Category Archives: Past Programs and Art Exhibits

Coming Home: Writing from the Soul with Joyce Rupp & Mary Kay Shanley

Participants shared this enriching time and space with others who came to experience writing as an entrance to the deeper self, doing so in the context of creative reflection, song, and dialogue. There was time to relax, reflect, and develop y writing skills, plus the gift of relating to others equally intent on further discovery and celebration of their purpose and direction in life.
Joyce Rupp offered her extensive experience of spiritual growth through creative ritual and reflective conferences. Mary Kay Shanley brought her respected skills of teaching at the University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival and other national writing workshops to lead the group through inventive processes that develop and hone writing abilities.

Teaching Christian Meditation to Children & Youth

Children meditate together as naturally as they play together. Sitting together in meditation – where there is no competition, no judgment and no taking account of their background or their special needs – becomes a wonderful way of building community in the classroom.

This workshop covered the teaching and practice of Christian meditation and what makes it Christian.  We also delved into the practical ‘hows’ involved in teaching meditation to children & youth so that those participating feel equipped to introduce this practice in the classroom, religious education & Sunday school programs, congregations, at home, and beyond.  Practical tools and resources were provided.

Shall We Look for Another? Another Christ? Another Church? Winter/Spring 2014 Hedgerow

Perhaps Martin Luther is right. The scriptures can save us. For people disillusioned with institutional religion and disheartened by abuse scandals or disengaged by scientific discoveries, the scriptures offer a do-it-yourself option for staying reflective on how our lives individually and communally matter. Sacred texts originate in the human experience of the holy in our world, a presence still alive to us. The Gospels originate among Jesus’ men and women disciples and the communities of Christians that heard, told, and lived Jesus’ story.
We bring an expanding cosmos and evolving Earth community into dialogue with the 2000-year-old gospels. We experience contemporary issues that divide people—the women’s movement, GLBT, the economics of the 99%, hunger, healthcare, climate change, and education issues.

St. Brigid’s Day Celebrations with Pádraigín Clancy & Dennis Doyle

In the Footsteps of St. Brigid: Gaelic S/Hero & Holy Woman

The Feast of Brigid marks the start of the Celtic first day of spring. A primordial divine feminine, ancient as the hills and wells of Ireland, Brigid represents an enduring tradition.  Reflections, songs, prayers and stories helped us celebrate this central patron of Ireland and draw on her wisdom for our lives today.

In the Footsteps of Our Ancestors: Wisdom & Prayer from the Celtic Tradition

In the early years of the third millennium, there is a renewed turning towards Celtic spirituality—a thirst for a return to the well of Celtic wisdom. Participants celebrated a revitalization of our faith and spiritual wholeness through the Celtic tradition of journeying to the sacred holy well. We fed our intellects and souls on themes and stories of justice and healing and generosity and wisdom.

Irish Music & Dancing and Lots of Celtic Craic!

Musicians and KAIROS ALIVE! artists, in collaboration with Brigid McDonald, CSJ, and area high school students, will tell the story of “Brigid’s Coat” in story, dance, and music.

Etty: The Play

Esther “Etty” Hillesum was a young Dutch Jewish student living in Amsterdam during WWII. Etty’s diaries and letters from 1941 – 1943 describe life in Nazi-occupied Holland and Westerbork Transit Camp where she was interned. Etty Hillesum was 29 years old when she was murdered at Auschwitz/Birkenau.
Director Susan Stein brings us to 1943, when Etty, a young Jewish woman, is about to be deported out of Holland. Sharing the stage with a suitcase, Etty speaks to us as she tries to gain clarity and insight into her life as she prepares for her three-day journey to the east. She digs deep into her soul to understand this piece of history and root out any hatred or bitterness, believing that humanity is the best and only solution for survival.
She asks us to consider our own responsibility today, in a world where the promise of “never again” has not yet been realized. In her gentle yet forthright way, Etty asks us not to leave her at Auschwitz but to let her have a bit of say in what she hopes will be a new world.

“Writing to Wake the Soul” Reading & Book Signing

In her new book, Writing to Wake the Soul, writer, teacher and minister Karen Hering invites readers to awaken the “still, small voice within” through a spiritual practice of writing offered in many recent Wisdom Ways programs.
For those who wish to write, the book provides reflections on writing and spiritual practice and more than two hundred pages of meditations and writing prompts to launch or nurture your own practice at home. Other readers may enjoy the book as a guide for meditation on ten key words, including Faith, Prayer, Justice, Grace, Hospitality and Reverence.

Fall Soul Conference 2013

Featuring best-selling author Susan Griffin, climatologist Mark Seeley, and local musician Adam Levy
As the planet warms, it cries out—through deadly heat waves, drought, superstorms like Hurricane Sandy, rising sea levels, and vanishing plant and animal species. But who is listening?
Through discussion and reflection, song, film, science, and literature, participants practiced being attentive to listening to the cosmos, and explored how to move beyond denial to find meaning in a time of frightening change, transform our ways of living, and respond to the earth’s plea.