As winter recedes, we explore the life and work of Assata Shakur and Fannie Lou Hamer as saints guiding us toward a new world. Listen as we welcome Kimmothy Cole as they facilitate an embodied ritual experience for leaving behind the season of waiting and moving into the rooting and opening of spring.

God uses all of the material of our lives for the healing of the world. Listen as we welcome Rev. Dionne Boyice (she/her/hers) who will explore the life of an unlikely saint, St. Julian the Hospitaller.

Won't you be my neighbor? And listen in as Rev. Letiah Fraser explores the life and wisdom of Rev. Fred Rogers. The life and work of Mr. Rogers invites us to wrestle with life’s essential questions through song, learn how to embrace our days with intention, approach learning with curiosity, embrace the hard realities of life with imagination and play, practice positive regard for self and others and develop a habit of gratitude.

What are the boundaries for “true” Christianity? Jane Schaberg was a feminist Biblical scholar who was willing to challenge Christian orthodoxy, and her study of Mary Magdalene led her to something she called “Magdalene Christianity,” a liberating alternative to the patriarchal tradition that has prevailed throughout the history of Christianity. Listen as Rev. Tyler Heston shares how Jane Schaberg is a saint to him and how her legacy can inspire us to conjure up new ideas of what Christianity might be.

Many saints are known by their interior spiritual practices, but often times the radical work they’ve done in the world gets whitewashed. Listen as we welcome Rev. Jeya So, co-pastor of Anchor City Church, a third culture church in San Diego, CA. She discusses the life and witness of Saint Yu Gwansun, a Korean freedom fighter and martyr from the Japanese Occupation of Korea, and invites us to reflect on how her story of fighting against colonialism and oppression can inform our own stories of moving towards God's love and justice.

The Advent season is the time when the whole community anticipates when justice and peace finally reign on earth. Listen to this interactive Christmas Eve service where we look at the communal implications of hope, peace, love, and joy. This gathering is co-facilitated by Rev. Letiah Fraser, Madi Parker, and Nick Pickrell.

What does ancestral lineage have to teach us about Sainthood? How might those of our own family line model the life of Jesus for us? Our Saint Series continues as we explore ancestral and family ties as a model of modern day saints in service and in love. Listen as Rev. Dr. Delesslyn Kennebrew, J.D., M.Div shares with us her own familial saints-- her paternal and maternal grandmother, Saint Theresa and Saint Mary.

What do the lives of various modern and ancient saints teach us about how to respond to the injustices we face today? How can their lives, and the life of Jesus, impact the ways we do hospitality and justice work in our current context? Join us on 11/22 from 6-7:30 online as Rev. Dr. Derrick McQueen shares with us the life and work of author and activist Alice Walker, particularly looking at her text, The Gospel According to Shug.

Our society is constructed around the white supremacy characteristics of power hoarding and paternalism. This causes many to believe the myth of scarcity. Remember the rush for toilet paper and hand sanitizer? This causes those with influence and positions to hoard power and resources. These false narratives foster white saviorism and creates an atmosphere where power dynamics can remain unchecked and unchanged. Listen in as Victoria Litardo and Jeremy Ruzich facilitate a discussion about sharing power and creating practices that help debunk the myths of scarcity and control.

In our next to last gathering in our Antiracist Spirituality series, we will explore The Written Word and how white supremacy culture upholds the written standard of certain languages and credentials in our society. How can poetry and other verbal art forms take us out of our expectations and bring us an embodied way of connecting and communicating? How might we analyze our standards of being and expectation in the world to allow for more nuance and fluidity, honoring of more cultures? Listen in as poets Nika Renee and Madison Mae Parker share their own journey.

White Supremacy culture has an unattainable, always moving target in which to measure perfection. It has infused every structure of society from the family unit to the corporation. The clothing, make-up, health food industry bank on our desire for perfection. The trauma and shame this endless quest produces does harm to our bodies, minds and souls. Practices that cultivate radical self-acceptance, build resilience, healing and self-compassion help us challenge this toxic value of white supremacy culture. Listen to the conversation with Garrett Brown and Abhishek Dutt.

We have been conditioned by our educational, political and religious systems to believe that there is only one way to be “right” and that those who think and act differently than “us” are wrong. Our social media platforms and news outlets have taught us how to “unfriend” and argue with people whose voices don’t sound like those in our echo chambers. Dismantling white supremacy culture means actively resisting the fundamentalism that happens on the left and on the right and practicing embracing that many paths exist.

One of the ways white supremacy culture functions is by generalizing and universalizing the experience of the white individual. At the same time, individualism allows people to distance themselves from their racial identity group, with statements like "I'm not racist" serving as a way to avoid taking responsibility for the systemic ways the legacy of racism continues to wreak havoc on Black and brown bodies. Join Dachia Busch and Emily Bartlett for a conversation on Rugged Individualism and how Christian mysticism can serve as an antidote for white supremacy culture.

We live in a culture and a society that often values progress over people, time over relationships, and quantity over quality. This cultural norm is rooted in white supremacy. How do we allow stillness, embodiment, and rest to be antidotes to a production driven society that does not see the value of people? Join us in the continued conversation of An Antiracist Spirituality as we dive into Rhythm Over Time with Stephanie Briggs and Sarah Dunne Pickrell.

Our conversation with An Antiracist Spirituality series continues as we explore the ways white supremacy manifests itself through white defensiveness and the fear of open conflict. How might we hold space for tension while simultaneously unpacking where this defensiveness comes from? How can Christian mysticism guide us towards a non-defensive posture? Join us for a conversation with Angela Martellaro and Megan Black.

With the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many more– calls for an end to racist policing and other forms of systemic racism have reverberated across the globe. As the movements to end white supremacy and racism grow, it is important to reflect on how racism has been internalized by each of us. Using Christian Mysticism as the guiding antidote, we will explore how rituals and embodiment practices help us dismantle white supremacy in our bodies and dismantle racism in our communities and systems. Cecilia Belser-Patton and Nick Pickrell will be leading us in this important conversation.

We are closing out our Sacred Earth series by exploring the indigenous perspective on caring for ourselves, our bodies, and all of earth’s creatures, using the stories and myths of our ancestors and traditions as guides. Kelly Daniels, founder and director of Blue River Forest Experience, leads us in a conversation about the healing power of connecting to nature.

Our series on Sacred Earth continues with poet and environmental advocate, Mary Silwance, as we discuss what earth care looks like on a local level. Our city is home to many ecosystems from prairie to wetland to forest. How can we begin to consider our local landscape and responsibly care for this land that gives to us so graciously? How can caring for these natural spaces become an integral spiritual practice?

It’s no secret that COVID-19 has further exposed the underbelly of the beast in our nation— systemic racism. The ripple effects of this pandemic are layers deep, yet our nation’s response further perpetuates white supremacy culture. The Open Table Antiracism Trainings hosted a Facebook LIVE discussion on racial inequity amidst COVID-19 & the church’s role in addressing injustice during a humanitarian crisis.

April 22nd marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, a day meant to remind us of the many gifts earth brings as we advocate for conscious environmental justice and protection. We will explore the intersections of earth care, self care, spirituality and the interconnectedness of all creation. What does the Buddhist tradition have to teach us about the interconnectedness of self and earth? Listen in as Sergio Moreno invites us into deep spiritual practices of caring for the world around us.