Retreat 2025
Prayer as Resistance 2.2:
Notes of Rest with Julian Davis Reid
March 7-8, 2025
Overview
Notes of Rest® invites the weary into the rest of God practiced in the Bible and Black music. The offering interweaves various spiritual disciplines (“notes”) such as Sabbath, Sleep, and Sanctuary with the playing and history of Black American music. Braiding these notes equips participants to solo over the chord changes of their lives, harmonize their journeys with one another, and resolve to practice rest and music that unifies us with God, neighbor, and self. As Jesus’ restful New Creation emerges out of this restless world, Notes of Rest® provides hospitable space to discern our participation in it.
Leadership
Retreat Presiders
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Julian Davis Reid
Julian Davis Reid (M.Div., Candler School of Theology) is a child of God, the husband of Carmen and father of Lydia, a son and brother, and a Black artist-theologian of Chicago who uses words and music to invite us into the restful lives we were created to live. A musician, speaker, and writer, Julian is the founder of the ministry Notes of Rest®, which invites the weary into the rest of God practiced in the Bible and Black music. Julian has released numerous records, including with his own ensemble Circle of Trust and the jazz electronic fusion group The JuJu Exchange. His most recent releases are Candid under his own name and JazzRx with The JuJu Exchange. Julian has performed at the Montreal Jazz Fest, The Cleveland Orchestra’s Severance Hall, Lollapalooza, and the Berlin Jazz Fest. He has worked or performed with Jennifer Hudson, Chance the Rapper, Tank and the Bangas, Andrew Bird, Jamila Woods, Derrick Hodge, Isaiah Collier, and Abiodun Oyewole from The Last Poets. An award-winning writer, Julian has written chapters on Notes of Rest in forthcoming books from Candler School of Theology at Emory University, Duke Divinity School, and Princeton Theological Seminary, respectively. He writes about faith, music, Blackness, and rest on his Substack “Julian’s Note.” Julian also consults with the boutique consultancy Fearless Dialogues. His work has been covered in The New York Times, Forbes, Sojourners, Billboard, and Downbeat.
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Bo Karen Lee
Bo Karen Lee
Bo Karen Lee, ThM ’99, PhD ’07, is associate professor of spiritual theology and Christian formation at Princeton Theological Seminary. She earned her BA in religious studies from Yale University, her MDiv from Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois, and her ThM and PhD from Princeton Seminary. She furthered her studies in the returning scholars program at the University of Chicago, received training as a spiritual director from Oasis Ministries, and was a Mullin fellow with the Institute of Advanced Catholic Studies. Her book, Sacrifice and Delight in the Mystical Theologies of Anna Maria van Schurman and Madame Jeanne Guyon, argues that surrender of self to God can lead to the deepest joy in God. She has recently completed a volume, The Soul of Higher Education, which explores contemplative pedagogies and research strategies. A recipient of the John Templeton Award for Theological Promise, she gave a series of international lectures that included the topic, “The Face of the Other: An Ethic of Delight.” She is a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women, and the American Academy of Religion; she recently served on the Governing Board of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality, and is on the editorial board of the journal, Spirtus, as well as on the steering committee of the Christian Theology and Bible Group of the Society of Biblical Literature. Before joining Princeton faculty, she taught in the Theology Department at Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland, where she developed courses with a vibrant service-learning component for students to work at shelters for women recovering from drug addiction and sex trafficking. She now enjoys teaching classes on prayer for the Spirituality and Mission Program at Princeton Seminary, in addition to taking students on retreats and hosting meditative walks along nature trails. For more information, visit her profile here.
Musicians
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James Sims
James Sims
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, James Russell Sims was surrounded by various styles of music, which allowed him to grow into the versatile musician that he is today. Since graduating from University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign, he has worked with musicians such as Julian Davis Reid, Isaiah Collier, Anthony Bruno, Trinity Star Ultra, and Melvin Knight, as well as with other artists throughout the Midwest. In addition to performing, recording, and touring internationally, James works as a steel drum manufacturer and percussion coach at West Point School of Music helping young students grow into talented, mature adults.
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Runere Brooks
Runere Brooks
Runere Brooks, born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, has been playing upright, electric, and key bass for a combination of 15 years, and has become one of the bass staples in Chicago. He has played and recorded for the likes of Frank McComb, Lupe Fiasco, Miki Howard, Res, Gerald Albright, Lonnie-Liston Smith, Cyrus Chestnut, Tim Warfield, Chicago Bulls etc….. He also is a part of an emmy nominated recording. Currently, Runere is the main bass player for the award-winning actress, singer, and talk show host Jennifer Hudson. He continues to thrive in the music industry as being one of the top in the low frequency spectrum. His biggest influence is his father the late great David Brooks, who is a bass legend, and has been a staple in the music industry for years!
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Tramaine Parker
Tramaine Parker
Tramaine S. Parker began singing at the age of 4 in the angelic choir at Mt. Vernon Baptist Church in Chicago. She later joined the Chicago Children’s Choir where she began traveling throughout the United States and internationally performing various genres of music (gospel, spirituals, pop, classical and R&B.) While singing in the Chicago Children’s Choir, Tramaine had the opportunity to perform at several venues including Ravinia in Highland Park, IL, Carnegie Hall, Riverside Church in New York and the Harris Music and Dance theatre to name a few. During her matriculation at Lincoln Park Highschool, Tramaine received honor superior ratings for the City and State solo competitions. She graduated from Fisk University with a B.A. in Psychology and Roosevelt University with a M.A. in Clinical Professional Psychology. While studying at Fisk, Tramaine was a member of the Fisk University Choir and Grammy award winning, Fisk Jubilee Singers. Today, Tramaine continues to perform as a soloist in the Chicagoland area. Tramaine has performed with a number of choral ensembles including the John Work Chorale, Vocality, Black Monument Ensemble and Lakeside Singers. Tramaine is a background singer for Chance the Rapper. Tramaine also sang with the Chicago Freedom Singers featuring Kathleen Battle in concert and has performed in numerous countries including Brazil, Amsterdam, Portugal, Sweden, Ghana and Denmark. In addition to performing, Tramaine works for the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services as a Child Welfare Specialist at the SCR unit (Child Abuse Hotline) in Chicago.
Poets
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Alysia Nicole Harris
Alysia Nicole Harris
Alysia has dedicated her life to studying words in their spiritual, social, linguistic and creative capacities. Renowned internationally as a spoken word artist, Alysia has had a professional career as a performance artist and speaker since 2010, amassing over nine million views on YouTube. The author of the prize-winning chapbook How Much We Must Have Looked Like Stars to Stars (2016) received her MFA in poetry from New York University in 2014 and her PhD in linguistics from Yale University in 2019. Her dissertation focused on the discourse-oriented uses of the preverbal particles ‘be’ and ‘done’ in African-American English and developed a novel compositional analysis of their meaning and distribution. As an art journalist and the founding Arts and Soul Editor for Scalawag Magazine, Alysia has supported artists and writers elucidating spiritual and political matters through their creative practices.
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Anastacia-Reneé
Anastacia-Reneé
Anastacia-Reneé (She/They) is a queer writer, educator, interdisciplinary artist, playwright, former radio host, TEDX speaker, and podcaster. She is the author of Here In The (Middle) Of Nowhere, Side Notes From The Archivist, (v.) and Forget It. Sidenotes from the Archivist was selected as one of “NYPL Best Books of 2023,” and, The American Library Associations (RUSA) “Notable Books of 2024.” Anastacia-Reneé is a recipient of the James W. Ray Distinguished Artist Award (Literary) and she was selected by NBC News as part of the list of “Queer Artist of Color Dominate 2021’s Must See LGBTQ Art Shows,” for (Don’t Be Absurd) Alice in Parts, an installation at Frye Art Museum. Anastacia-Reneé served as Seattle Civic Poet (2017-1019) during Seattle’s inaugural year of UNESCO status. Reneé was also Hugo House Poet-in-Residence, and Jack Straw Curator. She was the 2021 Distinguished Visiting Writer In Residence at Seattle University. Reneé has been a visiting writer or faculty at The University of Washington, VONA, Western University, New York University, Cave Canem, Parsons, James Madison University, Seattle Pacific Lutheran College and Tacoma University. They have received fellowships and residencies from Cave Canem, VONA, Ragdale, Mineral School and the New Orleans Writers Residency. Her poetry, fiction and nonfiction has been anthologized and published widely.
Retreat Coordinator
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Wesley Tenney-Free | Program & Community Coordinator
Wesley Tenney-Free | Program & Community Coordinator
Wes serves full-time at the CCL office in Alexander Hall 113. You can often find him planning retreats, prepping for a conference, or facilitating a Contemplative Listening Circle with students. Wes’ academic interests include the history and praxis of Spirit-centered models for Christian education. He also loves to teach and write curriculum. In his free time, Wes enjoys hiking, watching movies, and writing poetry. He is married to local artist, Meredith Tenney-Free. If you’d like to learn more about Wes, please visit his LinkedIn.
Schedule
7:30 p.m.
Princeton Seminary Chapel – Evening Jazz Concert
- Please join us for a lovely concert with Julian Davis Reid and a trio of jazz musicians!
- Please feel welcome to check out the recordings of our 2023 and 2022 concerts as well.
- This event is free and open to the public, even without registration for our Saturday retreat. We will also livestream this event on YouTube.
10:00 a.m.
Stuart Hall 6 – Retreat Session 1: Practicing the Scale
- An introduction to Notes of Rest where we begin our journey thinking musically about theology and theologically about music for the sake of practically resting our bodies, minds, and souls in God through engaging Scripture and Black music.
- This, and all three retreat sessions, will be available virtually on Airmeet. Please see the registration section below for more details.
12:00 p.m.
MacKay Student Center – Lunch Together
1:30 p.m.
Stuart Hall 6 – Session 2: Playing in Time
- Building on our introduction, we’ll apply the spiritual practice of discernment to the note of sleep; sometimes we sleep out of faithfulness, sometimes out of fear. May God use Scripture and music to help us discern.
- This, and all three retreat sessions, will be available virtually on Airmeet. Please see the registration section below for more details.
3:15 p.m.
Stuart Hall 6 – Session 3: Listening Back to Rehearsal
- To close our time, we’ll consider how Sabbath practices changed over the course of Scripture as an invitation into discerning what our Sabbath practices should involve in this season. May God use Scripture and music to help us discern.
- This, and all three retreat sessions, will be available virtually on Airmeet. Please see the registration section below for more details.
4:45 p.m.
Stuart Hall 6 – Retreat Dismissal
5:00 p.m.
Dinner Break
- You are welcome to dinner on your own in downtown Princeton. Upon in-person arrival, we will provide you with a list of recommended eateries.
8:00 p.m.
Erdman Cooper Conference Room – An Evening of Live Poetry
- On Saturday evening retreat co-sponsors, Goldenwood NYC and EcoTheo Collective in collaboration with the CCL will host a poetry gathering that integrates the rhythm and participatory dynamism of ritual into the context of a poetry reading. This liturgically inflected reading will open space to explore and reflect on poems from Alysia Nicole Harris, and Anastacia-Renee, then engage in some dialogue and meaningful conversation with each other in a setting devoted to beauty and community. All are welcome — to listen, share, and connect. We are meaning-making creatures; and by attending closely, even lovingly, to the language that we use — especially the artful, compressed language of poetry — we experience ruptures in our everyday way of relating. We find deeper ways to connect with one another, and perhaps experience something of transcendence. We would love for you to join us.
- This event is free and open to the public, even without registration for our Saturday retreat. We will also record this event for later viewing on YouTube.
Resources
The following writings can provide a framework for this year’s Prayer as Resistance Retreat. If you’re able to read any of them in advance, your experience might be all the richer when we gather.
– Tricia Hersey’s Rest is Resistance, pp. 1-41
– Barbara Holmes’ Joy Unspeakable, Ch. 3
– Barbara Holmes’ Joy Unspeakable, Ch. 9
THANK YOU to all our partners and donors whose generosity allows us to keep our registration fees much lower than the actual costs!
Travel & Lodging
HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS
To make your travel arrangements easier, we have reserved a block of rooms at the Erdman Center on Princeton Seminary’s campus. We invite you to reserve a room over the phone at (609) 497-7990. Please reference the block #128657 when you speak with a representative.
We also have reserved a block of rooms around a 5 minutes’ drive away from campus at the Hilton Garden Inn, 1300 Lenox Drive, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. Please click here to make a booking online.
Parking
Please park at the Princeton Theological Seminary Library Lot, 25 Library Place, Princeton, NJ 08540. To reach the Seminary Chapel and Stuart Hall, please cross Mercer Street at the stoplight then walk straight to the Seminary’s Main Quad. Both buildings are on the left side of the quad, near Alexander Street. Accessible parking accommodations are available on the quad in front of both buildings, as well as in the library lot. Please feel welcome to email wesley.tenney-free@ptsem.edu if you would like us to reserve an accessible parking spot on the quad for you.
Co-Sponsors
All Saints Church
Awakenings, Inc.
Betsey Stockton Center for Black Church Studies
Center for Spiritual Imagination
EcoTheo Collective
Goldenwood NYC
House Next Door
Overseas Ministries Study Center (OMSC)
The Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
Refuge for Strength
Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation
Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality
Sustainable Faith