Tickets are pay as you are able through Eventbrite.

Join us on March 13 for this presentation and conversation on mental health and teens. The event is designed for parents, educators, mental health professionals, and others who accompany teens.

Caleb Visser (LMHC, MACP), will draw from a decade of experience with teens to talk about teenage brain development, typical challenges to well-being, and general treatment goals. Trained in psychodynamic theory, Caleb also relies on ideas from interpersonal neurobiology and CBT. Dr. Natalie Goodwin, PhD, will consider common challenges for families seeking to support their teens. She draws from years of work in the field of disordered eating, and training in emotionally focused family therapy.

Caleb received his Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. In more than a decade of work in clinical settings his focus has always been with adolescents and teens, starting with work in a residential foster home, spending two years working for the Cowlitz Tribe, and most recently in a contracted position in a local high school. Caleb works well with teens, building rapport quickly, working with parents when it's helpful, and trying to get to the heart of difficulties. Caleb is heavily influenced by the work of Daniel Siegel (The Whole-Brained Child, Mindsight, Brainstorm) and feels that the teenage years present a special window of opportunity for learning greater insight and empathy, as well as skills for self regulation.

Dr. Natalie Goodwin is a native Seattle-ite who loves living in the Pacific Northwest and taking advantage of all the natural beauty it has to offer. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Alabama, Birmingham, and she completed pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She returned to Seattle and served as a clinical manager and clinical director at Eating Recovery Center Bellevue for 6 years and then spent 3 years in private practice. Her professional focus is in the area of treatment of eating disorders. She enjoys providing therapeutic intervention with clients and their families, as well as supporting others who are providing care through teaching, supervision and general support. Therapeutically her favorite interventions are Family Based Treatment, Emotion Focused Family Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. She is certified in Exposure and Response Prevention treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and also have training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Prolonged Exposure for PTSD.

Join therapist Caleb Visser as he helps adults think through how to discuss mental health with teens. His focus will be primarily on identity formation and fostering agency within teens.

Tickets are Pay are You Are Able through Eventbrite. Reserve your spot for this limit space workshop.

Caleb received his Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. In more than a decade of work in clinical settings his focus has always been with adolescents and teens, starting with work in a residential foster home, spending two years working for the Cowlitz Tribe, and most recently in a contracted position in a local high school. Caleb works well with teens, building rapport quickly, working with parents when it's helpful, and trying to get to the heart of difficulties. Caleb is heavily influenced by the work of Daniel Siegel (The Whole-Brained Child, Mindsight, Brainstorm) and feels that the teenage years present a special window of opportunity for learning greater insight and empathy, as well as skills for self regulation.

Common Good Tacoma and The Well welcome Rev. Ben McBride on Sept 15 at Common Good Tacoma. He has a new book out "Troubling the Water: The Urgent Work of Radical Belonging." I know this is something that we are all talking about - belonging. For Seattleites, I know we always expect people to come to us, but here's an opportunity to be part of a small gathering with this activist who also stands in our shared spiritual space, working and laboring for a spiritual renewal and a spiritual movement of justice. For those in South King Co or Pierce Co, this is a great opportunity.

Please reserve your space. Space is limited...tickets are free. Just get to eventbrite and reserve your spot.

Rev. Ben McBride is an internationally recognized peacemaker, faith leader, activist, and speaker who has spoken in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East. McBride is the co-founder of the Empower Initiative, a capacity building firm devoted to empowering organizations and communities to foster belonging.

Previously he served as director of PICO California, the state’s largest faith-based community organizing network. McBride was featured in the Sundance Film Festival award-winner The Force, and in 2020 the Center for American Progress listed him as one of the top faith leaders to watch. Ben lives in Oakland, California, with his wife, Gynelle, and their three daughters.

“This visionary and courageous book stands in the great tradition of Martin Luther King Jr. Ben McBride powerfully and persuasively shows how radical belonging and radical self-care are integral to a radical Christianity—a Christianity serious about the radical love of Jesus Christ.”

—Dr. Cornel West, philosopher, activist, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary

Join us for a vital conversation about how theology frames depression. This vital conversation will walk us through how theology has talked about depression and will look at how we might “sketch new maps” for addressing living with depression as people of faith.

Dr. Jessica Coblentz is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Theology, Gender and Womens Studies at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, IN. She also has lived with depression. Her book “Dust in the Blood” explores the complexities of depression and how it has been discussed in a variety of Christian theologies. Dr. Coblentz puts her hands in these theologies and pushes and pulls them into a new shape that helps people today expand our theological framing of depression so that we may respond to it in new ways.

Tickets are being sold through Eventbrite. They are pay as you are able.

Dr. Cornel West joins us by Zoom for a live talk with Q&A. He will present on the philosophy of non-violence as the organizing principle for change used by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This event will be part of several sponsored by The Well and the Seattle Regional Committee of the Poor People’s Campaign leading up to the Mass People’s and Low-Wage Workers Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls on June 18.

REGISTER HERE: It is FREE!!!

Many Christians are taught that God is all powerful, can do anything, and can fix everything. Dr. Thomas Jay Oord explores how a relational and loving God inherently can’t do and fix everything - not alone. A provocative idea for many, come and wrestle with the problem of suffering and evil and a God who strives to heal.

Dr. Thomas Jay Oord is a theologian, philosopher, and scholar of multi-disciplinary studies. He is director of the Center for Open and Relational Theology. He won the Outstanding Faculty Award twelve times as professor at Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, Idaho. Oord is known for his contributions to research on love, open and relational theology, science and religion, and Wesleyan/Holiness/Church of the Nazarene thought. While Dr. Oord’s presentation will come from the breadth of his work, his conversation with us will primarily come from his book God Can’t: How to Believe in God and Love After Tragedy, Abuse, and Other Evils. We encourage people to read the book prior to the presentation. If you would like to read with others and discuss, please let us know. While we charge for this event to offset our costs, all are welcome to attend regardless of ability to pay. Just let us know at thewellqueenanne@gmail.com.

Tickets are $10 General Admission and $5 for Students. All are welcome to attend despite ability to pay.

This event is one part of three events with Dr. Oord in the greater Seattle area. Feb 8 @The Well, Feb 9 preaching at First UMC Seattle (Thank Goodness God is NOT in Control), Feb 9 evening talk at Bellevue First UMC (God Can’t: A Better Way to Think about God & Suffering - RSVP & more info at fumcbellevue.org/oord.)

Dr. Thomas Jay Oord will be at The Well Feb 8 to discuss the idea that God Can’t Fix Everything and That’s a Good Idea. Read the book first and come discuss.

This 1.25 hour conversation will help determine the questions to bring to Dr. Oord’s conversation and allow space for us to explore power, agency, love, coercion, and divinity. Have you ever wondered if God is omnipotent why there’s suffering in the world? Would a God with limits on power be a blow to your faith? However you decide on this, asking hard questions is always a good thing for our faith. Come, ask, discuss, and get ready for the talk on Feb 8.

There is no charge for the book group, but please RSVP to thewellqueenanne@gmail.com. At least 3 people must sign up for this group to take place.

In a day long retreat with Dr. Charles L Howard of the University of Pennsylvania, we will explore how to curate hope and care for personal integrity during these times of division and discord.

We will look at public discourse and what is happening nationally. How do we engage in prophetic acts with compassion and care?

We will look at how public discourse and the national temperature affects personal relationships. How or even can we maintain relationships amid deep divisions, especially when those divisions expose differences in core values?

What does it mean to be spiritually grounded and widely loving?

What are personal practices that can help us look at the world as it is without finding ourselves in deep despair?

These and other issues will be explored in this full day of silence, sharing, learning, and resting.

Climate Forum with State Senator Reuven Carlyle

State Senator Reuven Carlyle will speak about the significant climate legislation that was passed in the last legislative session, his expectations for 2020, and opportunities for our local community and the State of Washington to lead on environmental and climate change issues.  We will also discuss the values that call us to steward our world, and the concrete steps we can take to help address climate change in Washington State. 

Reuven Carlyle is a member of the Washington State Senate, representing the 36th legislative district (which encompasses NW Seattle neighborhoods of Queen Anne, Magnolia, South Lake Union, Belltown, Greenwood, Crown Hill, etc.), and a member of Kavana. Cosponsors include: Kavana Cooperative, Earth Ministry, Queen Anne United Methodist Church & The Well, Queen Anne Christian Church, Queen Anne Presbyterian Church, and United Church. 

Nadia Bolz-Weber will speak about her newest and most personal book Shameless: A Sexual Reformation.

Out to slay a giant by going after the church’s teachings on human sexuality, Bolz-Weber weaves narrative, history, scripture, and wit together to show how Christianity has often turned the glorious gift of bodies into something ugly and shameful, telling us that true holiness equates to sexual repression — “as if the God of the Universe had programmed into creation a passive-aggressive test of our willpower.”

Joining Nadia for the conversation is Seattle’s own Gail Song Barnum.

Tickets are $7.50-$15 and are available through Eventbrite.

We are grateful to University Temple UMC for allowing us to co-sponsor this event with them.

2 Modules.
Part I: Resistance and Love (Thursday night) - POSTPONED UNTIL 2019
Part II: Not Losing Hope (Friday morning) - POSTPONTED UNTIL 2019                                    Full Event Both Tickets - POSTPONED UNTIL 2019

Dr. Charles L. Howard will use lecture and conversation in exploring resistance to injustice without losing relationships, one's own integrity, relinquishing the struggle, or giving in to despair.

In today's increasingly polarized world people are retreating into their own circles. Relationships are being lost at alarming rates. Sometimes people feel they have to sacrifice principles or integrity in order to maintain relationships. It's easy to give in to despair. If one has the luxury, it can be tempting to give up the struggle. 

Over two sessions, Dr. Howard will help us explore how to seek the destruction of policies, practices, and a culture that encourages harm without seeking to destroy people. He will help value the power of hope and encourage us to hold on to it. He will walk us through the power of maintaining integrity even in the midst of division and conflict. 

Despite the awful face that Christianity often presents in the public commons, Dr. Howard believes that we are trending in the correct direction. There is reason to hope.

The Rev. Charles L. Howard, PhD is the University Chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania, his alma mater.  Prior to his return to Penn, he served in both hospital and hospice chaplaincies, and as a street outreach worker to individuals experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia. His writing has been featured in such publications as Black Theology: An International Journal, Daily Good, Sojourners Magazine, Christianity Todays Leadership Journal, Chronicle of Higher Education, The Huffington Post, The Christian Century, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Forward, and Slate.  He is the editor of The Souls of Poor Folk, a text which explores new ways of considering homelessness and poverty, and the author of The Awe and The Awful, a poetry collection and Lenten Devotional, Black Theology as Mass Movement, a call to theologians to expand the reach of their theological work, and Pond River Ocean Rain,  a collection of brief essays about going deeper with God. He shares life with his beloved wife, Dr. Lia C. Howard and their three daughters.

2 hr Workshop - $15

Great strides have been taken in the church regarding safe sanctuaries that protect children from abuse. However, the church often overlooks how they might minister to the adult survivors of abuse in their midst. Survivors of child sexual abuse often hide in plain sight, and the church has little awareness of the spiritual wounds they bear. In this workshop, we will discuss the many aspects of church that can prevent survivors from feeling safe or connecting with God. We will explore simple adjustments to common rituals that will allow those wounded ones among us to participate more fully in the life of the church, as well as the ways in which church members, clergy, and staff can reach out to those victims and walk alongside them in appropriate and healing ways.

Sue Magrath is the author of Healing the Ravaged Soul: Tending the Spiritual Wounds of Child Sexual Abuse. She is a retired psychotherapist, having spent 14 years as a pastoral counselor working with victims of child sexual abuse. She is active in the UMC as a spiritual director, retreat and workshop leader, church consultant, and advocate in the area of clergy wellness.

Tickets are $30 for advanced registration and $40 at the door. 

16th ANNUAL MULTIFAITH COMMUNITY SUMMIT

Religion, Race, and Politics are Tearing Seattle Apart . . .
Or are they?

Why Can't We Get Along?

You want to better your community, right?.

But what exactly does better look like?

Our various religious, racial, and political traditions provide different answers to that question. 

This one-day gathering will help us unpack those views and dream up ways we can be better together.

Are you a believer, adherent, observant or practitioner? Are you none of those? 

Are you curious about how people outside your socio-religious bubble view the conflicts that divide us?

If the road to hell is paved with good intentions then the road to better communities is paved with great practices.

At "Why Can't We All Get Along?" youll learn new listening practices that will enable you to cross those relational boundaries that currently block you from connecting with colleagues and loved ones.

Follow the compass to find the 1% you can agree on and then devote 100% effort to building bridges that will better serve the community . . . regardless of the different viewpoints. 

Register now, and invite someone you know with whom you dont always agree but would like to work with to build a better community.

This event is co-sponsored by Interfaith Northwest, Call of Compassion NW, Treacy Levine Center, and more organizations are coming on board...

Dr. Jennifer Harvey is a writer, speaker, and professor at Drake University. Her work focuses on racial justice and white anti-racism. Dr. Harvey’s most recent books include Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in Racially Unjust America (Abington Press, January 2018) and Dear White Christians: For Those Still Longing for Racial Reconciliation (Wm. B. Ee remains). Dr. Harvey has also contributed to the New York Times and the Huffington Post. She is ordained in the American Baptist Churches (U.S.A.)

Tickets are available through Brown Paper Tickets. 

$50 - Sustainer, $25 Supporter, $15 Discount/Student

Become a More Powerful Peacemaker in Your Family, Community and Workplace

9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 

Deepen Your Exploration of the Five Core Practices of Compassionate Listening and learn the skills necessary to bring this powerful technique into your daily life.
**Holding Compassion for Oneself and Others
**Suspending Judgment
**Maintaining Balance in the Heat of Conflict
**Listening with the Heart
**Speaking from the Heart

Compassionate Listening is a practice that reaches deep into the heart of discord or disconnection, teaching people to listen with a different "ear" to those around them. Its powerful tools help transform the energy of conflict into opportunities for understanding, intimacy at home, healthy relations, productive teamwork, and positive action. It is a practice that provides a roadmap to what sages from all ages and cultures have taught: cultivating the wisdom of the heart is the key to real peace "from the inside out."

This one day session provides Day 2 of the basic introduction for those who have take Day 1 and an opportunity for previous participants to review and deepen their practice. Whereas Day 1 focused on our own stories and self compassion, Day 2 brings us to stepping in the shoes of the other, transforming debate to dialogue and healing connection, and learning from our judgements.

Your Facilitator: Susan Partnow is co-founder of Conversation Cafes, Let’s Talk America and Global Citizen Journey. She is a former teacher and speech pathologist, author of Everyday Speaking for All Occasions, co-author of The Art of Compassionate Listening, certified mediator, and an organizational development consultant/trainer for over 20 years, with an M.A. from Northwestern University.

Primary Hosts: Heart Sisters In Actions and Global Citizen Journey

Cost: Total cost for the one-day workshop is $75 to 150. You'll be able to choose what you pay within this range at the end of the workshop. Those able and willing to contribute at the higher end help support our ability to provide partial scholarships for those who are in need. 

Pre-registration of $50 is required. Register here:  https://compassionate_listening_intro_day_2_april_21.eventbrite.com/
This pre-registration fee goes toward the total workshop fee. The remainder of the fee is due at the end of the workshop. We're unable to accept any credit cards at the workshop so bring cash or checkbook!  
Partial scholarships may be available for those unable to pay the full fee, so please don't let cost be a barrier.

Cancellation Policy:If you cancel with more than two weeks notice, we can apply $40 toward registration toward a future workshop. With less than two weeks notice, we can apply $25 toward a future workshop. There are no refunds.

Continuing education credits may be available for this workshop.

For more about The Compassionate Listening Project,
visit www:compassionatelistening.org

Become a More Powerful Peacemaker in Your Family,
Community and Workplace

Now more than ever we need to learn and practice skills that reach the heart and build connection and understanding in our polarized worlds. Join this one day session co-hosted by Queen Anne Methodist/The Well

Register here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/compassionate-listening-intensive-healing-the-world-from-the-inside-out-tickets-37781176516?aff=efbevent

Come explore the Five Core Practices of Compassionate Listening and learn the skills necessary to bring this powerful technique into your daily life
*Holding Compassion for Oneself and Others
*Developing the Fair Witness
*Maintaining Balance in the Heat of Conflict
*Listening with the Heart
*Speaking from the Heart

Compassionate Listening is a practice that reaches deep into the heart of discord or disconnection, teaching people to listen with a different "ear" to those around them. Its powerful tools help transform the energy of conflict into opportunities for understanding, intimacy at home, healthy relations, productive teamwork, and positive action. It is a practice that provides a roadmap to what sages from all ages and cultures have taught: cultivating the wisdom of the heart is the key to real peace "from the inside out."

The one day session will serve as a basic introduction for newcomers and an opportunity for previous participants to review and deepen their practice. 

Your Facilitator: Susan Partnow is co-founder of Conversation Cafes, Let’s Talk America and Global Citizen Journey. She is a former teacher and speech pathologist, author of Everyday Speaking for All Occasions, co-author of The Art of Compassionate Listening, certified mediator, and an organizational development consultant/trainer for over 20 years, with an M.A. from Northwestern University

Co-Hosted by Heart Sisters in Action and Global Citizen Journey. 
Cost: Total cost for the one-day workshop is $75 to 150. You'll be able to choose what you pay within this range at the end of the workshop. Those able and willing to contribute at the higher end help support our ability to provide partial scholarships for those who are in need. 

Pre-registration of $50 is required. This pre-registration fee goes toward the total workshop fee. The remainder of the fee is due at the end of the workshop. We're unable to accept any credit cards at the workshop so bring cash or checkbook!
Partial scholarships may be available for those unable to pay the full fee, so please don't let cost be a barrier.

Register here:  https://compassionatelistening-day_1_april_7.eventbrite.com/

Continuing education credits may be available for this workshop.

For more about The Compassionate Listening Project,
visit www:compassionatelistening.org

Whole Washington and The Well present economist Dr. Gerald Friedman as he reviews his recent research on single payer in Washington state. He will discuss context, savings, costs, and financing of single payer healthcare. A speaker from Whole Washington will join him to discuss I-600 and will provide ways for you to become engaged in working for healthcare for all. 

Doors open at 2:30 PM and the event will begin at 3:00 PM. 

For more information, contact Peter Zanello at meipz@yahoo.com 

Tickets are $20 (supporting level), $35 (contributing level), $50 (sustaining level). If you need a scholarship, please contact us at thewellqueenanne@gmail.com. Get your tickets from Brown Paper Tickets. 

Why Racism Skeptics Should Be Empathetically Listened to, and This Should Be the Work of White Allies

Do you struggle as a White person to respond in social or work situations when someone questions the reality of racism or fails to advance anti-racist work?

Many White people are at a loss and need tangible tools and skills to participate in healthy, productive, and effective dialogue with racism skeptics. 

Questions addressed in this workshop include:

* How can a White anti-racist ally speak to racism skeptics in a way that is effective and not off-putting so that they stop listening?

* What do research finding tell us about the effectiveness of various strategies for helping racism skeptics broaden their view of issues like structural racism, unfair treatment by institutions, and white privilege?

It might surprise people to learn that there is increasing scientific evidence that shows that empathy-based dialogues are the way to go if you want to have a chance to change adults minds. According to this research, the best way to foster debiasing is to first listen empathetically to skeptics so they feel heard, and after that, raise experiences and facts that invite them to a broader and more nuanced perspective.

Come and participate in this vital conversation.

This workshop was developed by and is facilitated by Dr. David Campt, who is nationally renowned in the areas of community engagement, conflict resolution, inclusion, and equity. His clients have included large corporations, the White House, the US Military, and nonprofits. He is known as The Dialogue Guy. You can learn more about him and this work at www.whiteallytoolkit.com. 

This event is co-sponsored with Valley and Mountain.

Can’t We Talk?

Free tickets available at https://communitydialogues.brownpapertickets.com/. 

An experiment in conversation, contemplation, and our search for common ground on issues that separate us.

This is a community initiative to prepare ourselves for courageous conversations and to provide leadership to show that political discourse in an election year does not need to be nasty.

This initiative has been inspired by our concern that our nation is deeply divided politically and it has become very personal. Family members have stopped speaking over political differences. Our religious and spiritual traditions offer wisdom and ethical values that can enhance the way we engage each other on topical issues, but they are largely absent in the partisan, polarized public square.

The theme for this initiative is: Can’t We Talk? It will consist of 6 workshops designed to promote civil public discourse through personal storytelling, role playing exercises, relational conversational skills and contemplative practices.

The first session will introduce a kit of conversational tools and skills that will facilitate authentic and respectiful dialogue; it will also integrate contemplative practices of our diverse spiritual traditions to provide a healthy, grounded environment for our work.

Subsequent sessions will apply these skills and practices in authentic and mutually respectful dialogue with people who do not always agree with us. 

The goal is to work together to design and sponsor an effective and replicable model for civil discourse on a divisive issues at a Town Hall Forum on August 4, 2018.

Save the Dates for the monthly workshops.

Sunday, February 18

Sunday, March 18

Sunday, April 15

Sunday, May 20

Sunday, June 10

Saturday, August 4, 8:30 - 4:00 (Town Hall Forum)

Please register (there is no charge) so we can plan the meeting, and kindly share this event.

In community,

Rabbi Anson Laytner - Imam Jamal Rahman - Dr. Mark Jones, Ph.D. - John Hale

Become a More Powerful Peacemaker in Your Family,
Community and Workplace

9:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. 

Explore the Five Core Practices of Compassionate Listening and learn the skills necessary to bring this powerful technique into your daily life.

Register here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/compassionate-listening-intensive-healing-the-world-from-the-inside-out-tickets-37781176516?aff=efbevent

Holding Compassion for Oneself and Others
Suspending Judgment
Maintaining Balance in the Heat of Conflict
Listening with the Heart
Speaking from the Heart

Compassionate Listening is a practice that reaches deep into the heart of discord or disconnection, teaching people to listen with a different "ear" to those around them. Its powerful tools help transform the energy of conflict into opportunities for understanding, intimacy at home, healthy relations, productive teamwork, and positive action. It is a practice that provides a roadmap to what sages from all ages and cultures have taught: cultivating the wisdom of the heart is the key to real peace "from the inside out."

The one day session will serve as a basic introduction for newcomers and an opportunity for previous participants to review and deepen their practice. 

Your Facilitator: Susan Partnow is co-founder of Conversation Cafes, Let’s Talk America and Global Citizen Journey. She is a former teacher and speech pathologist, author of Everyday Speaking for All Occasions, co-author of The Art of Compassionate Listening, certified mediator, and an organizational development consultant/trainer for over 20 years, with an M.A. from Northwestern University


Cost: Total cost for the one-day workshop is $75 to 150. You'll be able to choose what you pay within this range at the end of the workshop. Those able and willing to contribute at the higher end help support our ability to provide partial scholarships for those who are in need. 


Pre-registration of $50 is required. This pre-registration fee goes toward the total workshop fee. The remainder of the fee is due at the end of the workshop. We're unable to accept any credit cards at the workshop so bring cash or checkbook!
Partial scholarships may be available for those unable to pay the full fee, so please don't let cost be a barrier.

Register here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/compassionate-listening-intensive-healing-the-world-from-the-inside-out-tickets-37781176516?aff=efbevent

Cancellation Policy:If you cancel with more than two weeks notice, we can apply $40 toward registration toward a future workshop. With less than two weeks notice, we can apply $25 toward a future workshop. There are no refunds.

Additional Information:

If you do not receive your Paypal receipt, there was probably a problem with your registration. Please call us if this happens. Do not assume that you are registered!

After registering and paying, you will receive an email from PayPal confirming your payment. This is your confirmation of a completed registration. If you elect to pay by check, you will receive a confirmation as soon as the check is received. Within two weeks prior to the workshop we will send an email with final details and directions.


As mentioned: We have some ability to offer partial scholarships. If you'd like to know more about this workshop or partial scholarships, contact Susan at (206) 310-1203 or susanpartnow@gmail.com

Continuing education credits may be available for this workshop.

For more about The Compassionate Listening Project,
visit www:compassionatelistening.org

THIS EVENT IS CANCELED AND POSTPONED TO ANOTHER TIME. THERE WERE TRAVEL ISSUES WITH THE PRESENTERS.

This event is hosted at Temple De Hirsch Sinai. It is free and open to the public. 

Currently finishing his book, Painful Hope, Ali Abu Awwad is today a leading Palestinian activist teaching his countrymen non-violent resistance, and reaching out to Jewish Israelis at the heart of the conflict. Ali has toured the world many times over, telling his riveting story of violent activism, imprisonment, bereavement and discovery of the path of non-violent resistance, a story of personal transformation. 

Hanan Schlesinger is an Orthodox rabbi and teacher, and a passionate Zionist settler who has been profoundly transformed by his friendship with Ali.  His understanding of the reality of the Middle East conflict and of Zionism has been utterly complicated by the parallel universe that Ali has introduced him to.  

Join Ali and Hanan as they tell their personal stories and of their efforts to build a better future for their peoples. They come with no ready peace plans in hand, but only with the conviction that human understanding and trust will be the prerequisites for lasting justice, freedom and peace on that tiny sliver of land that they both call home.

Roots is a unique collaboration of local Palestinians and Israelis building a grassroots model for coexistence in the Gush Etzion-Bethlehem-Hebron area. Roots works to nurture understanding, non-violence and personal transformation between Palestinians and Israelis and to advance the two peoples towards a new social and political reality founded upon dignity, trust, and mutual recognition and respect for both peoples’ particular historic belonging to the entire Land.

Roots works primarily among those elements of the Israeli and Palestinian communities 

that have been most marginalized by, threatened by, and opposed to peace and compromise: religious settlers on the one hand, and on the other hand, religious Muslims, ex-fighters and ex-prisoners. We bring together Palestinians and Israelis who live in geographical proximity but by and large have never had real human contact with the other side. Through our programs:

1. The two sides discover the humanity of the other, overcoming suspicion and building trust.
2. An ecosystem of consideration, reconciliation and mutuality is fostered. 
3. People are guided toward taking responsibility.
4. Joint initiatives are developed in order to ease tensions and improve life on the ground.
5. The language of discourse and overall perspectives change, creating the foundation from which peace can sprout.

Roots was founded in January 2014 by Ali Abu Awwad, Shaul Judelman, and Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger together with many other Israelis and Palestinians. The initiative is based in the heart of Gush Etzion (Etzion Bloc), on a piece of land owned by the Awwad family abutting the Palestinian town of Bet Ummar. The result is the creation of a little Garden of Eden called Merkaz (Hebrew for Center) Karama (Arabic for Dignity). It is one of the rare places accessible to both Palestinians and Israelis without special government permits, thus facilitating unmediated get-togethers and deep conversations between people from the two sides.

The Palestinians and Israelis involved in this initiative do not hide the many deep disagreements between them. On the contrary, they are deeply aware of the complexities of the conflict and of the lack of equality between the two sides. What unites them is their honest search for human understanding and nonviolent resolution to the conflict.

Roots is a project of Keren Chai Shalom (The Life of Peace Fund), an Israeli nonprofit organization (legally registered as Beit HaTeatron) that is dedicated to continuing the legacy of Rabbi Menachem Froman of blessed memory, a dedicated settler and peace activist.

Co-sponsors:

@First United Methodist Church

Come engage with Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon, executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace as she hosts a conversation with Daoud Nassar from Tent of Nations near Bethlehem about daily living, human rights concerns, and peacebuilding.

Tickets: $12 suggested donation at the door or purchased in advance via Brown Paper Tickets.

Brought to you by First United Methodist Church and The Well.

Doors open at 6:30 PM. Parking available on site.

Did you know that King County Juvenile Court is currently piloting Peacemaking Circles as an alternative and community-based way to resolve some of its juvenile felony cases? This reduces incarceration, fosters healing for both victims and offenders, and affords a profound opportunity for transformation. This is the Gospel in action and it’s unfolding right here in our own backyard. Faith communities are needed to expand our network of circle providers. Would your church like to be involved? We’ll begin by transforming ourselves using this tool. Please join us to learn more!

QUESTIONS?
Contact for Protestant and Interfaith Communities: REV. TERRI STEWART, (425) 531-1756 or YCC-Chaplain@thechurchcouncil.org

Contact for Catholic Communities: JOE COTTON
(206) 382-4847 or joe.cotton@seattlearch.

This event is co-sponsored by Riverton Park United Methodist Church, the Youth Chaplaincy Coalition, and The Well. 

This event is free and open to the public. Please register by contacting the above listed names. 

Join Zac Calvo, our co-sponsors from Coastland Commons, and The Well as we discuss the intrinsic difficulty in creating a "safe enough" space for vigorous and sometime conflictual dialogue and the free exchange of ideas, even when ideas can be repugnant. What is the institutional responsibility to name its own power in framing the dialogue, in inviting the participants, and in shaping the gathering and space? What ideas are out of bounds? When does difference of opinion become harm and what is the ethical demand placed upon a sponsor to attend to potential harm?

This past year, Princeton Theological Seminary invited the Rev. Dr. Tim Keller to speak at an annual conference and to receive an award from the Kuyper Center. Dr. Keller is a noted leader in the Presbyterian Church of America, a denomination which prevents women and LGBTQIA people from full participation in ordained ministry. Moreover, Dr. Keller shares the views of his denomination and has been outspoken in his stances. 

An outcry erupted. Should Dr. Keller be allowed to speak? Should he be given an award by the school - even by a center within the school? What is the responsibility of students to make space for vigorous debate? What is the role of the institution to uphold its stated values?

Zac Calvo was a leader in the Princeton movement of students, faculty, and others to rescind the award but allow the talk. He will facilitate our dialogue first by outlining the events at Princeton, naming the various places that power imbalances entered and affected the process and then leading us into a broader conversation about power in public spaces. That is, Power Dynamics, Equal Agency and Intellectual Freedom: Developing Ethical Conversation in Institution require thoughtful and mindful attention as well as truth-telling about the institution's role as well as the agency of the individuals involved.

We at The Well are committed to creating a safe and generous place to dialogue about issues that affect mind, body, spirit, community, and world. This question is one we ask ourselves often. Who do we invite? What voices should be heard? What ideas need amplification? Into what communities do we reach for dialogue partners? What issues are pressing? What is the most healthy way to structure a forum? We invite you to join us in struggling together with these and other questions. A common good demands of us mindful engagement. 

This event is free and open to the public.

Peterson Toscano has shaken up Bible academics and received high praise for his ground-breaking, genre-bending, gender blending Bible scholarship. By unearthing the stories of gender-variant people in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, Toscano’s one-person play deepens well-known (and lesser-known) Bible stories and presents an array of Bible characters with an array of genders.

After the screening, Peterson Toscano will be with us to participate in an audience Q & A.


Reviews:
Toscano brings a deep reverence for the Biblical text with him into his exploration of gender transgression.  This play is mesmerizing and compels the viewer to see well known Bible stories in a brave new light. -Nadia Bolz-Weber, Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint
 
As a biblical scholar I'm always a bit skeptical about dramatic interpretations of biblical texts, whether they will truly capture the complexity of the originals; however, Peterson's performances bring to light dimensions of the texts that many, even those of us who spend hours with the text on the page, fail to see. By bringing the stories and characters to life we're able to see the human-ness of the biblical narratives in all its gore and glory. -Lynn Huber, Associate Professor of Religious Studies--New Testament and Early Christian History, Elon College.

This event is free and open to the public. Donations are welcome!

The Bible has been used as a weapon against LGBTQ people. For over a decade Peterson Toscano has engaged in a creative and very public dialogue with these ancient texts. His Bible scholarship is sound, but perhaps more importantly, it is filled with humor and warmth.

In this lively performance lecture, Peterson reveals bizarre, hilarious, disturbing, and revelatory characters and moments from the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.  This is not “What does the Bible say about homosexuality?” No, Peterson delves into the text to find gender outlaws in it, to bust open traditional readings, and provides whole new perspectives.

What has been astonishing about Peterson’s Bible presentations is how well they are received by all kinds of audience members. Traditional Bible believers, progressive Christians and Jews, Bible scholars, atheists, and people who don’t know the first thing about the Bible, are drawn in, entertained and enlightened.

If you want to hear something fresh and new about old Bible stories and also experience outright weird and hysterical performance art, come see Peterson's performance/lecture!

Drawing from the life and work of  Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dr. Reggie Williams will explore how the Harlem Renaissance interrupted the thinking of the theologian by offering alternative ways of understand God in Christ. This interruption provided Bonhoeffer with new ways of addressing the struggles and problems of his world. Dr. Williams will utilize Bonhoeffer as a guiding metaphor to frame our conversation on Interrupting Whiteness: Harlem Renaissance, Black Christ, & Christian Ethics. 

Dr. Reggie Williams is Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at McCormick Theological Seminary. 

General Admission: $15, Students $8

Race still matters in America today. How can we raise children who go beyond the superficial notion of colorblindness to see and challenge the ways that privilege still shapes our lives? How can parents prepare to seize the teachable moments that arise when we least expect them?

Join us at Epiphany Parish for this 3-hour workshop specially suited for preschool through elementary age children and their parents. Children and parents have separate programs to engage them. Snacks will be provided for the children.

This workshop will focus on identity development and cultural norms. Early childhood educator Jason Frelot will present on how narratives and counter-narratives shape our children's personal and racial identity development.

Cost: $15/child, Early Educators $20, Parent/Adult $30