The season of Lent begins this week, bringing with it the opportunity to reflect on the themes of death and life, in ourselves and the rest of the world. Join us for our next gathering as our Curator, Wendie Brockhaus, facilitates a conversation on Jesus’ journey into the desert and the spiritual practices which can help sustain us on our own journeys.

In early Christianity, the desert taught the early church mothers and fathers many lessons about the spiritual life. Join us as we welcome Fr. Turbo Qualls, St. Mary of Egypt Orthodox Church, as he explores the spiritual practices of the desert mothers and fathers, and discusses how these ancient practices are needed today.

True contemplation leads to action, and action can only be grounded by a rich contemplative life. Join us for the first installment of our winter/spring series, Local Spirituality. The Open Table’s Organizer, Nick Pickrell, will facilitate a conversation about balancing and integrating both action and contemplation. We will be having a potluck for dinner, so bring a main or side dish to share.

As we anticipate and reflect on the story of Christmas, we want to take time to honor Mary’s life and wounds as the mother of Jesus. Through her lens, we can be inspired to reimagine the story of Christmas. Join us for an evening of reflection, music and silence as we celebrate her wisdom.

When we talk about feminism, it’s important to ask whose power and liberation is being centered. White feminism focuses only on the comfort, empowerment, and freedom of white, middle to upper-class women at the expense of others on the margins, and doesn’t take responsibility for its own part in the oppression of Women of Color. We can’t engage with the Sacred Feminine without naming this injustice and imagining a better way. Join us for this important conversation about racism and feminism with PaKou Her, co-founder of the Community Alliance for Racial Equity, and Digital Advocacy, Growth and Innovation Campaigner at ParentsTogether.

The recent shutdown of Free Hot Soup has sparked an important dialogue about how we should serve and support the homeless in Kansas City. Nick Pickrell’s sermon, “Getting Our House in Order,” will help us consider “the feeding of the 5,000” — when Jesus and his disciples fed a large crowd with five loaves of bread and two fish. As we hear Jesus’ message in this passage, we will consider how it might inform our response to homelessness in Kansas City.

We have much to learn from our wise foremothers– mystics, organizers and women of the Bible who have not been celebrated for the ways they’ve challenged patriarchal systems throughout history. It is through their work of resistance that we’re able to reimagine an alternative way, letting their stories inspire us to continue their legacy and spiritual work. Join us for a conversation and meal on November 11th at 6:30pm with Cecilia Belser Patton, co-founder of Community Alliance for Racial Equity and The Open Table antiracism trainer, as we explore the stories of our foremothers, and have the chance to share our own.

Societal expectations can shame women for their sexuality. It is important to challenge these unhealthy narratives and reclaim them in a restorative and liberating way. Join us for a conversation with Jeanne Hoeft, Ph.D., professor at Saint Paul School of Theology. Rev. Dr. Hoeft’s works include pastoral care, human sexuality, feminist and womanist issues, queer theory, violence against women and children, gun violence, and rural communities.

Instead of an ecology of domination and subjugation, Native worldviews point us towards an ecology of interconnectedness. Join us as we welcome Alex Kimball Williams, multicultural musician, writer, teacher, scientist, and a graduate of Haskell Indian Nations University, as they facilitate a discussion on how ecology and the sacred feminine are connected.

“[Humanity] has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.” – Chief Seattle

Efforts to recognize and experience the sacred feminine are tangled up in the destructive epidemic of patriarchal masculinity that is revealed through male violence, misogyny, and sexism. This dehumanizing ideology is lived out and reinforced across every facet of society, including communities and institutions of faith. Join us as we welcome John Tramel, founding organizer of SURJ-KC and former trainer of Men Stopping Violence, who will help us explore the ways patriarchal masculinity is perpetuated through individual male behavior, communities, institutions, and beyond.

Eve and Mary, the mother of Jesus, are well known people from the Bible, but do we really know them apart from the archetypes placed on them by certain Christian perspectives? How do we read their stories and let them speak for themselves, without the harmful stereotypes of “vixen” and “virgin”? Join us for the first night of our Sacred Feminine series, as we explore their narratives and discover a wisdom that pushes the boundaries of the unknown. The Open Table Curator, Wendie Brockhaus, and Resident, Victoria Litardo, will be facilitating this hands-on experience.

The human spirit is beautifully resilient, but that doesn’t mean we live a life free from suffering or pain. However, in the midst of our struggles we can experience a liberating shift within ourselves– one that embraces our imperfections, sheds our narratives of shame, and frees us to live wholeheartedly. Come join two of our leaders from The Open Table, Tony Beyer and Garrett Brown, as they lead a conversation that takes us through Dr. Brene Brown’s work on how we can build empathy, self-compassion and vulnerability in ways that empowers us to live authentically.

Jesus’ ethos broke the myth of redemptive violence, and offered humanity an alternative way forward. He centered his life’s work around telling stories of redemption. Our storytelling hour will feature ways we have broken the cycles of violence in our own lives, and how that led to hope and resurrection. We’ll hear from several people in our community and then have some time for small group sharing!

The Poor People’s Campaign was formed in 1968 because Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others saw how poverty was interrelated to both racism and the war economy. His analysis was that in order to remake the whole of American society, the nation’s poor would need to come together to tackle the triple evils of poverty, racism, and the war economy. Today, nearly 140 million people are either poor or low income, and this touches all demographics. Rev. Dr. Tex Sample, pastor at Trinity United Methodist and professor Emeritus at Saint Paul School of Theology, will facilitate a discussion about poverty, faith, and the need to come together to fight poverty, not the poor.

Racism is the United States’ original sin, and it continues today, but in different forms. Slavery, lynching, segregation, Jim Crow laws, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, and unjust policing practices are just some examples of how systemic racism has shifted over time. Today, 23 states have adopted voter suppression laws, 25 states have pre-empted cities from raising the minimum wage, and the prison population has ballooned to 1.5 million people, with people of color accounting for 66% of the prison population, despite making up only 39% of the total population. Rev. Rodney Williams, pastor of Swope Parkway United Christian Church, will facilitate a discussion on the long-lasting effects of racism, and the work that is being done to undo systemic racism in all its forms.

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.” The current annual military budget, at $668 billion, dwarfs the $190 billion allocated for education, jobs, housing and other basic services. Out of every dollar in federal discretionary spending, 53 cents goes towards the military and only 15 cents is spent on anti-poverty programs. Sr. Barbara McCracken, from Mount Saint Scholastica, will join us for a discussion on this evil the Poor People’s Campaign seeks to address.

Did you know that low income households spend seven times as much of their paycheck on water bills as wealthy households? And in areas like Flint, MI, the water that is getting piped in is still toxic? The Poor People’s Campaign recognizes that ecological devastation is ruining our planet and has a disproportionate effect on poor communities and communities of color. Jordan Schiele and Sunny Hamrick of Jerusalem Farm will join us for a discussion on why the Poor People’s Campaign is tackling ecological devastation as one of this national movement’s goals. We will also be looking at Pope Francis’ encyclical on climate change, Laudato Si, as a way to talk about how climate change intersects with poverty, racism, and the war economy.

50 years ago, Dr. King launched a human rights movement that brought together folks around a common cause, to end the various forms of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism that kept many from living a life of abundance. This year, the Poor People’s Campaign is being resurrected! Join us for an evening of discussion, storytelling, and calls to action around these important issues. We will be joined by members of Stand Up KC, Rev. Eric Garbison, and more.

We often miss the political nature of Jesus’ actions on Palm Sunday, and the ways Jesus flipped the script on what a messiah looked like. Rev. Dr. Wallace Hartsfield II, professor of Hebrew Scriptures at Central Baptist Theological Seminary, will join us for a discussion on the nature of Jesus’ actions on Palm Sunday and the message those actions hold for us today.

As more white folks are drawn back to the city, individuals and developers are buying up land, businesses, and housing stock. This development displaces people of color, resulting in a cultural & historical loss and perpetuating economic disparities. Are we breaking down the Troost divide or simply pushing it further east? Join us for a conversation with Hakima Payne, director and founder of Uzazi Village, Sandra Enriquez, Director of Public History and Asst. Professor of History at UMKC, and Angela Martellaro, local real estate agent and SURJ member, for a conversation about gentrification and gentrifiers.