the spiritual with our consciousness.” – Jean Gebser

The word mysticism is generally understood to represent the direct experience of union or communion with God, the Divine, Ultimate Reality, Source, or Mystery. The word connotes mystery and an immediacy that does not require intermediaries, approval of the authorities, or earning the keys to the locks of gatekept religious systems.

For us, mysticism is the holistic experience of all reality. The totality of life itself, experienced fully in embodied participation and ever-unfolding consciousness.

In ICN,

We practice embodied mysticism because we believe spirit is intermingled with our bodies. That we are incarnated divine beings, not disembodied spirits. And that for too long many of us have been disassociated from ourselves, trapped solely in our heads, longing to return home, to integrate our whole being.

We practice relational mysticism because we believe that we are not ultimately separate from one another, from God, and from the whole of reality. That we are deeply connected to one another. And that the taint of individualism has pervaded our spirituality and left us siloed off, longing for the spiritual intimacy that is our deeper way of love. 

We practice generative mysticism because we believe that we are co-creators with God. That we participate in the loving evolution of Christianity and the world. And that mysticism is not about “having experiences” or getting spiritual highs, but about actively being part of the work of an emergent, transformation of consciousness, individual and collective, bringing forth what the world so desperately needs. We call this “WeCreating.”

Christianity began in a blaze of mystical experiences, and we continue in the tradition of the living experience of God being accessible, present, and readily available for us to engage in a variety of ways—our calling as “participants in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). 

Learn more about how “the mystical” is one of our living lineages.

“Mysticism is at the heart of created life.”  — Ilia Delio

“WeSpace” is a term for a movement of spiritual practice that goes from only dwelling in the solo space within or perhaps in the transcendent beyond, to include and focus on the conscious participation in space among us. It is the experience of our “shared interiors,” the reality of our not-separateness engaged with directly in the immediacy of shared, relational communion. 

Or in other words, going from “me” to “We” in our spiritual experience.

A WeSpace group is a collective community of practice focused on participating in this way together, which supports growth, healing, and transformation through the intersubjective energy and love in our midst. 

To learn more about “WeSpace,” click here

“Two or more together with spiritual purpose and awakened consciousness elevates the level and intensity of the experience of God’s presence.” —Paul Smith

Many on the spiritual journey today have neglected or lost both the WeSpace with God and/or Jesus and other spiritual guides – and also intimate connections with others on the same journey. 

The “IT” Space of reflection on ideas and mental content has often taken over, along with “I” Space of inner practice and meditation work (often a solo affair). This may seem safer, but it is also lonelier. And it leaves out the vital spiritual need for belonging and connection on the level of our hearts and souls.

WeSpace practice includes holistic engagement with each of the 3 faces of God in infinite, intimate, and incarnate connection. Together, we share in the mystical presence of awakened consciousness with one another in ways that encourage and expand everyone’s journey.

For a fuller description of our foundational WeSpace practice in group settings, click here.

“To not just be alone with God together—but to be together with God together—this actually increases our own inner capacity of consciousness, growth, and love.” — Luke Healy

Spiritual “practice” is any repeatable method we engage in order to grow, open up, and evolve further in our experience of God, our connection to life, our evolution of consciousness. 

There are many forms of prayer and meditation that aid us in this way, from a variety of lineages, though many of these were developed in monastic settings and with particular spiritual aims of past times and specific traditions.

 ICN’s practices are designed for people who are living in the world and are seeking to become more loving, more present, and more whole. To be more present to God in all aspects of our lives.

In ICN, we are committed to being dedicated mystical practitioners because that is how we develop, grow, and evolve in our spirituality. And these evolutions in turn lead to the capacity for us to participate more wholly, fully, and with greater capacity in being WeCreators of the spirit’s call to evolve in ourselves, one another, and the world. 

Learn more about our practices here.

“Creativity itself is what is evolving in the cosmos, and we are at the growing edge as the Trinitarian Life Cycle moves from Transcendent to Incarnate to Realized. We are in a position to realize ourselves as incarnate divine creativity.” — Beatrice Bruteau

Whole-Body Mystical Awakening is a unique, integrated practice that is personal, communal, and cosmic all at the same time. It incorporates a wider range of holistic reality than most practices, embracing our incarnated embodiment, our connections to the personal presence of God, and our capacity for greater awareness of living spirituality in our day-to-day experience. It recognizes Christ as the Christian symbol for all of reality— divine, human, and material — in seamless oneness.

WBMA is a meditative prayer practice that is designed specifically to expand and integrate our very capacity of awareness and conscious experience of spiritual knowing—a holistic opening, deepening, and expanding of our divine participation in embodied, relational, and inspiring ways! 

Learn more about the four centers of our embodied mysticism here.

“Mystical knowledge is not the work of the imagination but the fruit of experience; it is not invented but rather lived; not read, but received.” —Raimon Panikkar

ICN is different than many meditation groups and contemplative communities in that we fully welcome and embrace the mystical in our practice. Rather than something to fear, deny, or shy away from, we believe the dynamic reality of God can and needs to be experienced more wholly in our lives, in our bodies, in our relationships.  

Silence and speech, form and formless, mystery and revelation are all dynamics to embrace and integrate in our spiritual process, rather than overly preferencing one or the other. That is being “integral” in our approach to contemplation, prayer, and spiritual practice together.

We also are different because we actively embrace and engage in the relational dynamism experienced in the space among us—not just in reflection after practice, but in the lived and shared experience of the divine together.  

This is moving from “being alone with God together,” to embracing “being together with God together.” The focus of the energy field of our gatherings is palpable with the shared energy and divine presence. God is here in our midst, not just only inside us, beyond us, or outside us.

Discover more of the unique invitation we offer in ICN and join today

“This is not praying to God to touch another, this is praying from god to touch one another and the world. It is the divine center in you that is doing the touching!” - Paul Smith

One of the best ways we invite you to learn more is to have a conversation with someone in ICN. We are a relational community, and connecting in the shared heart of WeSpace is the best way to get a taste who we are and what we do—and in conversation with what you are bringing and contributing to this community.

We have a few “ICN Welcoming Guides” are available to connect and have a conversation to support you in any way in learning about ICN and how you might want to step in more.  

To request a conversation, you can click here to be connected via email.

You can also learn more about joining in general and survey available ways to get involved