October 24, 2024

Something For the Moment 

Institute for the Learning Ministry: We are delighted to announce that our next opportunity to gather and learn at Institute for the Learning Ministry will be January 26 to 30, 2026 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and virtually wherever you are!

We know it’s easier to spread the cost over a couple of fiscal years. You can put down a deposit for your registration here, and feel free to book your travel when it is available. We will have more information on housing next spring.

Something for the Journey
Julica Hermann de la Fuente, Lifelong Learning Manager

Last week I had the pleasure and privilege of facilitating the program for the Northern New England chapter retreat. I decided to take a risk and use it as an opportunity to explore embodied anti-racism work, leaning on Theater of the Oppressed exercises. I’m so glad I did, and so grateful to our colleagues for meeting me there on the edge of our comfort zones. I was reminded of Sharon Welch’s Feminist Ethic of Risk, still one of my favorite frameworks and one that I often lift up: that in order to make effective change in the service of liberation, we need to take strategic risks in community. That was what I experienced last week, and what I’m hoping to co-create with you, dear colleagues, at our 2026 Institute.

I am a devoted student of Paulo Freire and bell hooks, and I believe very strongly that learning for liberation requires stretching ourselves beyond the banking education model with an “expert in front of the room,” instead using our embodied and lived experiences as the text that we learn from. And, I know it’s also true that many of us come to Institute for a respite, an opportunity to deepen and connect and receive, as a balance to all that we do and give in ministry. We need both support and challenge to keep growing in our ministries, right?

I’m looking forward to the next few weeks and months when we on staff will be co-creating the program for Institute with you, dear colleagues, and you can be sure I will be hosting opportunities for you to come and wave a magic wand, because wands are my very favorite tool. One such place you can lend your voice is in the conversations I’m facilitating about our lifelong learning needs. Or you could reply to this email, and we can find a time to speak! Or you could book a time on my calendar! So many choices, and more coming soon. Stay tuned to the weekly, and you will be the first to know.

But wait! Here’s one more link! Did you see that our colleague Nathan Hollister is offering a course on Skill Building for Social Transformation? Both sections start week. There are 3 openings in the afternoon session and 5 left in the evening session – maybe one of them is yours?

Something Extra

• Collegial Care for Anxious Times with Melissa
• Election Week Spaces