What Is Mine To Do?
An Interspiritual Approach to
Political Engagement
Facilitated by Rev. Laurene Williams, Rev. Dr. Melissa Stewart. Rev. Nathan Brisby, and Rev. Dr. Sushmita Mukherjee
9:30am - 5:00pm ET | Saturday, October 26, 2024
Workshop Credit Cost: 1 credit (Click Here to Purchase a Credit Package)
à la carte Price: General Public - $125.00 ; One Spirit Alumni - $100.00
As spiritual people, we should not avoid the political realities that harm us and those we love. We can no longer use our spirituality to numb ourselves from feeling the real pain of oppression, nor can we use our spirituality to justify turning away from our responsibility to one another. Each of us is valuable and necessary to co-create the world we want, and each of us may have a different role to play. The question then becomes: “what is mine to do?”
Some people seek to force their theology into politics, while others believe that the right way to handle politics and spirituality is to keep them separate. Both of these perspectives perpetuate systems of inequity. If we truly belong to ourselves and to each other, we need to find a radical, spiritually grounded way to participate in the democratic process. In this workshop, participants will delve deeply into an embodied experience of our interconnection and interdependence.
Who this workshop is for
Many people have a desire to participate in the political space while wrestling with big, complex emotions. This workshop is designed to help find a way to work with our emotional and spiritual struggles in a way that is both effective, and in alignment with our highest values. We will use an interspiritual and anti-oppressive sensibility with opportunities for embodied exploration. The participants will leave with tools and strategies for ongoing political engagement.
What you’ll explore
An interspiritual perspective on our political and spiritual responsibilities to one another
Understanding the forces of colonization that exist within the spiritual and political realms
How our unique stories and identities provide us with unique opportunities to serve
How to navigate emotional activation in embodied ways
What you’ll experience
Register for this one-day workshop to practice identifying and claiming your uniqueness, listening to one another’s stories, working with emotional activation. and discerning opportunities for action.
Following this workshop, you’ll be ready to answer the question “what is mine to do?” with a holistic plan for taking action.
About the Facilitators
Rev. Laurene Williams (she/her) is a poet, soul activist, thought leader and avid sports fan. A former financial services professional for over 30 years, she now spends her days working on passion projects focused on the racial healing she believes is fundamental for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging to be fully realized in America. She asserts, “The more we can feel, heal and deal with the ways we’ve carved up humanity into categories of value, use and worth starting with the enslaved African, the more we can own the depth of our interrelatedness, interdependence and interconnectedness in how we live together.”
An ordained interfaith minister, interspiritual counselor and board member at One Spirit Learning Alliance, Reverend Laurene explores with people how to embody their personal truth in alignment with Spiritual Truth for greater fulfillment, power, joy and peace of mind. This is accomplished through her writing, counseling, ministry, public speaking, transformational workshops and innovative programs. Born in Westbury, Long Island, Reverend Laurene currently lives in Bloomfield, NJ.
Rev. Dr. Melissa Stewart, DMin, LCSW-R (she/her) is an Interspiritual Minister, educator, and group facilitator. She mindfully cultivates an Interspiritual sensibility that requires an embodied and deeply related form of interpersonal engagement, affirms global interconnection, and supports anti-oppressive awareness, advocacy, and action.
Melissa is also a spiritually attuned oncology social worker and supervisor. She promotes spirituality in medical care, particularly with people impacted by cancer and their loved ones. Melissa's dissertation, Living Into the Questions: Augmenting Oncology Social Work Practice through Spiritual Location and Deeper Inquiry, integrates social work and spirituality.
She lives in New York City with her wife and their feline companion.
Rev. Nathan Brisby (he/him) is an ordained Interfaith Minister and Interspiritual Companion and Counselor. He co-designed and co-facilitates the Interspiritual Companioning program at 1Spirit. For his primary vocational service, he leads the HR function at an integrative health and wellness organization. He holds advanced degrees in communication studies and business administration, with emphases in rhetoric and organizational psychology, respectively. He maintains certifications as a grief counselor, meditation teacher, senior HR professional, and health coach. Nathan also founded a not for profit, Broadway Gives Back, which connects non-profit organizations with the Broadway community. He is passionate about the importance of the performing arts, the cause of animal welfare, and the inner work of decolonization. He currently lives in Westchester County, NY with his husband, Stephen, and their dogs, Effie and Chewbacca.
Rev. Dr. Sushmita Mukherjee (she/her) is based in New York City, on indigenous Lenape land. She is an Associate Professor and Director of Microscopy services at Weill Cornell Medical College in NYC, an ordained interspiritual minister, a spiritual companion and a faculty member at One Spirit Seminary. Her work thrives at the interface of Interspirituality and an engagement of the image - whether scientific, psychological or spiritual. https://www.on-seeing.com/
Where can I access the workshop?
All One Spirit workshops are hosted on Hylo - our online community platform. Workshop access will be provided via email after registration is complete. Please check your spam and/or promotions folders for your confirmation email from One Spirit. You will be guided to create a Hylo account, if you don’t already have one.