Jane Redmont: theology

Showing posts with label theology. Show all posts

Friday, February 17, 2023

LEARNING AND SPIRITUAL REFRESHMENT, FEBRUARY TO JUNE 2023, online

Join us for one or more of these online offerings --some longer, some shorter-- for spiritual reflection, deep learning, prayer, and daily practice.

Click on the links at the titles below (first line of each title) to learn more about each offering: three retreats, one course-retreat.

~~1. RE-MEMBERING OUR LIVES:~~

~~A Healing Lent~~

~~February 26-April 1~~

CANCELED DUE TO COVID -

but we're on for the other retreats, which begin

later in the season. See below!

2. A GENTLE LENT:

Living Ancient Practices Today

March 8-25

3. NINE DAYS WITH DOROTHEE SOELLE

a retreat for

marginal, committed, radical, and/or curious Christians

March 23-31

4. SOELLE IN SPRINGTIME:

Challenge and Wonder

a course-retreat *

April 19-June 23

* Less reading and more spiritual practice than a course (class), more reading and critical thinking than a retreat. Open to persons of any (or no) religious background.

Click on the titles above for details and registration.

NINE DAYS WITH DOROTHEE SOELLE

The full list of our Winter, Lent, and Spring 2023 online offerings is here.

Do you need spiritual support and enrichment
during the fourth and fifth week of Lent?
It's not too late!

Join us for a time of reflection, practice, and prayer.

Thursday, March 23 to Friday, March 31, 2023

Nine Days with Dorothee Soelle

an online retreat

Dorothee Soelle (also spelled Sölle) (1928-2003) was a German theologian, poet, peace activist, Protestant and ecumenical Christian, spouse and mother, teacher, socialist, and from mid-life on, feminist. She is the author of The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance; Against the Wind: Memoir of a Radical Christian; Revolutionary Patience; Theology for Skeptics; and other books.

Soelle wrote in an accessible manner (mostly in prose, sometimes in poems) and not in the form of long academic treatises. Her chosen topics, though, were often challenging: silence and language in the struggle to name God; suffering and the vulnerability of God; Jesus the risk-taker and the community of the friends of Jesus; history, evil, and Christian political engagement; Christians and the Shoah (Holocaust); the church as community of memory, resistance, and hope.

This retreat will be especially helpful if you

--are struggling with the challenge of staying hopeful in hard times

--want to explore connections between Christian spirituality and social justice

--are busy and yearn for some quiet and inspiration

--are honest about your struggles in faith

--want to rekindle your relationship with God

--got a late start on Lent

--are serious about Christian discipleship

--are not really sure about your relationship with the church

--are thinking of taking the online class (course/retreat) on Dorothee Soelle in the spring and want a taste of Soelle's writings before you make that commitment

What, when, where, how

* An online nine-day spiritual retreat, beginning Thursday, March 23, 2023.

* The life and writings of Dorothee Soelle serve as a focus and inspiration.

* Simple and accessible resources and practices:

one quotation or short excerpt from DS's writings per day
one spiritual exercise per day
one prayer per day
on nine consecutive days

* At home, on a break at work, in a coffee shop, on vacation, in your daily life: read, reflect, meditate, and pray with the retreat materials in a way that suits your schedule.

* Spiritual refreshment, nurture, and challenge.

* You'll need 20 minutes a day of focused time (any time, night or day) and a computer or tablet with internet access. (Smart phone works too but the larger the screen, the better.)

* Easy registration and payment via PayPal secure link, which takes credit and debit cards in addition to PayPal.

--You don't have to have your own PayPal account to use this online payment method.

--If you prefer making a donation via Venmo, please write me.

--A discount rate is available for those in financial hardship.

--Likewise, the benefactor rate, for those who have the means, helps offset costs and makes scholarship aid possible.

-If the discount fee is too high for you, please write me and ask about the possibility of a scholarship.

--Payment is non-refundable and due upon registration.

Register here

An online retreat? How does that work?

* The retreat offers daily resources (the quotations, spiritual exercises, and prayers mentioned above, with some images as well to nourish you visually, and sometimes a piece of music too) online on a blog. This is the primary resource for the retreat. All retreat materials will be posted on this blog as the retreat proceeds.

* The initial, one-time-only sign-on to the retreat blog is easy. Once you have signed up a first time, the retreat blog will recognize you and you can check in any time. Only retreatants with have access to the blog, which is private and not searchable on the internet.

* Once you register for the retreat, I will send instructions for the one-time sign-on mechanism. After you first sign on to the retreat blog, the blog will always recognize you.

Privacy and community

During the retreat, you can remain anonymous, invisible, and silent and just read the blog and use the quotations, spiritual exercises, images, music, and prayers on your own, without writing any comments about them or sharing your experiences or reactions.

OR

If you are more extroverted and communal or in need of companions on your retreat, you can share your thoughts, experiences, and questions via the comments function on the blog and engage in (written) conversation with other retreatants and with me (the retreat facilitator).

Please do not hesitate to write me with questions or concerns.

Reminder:

The full list of our February to May online offerings, including longer Lenten retreats and a seven-week course/retreat on Dorothee Soelle, is here.

Jane Redmont (c) May 2016

SOELLE IN SPRINGTIME: Challenge and Wonder - a course-retreat

Yes, a course-retreat.

Less reading and more spiritual practice than a course (class),

more reading and exercising the mind than a retreat.

Soelle in Springtime:

Challenge and Wonder

April 19-June 3, 2023

online

Read and reflect in community on the work, thought, and spirituality of Dorothee Soelle (also spelled Sölle).

Dorothee Soelle (1928-2003) was a German theologian, poet, peace activist, and Protestant Christian with Catholic, secular, humanist, and Jewish companions and allies; she was also a friend, teacher, spouse, mother, socialist, and from mid-life on, feminist.

Soelle wrote in an accessible manner --mostly in prose, sometimes in poems-- and not in the form of long academic treatises.

Her chosen topics, though, were challenging. We will visit a number of them:

    - history, evil, and Christian political engagement
    - silence, language, and poetry in the struggle to name God
    - suffering and the vulnerability of God
    - Jesus the risk-taker and the community of the friends of Jesus
    - church as community of memory, resistance, and hope
    - feminism, disobedience, and human wholeness

She was one of the first Christian theologians (and first German theologians) to address the reality of the Shoah (Holocaust) and how Christian thought and practice must change in a post-Shoah era and world.

What, when, where, how

* A seven-week online course-retreat from April 19 to June 3, 2023

* Reading, personal reflection, group conversation.

* At home, in your daily life: read and reflect in a way that suits your schedule.

* Two brief (1 or 2 paragraphs) online check-ins (in writing) per week.

* Not for academic credit -- but a solid contribution to your spiritual, intellectual, and community life and civic engagement, and to your work in the arts, community organizations, religion, activism, and/or academia.

* Readings are not lengthy (one and a half paperback books over seven weeks, plus short excerpts from Soelle's work on the course blog) but topics in Soelle's work are of the "oh, that's deep" sort. Expect gentle and friendly guidance and space for questioning and wonder, but also challenge and seriousness.

Soelle is the author of Political Theology; Revolutionary Patience; Suffering; Theology for Skeptics; Creative Disobedience; The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance; Against the Wind: Memoir of a Radical Christian; and many other works including books, essays, and poems. She also co-authored several books with friends such as her husband Fulbert Steffensky, her friend biblical scholar Luise Schottroff, and others.

How the course-retreat will work

* Soelle in Springtime is part course, part retreat.

* As such it will examine some of Soelle's writings with the intention of understanding them and her and the historical, social, political, and economic context in which Soelle lived and wrote.

* It will also invite us to reflect on some of the themes Soelle raises in our own contexts and lives, to ponder some of the questions she raises, slowly and prayerfully or meditatively, and to share some of the fruit of our reflection and prayer with other participants.

* There will be required readings every week, not too long, some from the two paperback required books** and some shorter ones posted on the course blog.

** Dorothee Soelle, Against the Wind: Memoir of a Radical Christian (Fortress, 1999)

Dorothee Soelle, Essential Writings, ed. Dianne Oliver (Orbis, 2006)

* I will post short readings, meditations, and questions for you to the course blog twice a week, usually on Wednesday and Saturday.

* You will take up to three or four days to read and ponder and write brief responses (can be just a paragraph or two) on the course blog, any time. (That's it. No papers, no exams, no presentations.)

* While the main platform for the course will be our course blog, I will also offer a once a week live Zoom session for us to talk about our readings, reactions, and discoveries (spiritual, intellectual, and/or practical). This is optional but highly recommended. These weekly sessions, if you can make time for them, can keep you engaged and encouraged.

Online? How does that happen?

* As you saw above, two books are required. Otherwise, I offer further resources (quotations, images, reflection questions, guidelines for spiritual exercises, explanations and clarifications) online on a blog. The retreat blog will be open only to those whom the blog owner-administrator (that's me) allows in. In other words, it is not open to anybody wandering around the internet. Random web surfers will not be able to view either the blog or our conversations in the blog comments.

Once you register for the course, I will send instructions on the one-time sign-in mechanism for the blog. After that, the blog will always recognize you.

* We have conversations online in the comments section of each post on the blog. These are written conversations. I will post questions for your reflection and you will ponder them on your own, then reflect on them in community through your twice-weekly check-ins on the blog. You must check in twice a week, but your check-in may be as short as one or two thoughtful paragraphs. You may write more if you wish, but that's the minimum: one or two paragraphs, twice a week. No papers, no exams, no required academic jargon.

Registration and cost

Registration and payment take place via PayPal secure link (below), which takes credit and debit cards in addition to PayPal.

--You don't have to have your own PayPal account to use this online payment method.

--If you prefer making a donation via Venmo, please write me.

--A discount rate is available for those in financial hardship.

--Likewise, the benefactor rate, for those who have the means, helps offset costs and makes scholarship aid possible.

--If the discount fee is too high for you, please write me and ask about the possibility of a scholarship.

--Payment is non-refundable and due upon registration.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Nine days with Dorothee Soelle: online "novena retreat" begins August 31

Longing for some prayerful and reflective time in your busy life?
Struggling with the challenge of hope in hard times?
Join us:

Dorothee Soelle:
An Online Novena Retreat

Dorothee Soelle (also spelled Sölle) (1928-2003) was a German theologian, poet, peace activist, Protestant and ecumenical Christian, spouse and mother, teacher, socialist, and from mid-life on, feminist. She was the author of The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance, Against the Wind: Memoir of a Radical Christian, Revolutionary Patience, Theology for Skeptics, and many other works. Soelle wrote in an accessible manner --mostly in prose, sometimes in poems-- and not in the form of long academic treatises. Her chosen topics, though, were often challenging: silence and language in the struggle to name God; suffering and the vulnerability of God; Jesus the risk-taker and the community of the friends of Jesus; history, evil, and Christian political engagement; the church as community of memory, resistance, and hope.

What, when, where

* An online nine-day spiritual retreat, August 31-September 8, 2015, with the help of the writings of Dorothee Soelle (1928-2003).

* Simple and accessible:

one quote per day
one spiritual exercise per day
one prayer per day

* At home, in your daily life: read, meditate, and pray in a way that suits your schedule.

* You'll need 20 minutes a day of focused time and a computer or tablet with internet access.

* Spiritual refreshment, nurture, and challenge.

"Novena retreat" ?

A novena is a sequence of nine successive days of prayer–usually prayers of either petition or thanksgiving. It is generally a public and popular spiritual practice and is found most often in the Roman Catholic religious tradition.

I am using the word “novena,” meaning nine days, as part of the description of this retreat to indicate that it is nine days long and involves daily meditation and prayer.

Dorothee Soelle was a Protestant in the Lutheran tradition, and the novena retreat is ecumenical, accessible to Christians of any background or affiliation, and open to all. It is a new twist on the traditional novena.

An online retreat? How does that work?

* The retreat offers daily resources (the quotes, spiritual exercises, and prayers mentioned above, with some images as well to nourish you visually) online on a blog. More specifically, a closed blog.

* What's a closed blog? It's a blog like this, but it is not public: it is open only to those whom the blog owner-administrator (that's me) has signed in. In other words, it is not open to anybody wandering around the internet. It is not "searchable": random web surfers will not be able to view either the blog or our conversations in the comments.

* Once you register for the retreat, I will send instructions for the one-time-only sign-in mechanism. After that, the blog will always recognize you

Registration

To register, write me, Jane Redmont, stating your intention to take the retreat, and make your payment.

Cost and payment

* $60 if you register by Sunday, August 23.

* $75 if you register between August 24 and August 31, the day the retreat begins.

It's best to register before the 21st, but you are still welcome if you sign up at the 11th hour!

* Discounts are available if you are in financial hardship. Talk to me.

* Payment is non-refundable and due upon registration, by check or online electronic payment.

If you prefer to pay by check, I will send you the mailing address when you write me to register.

If you prefer to pay online by credit card or PayPal, please click below to pay via the Redmont Retreats secure PayPal account. (Note: you don't have to have your own PayPal account to use this online payment method.)

Privacy and community

During the retreat, you can remain private and just read the blog and use the quotes, spiritual exercises, and prayers on your own.

or

If you are more extroverted and communal or in need of companions on your retreat, you can share your thoughts, experiences, and questions via the comments function on the blog and engage in conversation with other retreatants and with the retreat facilitator.

Full listing of summer online retreats here.

This announcement of the Dorothee Soelle retreat was originally posted on July 8.

Friday, June 7, 2013

Soelle in Summer: Challenge and Wonder -- an online course-retreat, June 17-July 31

Yes, a course-retreat. Less reading and more spiritual practice than a course, more reading and exercising the mind than a retreat -- the perfect combination for reflecting on Soelle, for whom acting, praying, and thinking were always consciously intertwined.

Soelle in Summer: Challenge and Wonder

online

June 17-July 31, 2013

Read and reflect in community on the work, thought, and spirituality of Dorothee Soelle (also spelled Sölle).

Dorothee Soelle (1928-2003) was a German theologian, poet, peace activist, and Protestant Christian with Catholic, secular, humanist, and Jewish companions and allies; she was also a friend, teacher, spouse, mother, socialist, and from mid-life on, feminist.

Course-retreat designed, led, and facilitated by Jane Redmont, theologian, author, and spiritual director.

Seven weeks, $245.

To register, write readwithredmont@earthlink.net.

More details...

What, when, where

* A seven-week online course-retreat from June 17 to July 31, 2013

* Reading, personal reflection, group conversation.

* Prayer and study intertwined.

* At home, in your daily life: read and reflect in a way that suits your schedule.

* Two brief online check-ins (in writing) per week.

More on Dorothee Soelle

* Soelle is the author of Political Theology; Revolutionary Patience; Suffering; Theology for Skeptics; Creative Disobedience; The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance; Against the Wind: Memoir of a Radical Christian; and many other works including books, essays, and poems. She also co-authored several books with friends such as her husband Fulbert Steffensky, biblical scholar Luise Schottroff, and others.

* I have shared insights from Soelle in the past on my personal blog, Acts of Hope. See, for instance, here, here, and here.

* Soelle wrote in an accessible manner --mostly in prose, sometimes in poems-- and not in the form of long academic treatises.

* Her chosen topics, though, were challenging. We will visit a number of them on our retreat:

- history, evil, and Christian political engagement
- silence, language, and poetry in the struggle to name God
- suffering and the vulnerability of God
- Jesus the risk-taker and the community of the friends of Jesus
- church as community of memory, resistance, and hope
- feminism, disobedience, and human wholeness

* I often refer to Soelle as "an un-anesthetized Christian."

How the course-retreat will work

* Soelle in Summer is part course, part retreat.

* As such it will examine some of Soelle's writings with the intention of understanding them and her and the historical, social, political, and economic context in which Soelle lived and wrote.

* It will also invite us to reflect on some of the themes Soelle raises in our own contexts and lives, to ponder some of the questions she raises, slowly and prayerfully, and to share some of the fruit of our reflection and prayer with other participants.

* There will be required readings every week, not too long, some from the two small required books** and some shorter ones posted on the course blog.

** Required books:

- Dorothee Soelle, Against the Wind: Memoir of a Radical Christian (Fortress Press, 1999)

-Dorothee Soelle, Essential Writings, ed. Dianne Oliver (Orbis Books, 2006)

There are a number of used-book online booksellers (abebooks.com and alibris.com, for instance) if you prefer a used, inexpensive copy. If you are in a country where it is difficult to find these books, write me and we will find a way for me to get scanned readings to you until you can get a hold of the books.

* I will post short readings, meditations, and questions for you to the course blog twice a week, usually on Wednesday during the day and on Saturday evening.

* You will take time to read and ponder over the next three or four days and then write your brief responses on the blog any time before the next posting. We can have further conversation if you have responses to each other!

An online retreat? Really?

* As you saw above, two small books are required. Otherwise, I offer further resources (quotes, images, reflection questions, guidelines for spiritual exercises, explanations and clarifications) online on a blog. More specifically, a closed blog.

* What's a closed blog? It's a blog like this, but it is not public; it is open only to those whom the blog owner-administrator (that's me) allows in. In other words, it is not open to anybody wandering around the internet. Random web surfers will not be able to view either the blog or our conversations in the comments. Once you register for the course, I will send instructions on the one-time sign-in mechanism. After that, the blog will always recognize you.

* We have conversations online in the comments section of each post on the blog. These are written conversations. I will post questions for your reflection and you will ponder them on your own, then reflect on them in community through your twice-weekly check-ins on the blog. You must check in twice a week, but your check-in may be as short as one or two thoughtful paragraphs. You may write more if you wish, but that's the minimum: one or two paragraphs, twice a week.

Registration

The course-retreat begins Monday, June 17.

Registration has begun and will remain open till Tuesday, June 18.

To register, write me, Jane Redmont, at readwithredmont@earthlink.net. I will send you full registration instructions with payment address and online sign-up information. (Both of these are quite simple.)

Cost

Seven weeks, $245.

(i.e. $35 per week)

Payment is non-refundable and due upon registration, by check or money order. I will send you the mailing address when you write me to register.

"I am thinking of a friend's answer to that ['Do you have strength to endure? ... to sustain yourself?'] when I was in a state of despair, and had this sense of meaninglessness and never reaching anything, and then he talked about the cathedrals which were built during the Middle Ages. Most of them were built over 200 years, some over 300 years even, and some of the workers in those cathedrals never saw the whole building, they never went to pray there, they never saw the glass and all the beautiful things they gave their life for. And then this friend said to me: 'Listen, Dorothee, we who are building the cathedral of peace, maybe we won't see it either. We will die before it is complete, and yet we are going to build it. We are going on even if we won't live in that building.'"

Dorothee Soelle, in a conversation with C.F. Beyers Naudé,

published as Hope for Faith: A Conversation (1986)

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