I have been out of the groove of blogging this season, but it’s been for good reason! Almost exactly a year ago, after some hard and good community work, we transitioned The Refuge’s leadership and community life structures to make it more sustainable as we dreamed for our next 10 years together; a year later it has been fun to see it in action and I have felt a new freedom and lightness as a co-cultivator of our life together.
It has also opened up some possibilities to focus on what I truly love to do both in and outside of our community: create brave and safe-as-possible spaces for transformation and healing, both online and in real life.
For the past year it has included a fun and wild range, from forming a group to help folks survive this presidency, to facilitating The Refuge’s Freedom Summer Camp centered on the 12 Steps, to creating and facilitating Enneagram team-building workshops for a for-profit organization, to leading a weekend retreat for a missional church, to developing a Healthy Relationships Course at a local transitional housing program, to facilitating another Walking Wounded: Hope for Those Hurt by the Church and Ministry, to helping host special events and opportunities to grow and heal at The Refuge. See why I haven’t written much? I have loved each of these diverse settings that are all in the same zone, and every day I am reminded of how grateful I am to get to do what I love to do. This year’s Refuge Summer Camp (our summer format that’s centered on skills and community building) is going to be #Adulting – Things You Didn’t Learn at Church and Home That You Really Need to Know. It makes me smile just thinking about it.
One of the things I haven’t had the margin for until now was to create an online Faith Shift group for those who want to more intentionally engage not only with the material in Faith Shift: Finding Your Way Forward When Everything You Believe is Coming Apart but with others who were trying to find their way, too. I am better at a smaller setting with a little more intention.
With the help of some wonderful moderators, Faith Shift: Hope and Healing is finally here! This new closed Facebook group is not for everyone; it’s for people who are experiencing some of these symptoms and need some support and kindreds along the way so they don’t feel quite as crazy or alone. I am facilitating weekly content in different ways–videos, posts, etc.–and we are working toward creating as safe as possible space for all who are part. If you are interested, you can request to join here, and feel free to message me if you have any questions.
I’m excited to be working on a new online class, too, centered on Rebuilding Faith and the 6 movements from Faith Shift. Details on that soon!
For those of you following life for me a little more closely, my dad is living with us for home hospice and is doing well on the whole, with a wonderful team of hospice caregivers and a lot of dog, kid, and Refuge community love every week. It has been a gift to us to have this time together. Also, our twins are getting ready to graduate high school in a few months and Jose and I are officially done with parenting-at-home starting this fall. It’s a wild feeling after 26 years!
I have written a little for some other spaces and below are a few posts up at Sheloves and Patheos, and a video created by my friend, the talented Erika Chambers, that fleshes out a little bit more about what I care about for my website.
- Backs Straight, Heads Lifted – at Sheloves Magazine
- Spiritual Midwives and Soul Care and Spiritual Practices for Faith Deconstruction– at Patheos Progressive Christian Channel
- Faith Shifting, 12 Years Later – at Nomad Podcast
On another note, if you or someone you know is interested in an internship opportunity at The Refuge for any of the upcoming semesters, we are just starting to post our 2018-19 information; it’s a great opportunity in an untraditional setting to learn all the things they didn’t teach you in seminary. You can email or message me for details.
Lastly, know that even though I’m not writing about it this particular month, I care deeply about gun violence and the crazy happening in our world related to race, faith and politics, and the brutality of so much division in our world. As I reflect on Holy Week coming next week, I am reminded how much we desperately need healing, hope, and new life this season. My heart is with you all as we keep using our voices, finding our way in the wilderness, practicing resurrection.
Peace and Hope, Kathy