JoshuaShepherd TAM Blind Spots: Find What Network Mapping Misses
Network mapping (co-authorship, conferences, podcasts, org rosters) is excellent at finding the structural core of the movement ecosystem. But it systematically underrepresents five clusters of people who embody movemental DNA without circulating in the Forge/5Q/Exponential network:
- Soul care / formation practitioners — therapists, spiritual directors, emotional health leaders
- Justice / reconciliation voices — CCDA, urban ministry, racial justice, community development
- Worship / liturgy practitioners — worship theologians, liturgical renewal, sacred arts
- Academic theologians — scholars whose frameworks shape the conversation without being practitioners
- Marketplace / social entrepreneurship — faith-and-work, BAM, vocational stewardship
This skill searches these specific blind-spot domains for people with movemental DNA.
Invocation
/tam-blind-spots $ARGUMENTS
Arguments:
- A domain to search, or no args for a full sweep. Examples:
/tam-blind-spots soul care— search the soul care / formation domain/tam-blind-spots justice— search justice / reconciliation / CCDA/tam-blind-spots worship— search worship / liturgy/tam-blind-spots academic— search academic theologians/tam-blind-spots marketplace— search faith-and-work / social entrepreneurship/tam-blind-spots(no args) — sweep all five domains
Before Starting
- Read the current alphabetized TAM at
intelligence/leader-research/tam-search/09-PLAUSIBLE-TAM-ALPHABETIZED.mdto know who is already included - Read the master list at
intelligence/leader-research/tam-search/01-MASTER-RANKED-LIST.mdto cross-check existing candidates - Read the content search strategy at
intelligence/leader-research/tam-search/05-CONTENT-SEARCH-STRATEGY.mdfor keyword clusters
The Movemental DNA Test
These candidates will NOT appear in Forge/5Q/Exponential networks. The inclusion question is different:
Does this person's work embody movemental orientation even though they don't use movement vocabulary?
Signals of movemental DNA in non-movement people:
| Signal | What It Looks Like |
|---|---|
| Formation over information | Their approach to growth is practice-based, embodied, relational — not lecture/content delivery |
| Multiplication over accumulation | They train trainers, create practitioners who create practitioners |
| Community over individual | Their work assumes communal context, not isolated self-help |
| Incarnational over institutional | They emphasize presence, proximity, everyday practice |
| Prophetic over safe | Their work challenges status quo, disrupts comfortable patterns |
| Kingdom over church | Their vision extends beyond Sunday/institutional church to all of life |
A person can score high on these signals while never using words like "missional," "APEST," or "movement."
Domain-Specific Search Strategies
Domain 1: Soul Care / Formation
Why network mapping misses them: They circulate in therapy/counseling conferences, spiritual direction networks, and formation retreats — not Exponential or Forge.
Search vectors:
- Transforming Center network (Ruth Haley Barton) — faculty, contributors, cohort leaders
- The Allender Center (Dan Allender) — training faculty, story work practitioners
- Emotionally Healthy Spirituality/Discipleship network (Pete Scazzero) — certified trainers, key leaders
- Soul Care conferences and organizations
- Spiritual Directors International — Christian practitioners with published work
- Search:
"soul care" Christian author practitioner leader - Search:
"spiritual formation" director author embodied - Search:
"emotional health" Christian leader author - Search:
"contemplative" practitioner author "kingdom" OR "mission" - Search:
"trauma" "spiritual formation" Christian author - Search:
"neuroscience" "spiritual formation" OR "discipleship" Christian
Cross-reference: Check if candidates have been endorsed by or have endorsed anyone on the existing TAM.
Domain 2: Justice / Reconciliation
Why network mapping misses them: They circulate in CCDA, urban ministry networks, and racial justice conferences — structurally separate from Forge/Exponential.
Search vectors:
- CCDA (Christian Community Development Association) — board, speakers, authors
- Duke Divinity Center for Reconciliation — fellows, contributors
- Missio Alliance justice track contributors
- Christian social justice conferences and organizations
- Search:
"Christian community development" author leader practitioner - Search:
CCDA speaker author leader - Search:
"racial reconciliation" Christian author practitioner - Search:
"incarnational" "justice" Christian author leader - Search:
"beloved community" Christian practitioner - Search:
"place-based" ministry Christian author - Search:
"shalom" justice author practitioner Christian
Key question: Does this justice practitioner's work assume an incarnational, community-rooted, kingdom-oriented frame? Or is it purely political/activist?
Domain 3: Worship / Liturgy
Why network mapping misses them: They circulate in worship conferences (Worship Leader Magazine events, Calvin Symposium on Worship), liturgical renewal networks, and denominational worship commissions.
Search vectors:
- Calvin Symposium on Worship speakers
- Worship Leader Magazine contributors
- Ancient-future worship leaders and authors
- Search:
"liturgical mission" OR "formative worship" author practitioner - Search:
"worship theology" Christian author leader - Search:
"ancient-future" worship leader author - Search:
"embodied worship" theologian practitioner - Search:
"participatory worship" leader author - Search:
"worship" "formation" "kingdom" author
Key question: Does this worship leader see worship as formative mission (sending people out differently) or purely as aesthetic/performance?
Domain 4: Academic Theology
Why network mapping misses them: They publish in journals and academic presses, not movement publishers. They speak at AAR/SBL, not Exponential.
Search vectors:
- Northern Seminary faculty (McKnight, Fitch home base)
- Fuller Seminary missiology/practical theology faculty
- Duke Divinity School practical theology faculty
- Missio Alliance academic contributors
- Gospel and Our Culture Network scholars
- Search:
"missional ecclesiology" professor author - Search:
"kingdom" theology professor "formation" OR "mission" author - Search:
"post-Christendom" theologian author - Search:
"faithful presence" theologian professor
Key question: Does this scholar's work get read and applied by practitioners? Academic influence without practitioner uptake is not movemental.
Domain 5: Marketplace / Social Entrepreneurship
Why network mapping misses them: They circulate in faith-and-work conferences, social enterprise networks, and business-as-mission communities.
Search vectors:
- Redeemer City to City Faith & Work network
- Nashville Institute for Faith and Work (Missy Wallace)
- Praxis (Andy Crouch) — fellows, ventures, contributors
- Theology of Work Project contributors
- Search:
"faith and work" Christian author leader practitioner - Search:
"business as mission" author leader - Search:
"vocational discipleship" author - Search:
"redemptive entrepreneurship" Christian - Search:
"kingdom" "marketplace" "calling" Christian author
Key question: Does this marketplace leader see vocation as mission (not just ethics), and does their work assume a communal/kingdom frame rather than individual success?
Phase 2: For Each Candidate Found
Capture:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Full Name | As published |
| Primary Domain | Soul care / justice / worship / academic / marketplace |
| Key Works | Books, frameworks, training programs |
| Movemental DNA Signals | Which of the 6 signals they exhibit (formation, multiplication, community, incarnational, prophetic, kingdom) |
| Cross-References | Any connections to existing TAM members (endorsements, shared conferences, citations) |
| Why Network Mapping Missed Them | Which separate network they circulate in |
Phase 3: Output
Add candidates to intelligence/leader-research/tam-search/09-PLAUSIBLE-TAM-ALPHABETIZED.md in the addendum section, organized by domain.
For each person, write a single paragraph following the same format as the main document: name in bold, one paragraph with who they are, what they've done, and the connection evidence.
Also append a search log to intelligence/leader-research/tam-search/06-SEARCH-LOG.md.
Key Rules
- The movemental DNA test is the inclusion standard, not network proximity. These people won't co-author with Hirsch. That's the point.
- Look for cross-references. The strongest blind-spot candidates are people who have been endorsed by OR have endorsed someone already on the TAM — they're one hop away but in a different network.
- Don't over-include. Not every Christian psychologist or worship leader has movemental DNA. The formation-over-information and multiplication-over-accumulation signals are the sharpest filters.
- Name the separate network. For each candidate, explain which conference/org/publisher they circulate in instead of Forge/Exponential. This builds institutional knowledge about adjacent ecosystems.
- Prioritize people with published books or named frameworks. A body of durable work is still essential — this skill doesn't lower the bar, it widens the search area.
- This skill exists because of a known structural gap. Document
08-MOVEMENT-LEADER-FIELD-MAP.mdSection 7, Pattern 7 identified that the "90% domain practitioners" thesis was untested. This skill is how you test it.