Theme: Courageous Church: Confronting Whiteness in Worship and Community
Faculty: Mia McClain and Ben Boswell
Registrar: Donna Bryant at [email protected] or 615-340-7233
Sponsors: The Upper Room
As stated on this webpage, The Upper Room is committed to a ministry that is increasingly global, anti-racist, and ecumenical. In these days we are called to give special and focused attention to being anti-racist. This is the work of discipleship and spiritual formation.
Many churches aim to create environments of racial and cultural inclusivity yet fail to interrogate the racial and cultural assumptions that ground their worship, music, and other liturgical practices. Courageous churches who truly desire inclusivity and diversity must confront the Whiteness and Colonialism that lies at the root of how we confess together, sing together, break bread together, preach together, and even how we interact with the spaces we designed for gathering. If we do not confront Whiteness in our worship, we are at risk of betraying our mission and disconnecting from the Biblical call to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. How do we confront Whiteness and Colonial theologies in our worship? What would it look like to reimagine our liturgical practices in ways that open up horizons of possibility, avenues for liberation, visions of communal salvation, and the building of a beloved community?
Join us for this online Academy Day Apart retreat as we seek to discover and embrace a decolonized liturgical imagination. We will be guided by Mia McClain, Associate Minister of Faith Formation and Outreach at Myers Park Baptist Church and Ben Boswell, Senior Minister at Myers Park, Academy alum, and creator of Confronting Whiteness. Don’t miss this opportunity to engage the deep soul work of anti-racism supported by the resources of community, silence, worship, and embodied spiritual practice.
All who register will be provided with pre-retreat content and prompts for reflection along with suggestions for going deeper after the retreat.
Space is limited. The registration deadline is July 22, 2022.
RETREAT FEE: $60 – $120 (sliding scale)*
*The full value of this Online Academy Day Apart Retreat is $120. To make participation accessible for any who want to attend, you may choose to pay anywhere from 50% to 100% of the full price. We encourage you to pay as high on the scale as possible to allow us to continue offering these programs and to provide scholarships for those who need them. Actively enrolled students may register for $30.
SCHOLARSHIPS: Contact [email protected] BEFORE registering if in need of scholarship assistance.
GROUP RATE: $750**
**Congregations or other organizations that want to gather a community in one location and participate together through a single Zoom account are invited to register as a group at a special rate of $750 for the whole group. This can be a great option for a local church that wants to hold an in-person retreat for their community without needing to create the content. If you have questions about how group participation works, please contact our office.
Email [email protected] with questions or for more information.
This retreat is eligible for a 0.5 CEU at a cost of $2.50