About This Cohort
"(An education)…that aims toward a new reality of affection and learning, a learning of God’s ways with other peoples, a learning of God’s love for people we did not believe we could love and be loved by." – Willie James Jennings, After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging
The culture wars of our time fracture and polarize society and the church. How might these challenges offer an opportunity to rediscover, deepen, and widen our understanding of the Gospel? Framed by the writings of Dr. Willie James Jennings, this cohort seeks to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in reimagining a “new reality in belonging”—how we belong to each other, to God, and to ourselves.
This cohort will study and practice spiritual direction as both a formal discipline and a way toward restorative, racial justice. We will explore how contemplative listening and justice work together for the sake of becoming, in the language of St. Irenaeus, “human beings fully alive.”
Together, we will consider how soul care is an act of justice as well as how contemplation can help activism become not just sustainable, but creative and subversively hopeful.
This cohort is open to those seeking formation in spiritual direction, a sustaining spiritual practice for justice work, or a call to rediscover their ministry. While our study and practice will be communal, you will have ample space to discern how your learning nourishes and clarifies your unique integration of contemplation and justice.
