Recap: Prayer as Resistance 2.0: Contemplative Practices For Liberative Justice

On March 9-11 Princeton Theological Seminary's Center for Contemplative Leadership held the Prayer as Resistance 2.0: Contemplative Practices for Liberative Justice conference. This gathering showcased how justice work is tied to God's love and how prayer fuels action.

Attendees were greeted by conference presider, Bo Karen Lee, Associate Professor of Spiritual Theology & Christian Formation and by Shann Ray, Professor of Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University. Lee and Ray provided an overview of what to expect from the eight workshops offered during the conference and moderated the Opening Panel, with six wonderful speakers who inspired a deeper integration of spirituality and justice work in the world. Opening day also included a jazz concert by the Tadataka Unno Trio and an exploration of how jazz improvisation can act as a launching pad for racial healing and unity.

Participants had the chance to attend hybrid workshops covering topics such as “Brokenness to Beauty: Kintsugi” and “Suffering Sofia: Finding Communal Wisdom through Contemplation.”

Conference goers also heard keynote lecturer, Luke Powery, speak on “Deep River: The Spiritual Wisdom of the Unknown Black Bards,” or as Dr. Powery renamed it for the conference, “Praying in a Spiritual Key.”

On Friday evening conference co-sponsors, Goldenwood NYC and EcoTheo Collective, hosted a poetry gathering with live readings from Drew Jackson and Shann Ray. Natalya Fisher provided musical accompaniment, including original songs set to the poems.

Throughout the whole of the conference, attendees were welcome to meet with spiritual directors one-on-one or in small groups, whether in-person or online. These offerings were available to provide reflection, restoration, and intentional fellowship with the Spirit and with one another.

To conclude the three-day conference Bo Karen Lee and Leonard McMahon, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Care, Spirituality, and Political Theology at Pacific School of Religion, moderated a panel integrating prayer and social justice. Panelists included Andrew Skotnicki, Diane Ujiiye, and Michael Battle. Participants came away from the conference feeling refreshed, encouraged, and inspired to continue rooting their justice work within deeper practices of contemplation and prayer. The Center for Contemplative Leadership hopes that, through these practices, participants’ justice work might be sustained with resilience and power. Please click here for more information on our Prayer as Resistance 2.0 conference.

We are happy to announce our next “Prayer as Resistance 2.1" Conference, on Saturday April 27, 2024 from 9:30am to 5pm – please save the date (see flyer below) and join us for continued conversation and contemplation together! And for a recap of our first Prayer as Resistance conference in April 2022, please click here for select videos and photos!

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