Programs

Key Elements of the Program

The fellowship year consists of two seasons, inviting us to explore two overarching themes: faith and justice. Each month, we focus on a topic that helps us delve deeper into a particular aspect of the theme. There are a variety of activities to support learning and conversation over the course of the year:

- monthly webinars*
- fireside chats*
- bi-weekly podcast
- curated readings
- mini lectures 
- embodied practices

Everyone is invited to contribute to the online discussions. Some participants are part of a cohort (learn more here). If you are interested in leading a cohort from your church or network, please contact us. 

*Activities marked with an asterisk are synchronous, and ideally participants would join at the scheduled time, though recordings will be available after the event as well. Please note that most other fellowship activities are asynchronous, meaning you can do them on your own at a flexible time that works best for you.

Starting Points

Who are we, and how did we get here? We’ll examine the places and times that have shaped our lives to see God at work in all of it. In doing this work, we’ll discover that a deeper understanding of our present moment helps us walk in the way of Jesus. 

Speaker: Kirsten Powers (Sat., Sept. 10, 10-11:30am PT; session will be recorded and available in the Media Library)
Book: Saving Grace: Speak Your Truth, Stay Centered, and Learn to Coexist with People Who Drive You Nuts

The Inward Journey

To avoid a navel-gazing spirituality will require not turning away from ourselves but looking more deeply into ourselves. We’ll learn about specific resources and practices that help us along the spiritual life: contemplative prayer, lectio divina, the Enneagram, and more. 

Speaker: Cole Arthur Riley (Sat., Oct. 8, 10-11:30am PT; session will be recorded and available in the Media Library)
Book: This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us
Optional Gathering: October 7-9 in Denver

The Long Journey

Following Jesus will take us places beyond our wildest imagination and require of us the spiritual practice of locating ourselves on a long historical trajectory. Taking stock of our past will prepare us to look to the future with hope. 

Speaker: Mark Noll (Sat., Nov. 12, 10-11:30am PT; session will be recorded and available in the Media Library)
Book: America's Book: The Rise and Decline of a Bible Civilization, 1794-1911

The Outward Journey

Just as there is breathing in and breathing out, the inward journey leads to the outward journey in the spiritual life. We’ll learn about how life with God moves us out toward the world by seeing once more how the good news of Christianity is good news for all people. 

Speaker: Lisa Sharon Harper (Sat., Dec. 10, 10-11:30am PT; session will be recorded and available in the Media Library)

The Future of Faith (Interim)

As we begin a new year, we'll spend the month thinking about five different shifts already happening in our community and the world. Neither a vision for the next generation nor even a roadmap for the next five or ten years, our goal will be more modest and much more important: As we step into tomorrow with faith, how can we find our way together? 

Optional Gathering, January 27-28, 2023. We'll gather in San Francisco for a 2-day public conference, focusing on the following questions: What if we thought of Christian faith not only as a tradition handed down to us but also as something we participate in building together? What if we saw faith as a communal craft, a dynamic and collaborative process making all things new, inviting us to creativity, beauty, community, diversity, rest, enjoyment, and much more? Join us to explore these questions! 

To learn more and to register, click here. 

Gender and Justice

Despite Jesus proclaiming good news for all people and including women in ways that were radical for his context, Christianity has too often served to perpetuate patriarchy and even misogyny. What is the relationship between Christian faith and gender, sexuality, and justice? How can Christian spirituality heal and restore what has been broken in the most intimate areas of our life?

Art and Justice

Because justice calls forth creativity in building a new, better world in ways that our intellects can hardly imagine today, artists can offer critical contributions. If the status quo seems permanent to some of us, artists among us have always known better. How do creatives deepen and widen our perspective on justice? We will learn from artists already doing the work of making new things. 

Justice in a Multi-Faith World

Jesus showed deep interest in building relationships with people who held different viewpoints of the world, not in eradicating their worldviews. How is learning about world Christianity (or Christianities) essential for the work of justice? What about inter-religious dialogue and relationships? What does translation, contextualization, and epistemological humility have to do with the call of Christian faith to share good news?

Biography, Storytelling, and Justice

Stories matter for the work of justice, and yet it’s a complicated matter to tell the stories of people who committed their lives to build a better world. How can we tell their stories without resorting to hagiography (writing about saints and heroes)? And how can we remember the complexities of people, including their inevitable blindspots and shortcomings, and still learn from those who have gone before us?