Letter from the President and CEO February 2026

Dear Reader,

Greetings and happy February. For those who live in the United States, I hope you made it through last week’s winter storm with minimal disruption and stayed warm and safe.

2026 has just begun, and yet there is much to celebrate at the Institute. From the upcoming Conference on Medicine and Religion and Collective Soul Symposium to a new cohort of Rice University Medical Humanities Research Practicum students to the first Interfaith Spiritual Care Coalition training of the year to ongoing activities in Central Texas as we continue our psychosocial response to the devastating floods, there is no shortage of exciting things ahead.

Recently, I had the opportunity to deliver a training to the staff of the Meadow Mental Health Policy Institute’s Trauma & Grief Center. The Institute provided an overview of frameworks and best practices for working at the intersection of spirituality and health to support them as they deepen their work with faith communities. I thought that for my February letter, I would describe a teaching from that training that may be particularly helpful as we collectively navigate a cultural moment that feels increasingly polarized and disorienting.

At the very core of our work to foster a sense of togetherness rather than separateness among human beings is the practice of dialogue. Any human system atrophies without dialogue, and there are frameworks that can help make dialogue generative rather than unproductive or, even worse, counterproductive. One such framework names five types of dialogue, which are as follows:

  • Informational: Learning facts about the other person’s worldview (e.g., “Christians believe _______.”)

  • Confessional: Hearing personal testimony from the other person. (e.g., “As a Christian, my experience of faith is _______.”)

  • Experiential: Sharing rituals and feelings. (e.g., “I invite you to come to a service with me next Sunday, so you can hear the music for yourself.”) 

  • Relational: Building personal bonds and friendships. (e.g., “Before we continue talking about our faith traditions, how is your family?”)

  • Practical: Collaborating on common goals. (e.g., “Now that we know about each other more deeply, let’s work on something together.” 

As you can see, this framework may apply to dialogue in any relationship, including with family members, colleagues, and friends. The subject of the dialogue may be anything – politics, business, religion, family relationships, or something else. I find that, while one can start with any type of dialogue, it really helps to start at the top and work through the levels, from informational to practical. This helps foster trust among the dialogue partners.

So, ask yourself: Who are you having trouble dialoguing with? How might you use this framework to foster a sense of togetherness and mutual understanding with them, so that you may work more effectively towards a better world?

Warmly,

Stuart

 

Stuart C. Nelson
President & CEO
Loise Henderson Wessendorff Chair

Joanna Martin