Washington, D.C. Conference
Document Actions
Send this page to somebody
Print this page
Information about the Spiritual Activism Conference in Washington, D.C.: May 17-20, All Souls Church, Unitarian, 1500 Harvard St NW, Washington, D.C.
Want an alternative to the Religious Right, to the materialism and selfishness of the competitive marketplace, and to the religio-phobia and tone-deafness to spiritual concerns on the Left?
About the Spiritual Activism Conference • Tentative Agenda • Workshops • Small Groups and Networking • Activities on Capitol Hill • Peace Demonstration • Conference Sponsor and Cosponsors • Conference Site • Accessibility • Directions and Getting Around Washington • Parking Near the Conference Site • Carpools and Public Transportation Networking • Lodging • Roommate Matching • Food • Registration • Bookstore • Audio Recordings • T-shirts • Toward a Greener Conference • Ideas Matter • An Important Note about Process: Spiritual Covenant with America • More about last year’s conference
We will bring the Spiritual Covenant for America (based in part on the conversations that took place at the July 2005 conference and developed into a platform in Rabbi Lerner's The Left Hand of God) to the attention of the U.S. Congress and the liberal and progressive forces headquartered in D.C.
The Religious Right has dominated public discourse because it has managed to portray itself as the force that genuinely cares about the spiritual crisis that permeates American life. Yet the Religious Right uses the legitimacy it gets from articulating spiritual needs to support a political program that includes militarism and the war in Iraq, reducing the taxes on rich people while eliminating badly needed social programs for the poor, rejecting international agreements to combat global warming (thereby contributing to a series of environmental disasters like the increased ferocity and frequency of destructive hurricanes), and divisive assaults on the rights of women and homosexuals.
Unfortunately, liberals and progressives, even when they try to articulate an alternative program, too often revert to technocratic and economistic alternatives that miss the spiritual dimension of human needs. That is why we are building a movement of spiritual progressives that is a challenge both to the Right and to the anti-religious and anti-spiritual tendencies within some parts of the Left.
Our conference is part of that process, and we will be highlighting a Spiritual Covenant with America that is as much an alternative to the tepid and visionless rhetoric of some sections of establishment liberals as it is to the moral insensitivity of some sections of the Right. Our perspective is unabashedly visionary and "unrealistic" in the sense that it challenges the contemporary denizens of political realism and insists that the challenges facing the human race today require a major jump in consciousness and political courage. We are honored to be working with All Souls Church, which has a rich history of social justice ministry.
For more details please visit the Tikkun website
Scroll down for a tentative conference agenda. You can register here
9:00 am Opening Religious/Spiritual Rituals.
10:00 am Introduction to the Conference: Deborah Kory and Rev. Robert Hardies
10:30-12:00 am Understanding Spiritual Politics: Sister Joan Chittister and Peter Gabel
12:00-12:30 pm Introduction to Small Groups
12;30-1:30 pm Lunch with small groups
1:30-3:15 pm Keynote Plenary: Rabbi Michael Lerner: How Spiritual Progressives Can Take Back our Country from the Religious Right and Build a New Bottom Line in America so that Our Society Can Manifest the Love, Kindness, Generosity and Connection to God that Reflects the Highest Vision of our Spiritual and Religious Traditions and Defeats Media Cynicism and Cynical Realism.
SPIRITUAL COVENANT GROUPS preparing for meetings with Congress on Thurs. a.m.
1. Create a society that promotes loving relationships and families Rabbi Debora Kohn
2. Take Personal Responsibility for Ethical Behavior (including sexual behavior) Facilitator: Rev. Tony Campolo and Rev. Ama Zenya
3. Build Social Responsibility into our economic and political institutions Facilitator: Peter Gabel
4. Reshape education to teach love, caring, generosity, nonviolent communication, cooperation, compassion, environmental responsibility, awe and wonder, respect and thanksgiving. Facilitator: Svi Shapiro and Ralph Wolf (W.A.S.C.)
5. Build a broader understanding of health care while also pursuing a single payer national health care plan. Facilitators: Dr.Roy Farrell, Harvey Fernbach, and Dr. Bill Benda
6. Be stewards of the environment Facilitator: Thea Levkovitz & Paul Wapner
7. A spiritual foreign policy, homeland security and elimination of Poverty: safety through a strategy of generosity and nonviolence. Rabbi Michael Lerner
8. Separation of church and state and science while bringing our new bottom line into the public sphere Jonathan Granoff
A 1. Global Warming: An opportunity for Global Awakening?
Moderator: Rev Jim, Ruth Mulligan, Russ Agdern or Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Brent Balckwelden
2. Our own and others' fears of Progressive Social Change Rev. Deborah L. Johnson
3. Kety Esquivel: Cross Left
4. The Spiritual Crisis in Our Lives Generated by the War in Iraq Stacy Bannerman
5. How Authentic Spirituality Drives People to be Advocates of Social Justice Mary Darling
6. Religion and Faith in the GLBTQ Community Harry Knox
7. Politics of Meaning Peter Gabel and Michael Lerner
8. "Spiritual but not Religious": How to create a movement that has room for those whose connection to God and the spiritual wisdom of humanity is done outside traditional religious communities and without the theo-centric language that suggests hierarchical and patriarchal visions of God? Ama Zenya
9. Spiritual Nonviolence Training for personal and social change Janet Chisholm
10. The Encounter & Reconciliation of Civilizations (a challenge to the "clash of civilizations" world view) Shaikh Kabir Helminski
11. The Ethical and Spiritual Dimensions of the New Immigrants-Rights Movement Norma Chavez
12. The Heart of a Spiritual Progressive Movement that Cares Julie Oxenberg et.al.
13. Youth Caucus Deb Kory
14. Domestic and International Poverty: The Spiritual Dimension Bread for the World & Kristan Sumbrell (Jubilee USA)
6:30-8:00 pm Dinner break
8:00-11:00 pm Carrie Newomer 2 songs Plus song by Rabbi David Schneyer
8:45-noon Congressional Briefing to our Elected Official on the Spiritual Covenant with America
Here is how it works: a. Come to the embarkation point at the Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church, 201 4th Street, SE on Capitol Hill (behind the Library of Congress/Supreme Court) by 9 a.m. (202) 547-8118. Breakfast type snacks and coffee available from 8:45-10:00 a.m.
Starting at 9:30 we will have a program there and some Congresspeople will stop by to learn more about our Spiritual Covenant.
Speakers at this will include Tony Campolo, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, Taylor Branch, Abdul Aziz Said, Michael Posner, Peter Gabel and more.
Meanwhile, we have hundreds of meeting already scheduled with elected representatives for many of the over 1,100 people who have registered for this conference (but not for all--those who signed up in the last two weeks may want to contact their elected officials on their own to make sure that they can have a meeting, though we are simultaneously working to the last moment to get such meetings for you with your Congerssperson or Senator) When the time nears for your scheduled meetings with Congressional representatives, you can walk over to their office (not more than a 15 minute walk, but we also urge you to get there 15 minutes before the time your meeting is scheduled so you can meet with any others from our organization who might happen to be scheduled with you for that same meeting and so you can plan together your mode of presenting the Spiritiual Covenant and the parts that are most important to you).
When you finish your meeting with the elected official (or most likely, one of their aides), please return to the Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church, unless the time is already 11:45 or later, at which point we suggest you simply find a place to eat (perhaps in the House Office Building cafeteria on the basement level) and then take a cab or subway over to Lafayette Park (right opposite the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue) for our 1 p.m. pray-in.
Return to the ALL SOULS UNITARIAN CHURCH 1500 Harvard Street, N.W.
B2. Theological Perspectives on the Free Market System: Idolatry, Sin and the Structures of Evil in Economic Life Stan Duncan & John Surr
B3. Emancipatory Design Toby Israel
B4. Environmental Consciousness John Seed
B5. Music and Social Transformation Holly Near
B6. Islam: Perception and Reality: Ammad Ahrar
B.7 Law as a Vehicle for Social Connection or Disconnection: Can law be reconstructed in ways nurturing to the soul rather than its enemy? Peter Gabel and Nanette Schorr
B8. Torture: Building a Spiritual/Religious Campaign Against Torture Rabbi Brian Walt & Michael Posner
B9. End of Life Decisions: Moral and Spiritual Issues Barbara Coombs Lee and Rev. Paul Smith
B10 The Heart of a Progressive Spiritual Movement--Part 2 Rosa Naparstek
B11. Environmental Health and Justice Thea Levkowitz
B12. A Progressive Pro-Families Agenda Michelle Dean & Enola Aird
B13 Reconciliation, building Communities and Identities of Inclusive Otherness Gilbert Bond
B14. Declaration of Peace: Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service
6:30-7:30 pm Dinner break with your small group,
7:30-8:15 pm Song and Inspiration from Holly Near and All Souls Choir
7:30-9:00 am Spiritual and Religious Practices
12:00 Noon Small group meetings and lunch
1:30 pm Plenary on How to Bring a Spiritual Politics into the Heart of the Democrats and into the Liberal and Progressive Social Change Movements. Directions for 2006, 2008 and beyond.
Obery Hendricks, Michael Bader, Congressman Jim Moran, Lisa Rea and more.
1. Create a society that promotes loving relationships and families Rabbi Debora Kohn
2. Take Personal Responsibility for Ethical Behavior (including sexual behavior) Facilitator: Rev. Tony Campolo and Rev. Ama Zenya
3. Build Social Responsibility into our economic and political institutions Facilitator: Peter Gabel
4. Reshape education to teach love, caring, generosity, nonviolent communication, cooperation, compassion, environmental responsibility, awe and wonder, respect and thanksgiving. Facilitator: Svi Shapiro and Ralph Wolf (W.A.S.C.)
5. Build a broader understanding of health care while also pursuing a single payer national health care plan. Facilitators: Dr.Roy Farrell, Harvey Fernbach, and Dr. Bill Benda
6. Be stewards of the environment Facilitator: Thea Levkovitz & Paul Wapner
7. A spiritual foreign policy, homeland security and elimination of Poverty: safety through a strategy of generosity and nonviolence. Rev. John Dear & Rabbi Michael Lerner
8. Separation of church and state and science while bringing our new bottom line into the public sphere Jonathan Granoff
C2. Spiriutal and Religious Experience for African Americans Rev. Debora Johnson
C3. Spiriutality and Religious Experience for Latinos Norma Chavez
C4. Trade Justice Elizabeth Carty & Oxfam
C5. Biotechonlogy and the Human Future Jaydee Hanson and Andrew Kimbrell
C6. Reproductive Freedom and Spiritual Healing Rebecca Trotzky-Surr
C7. Using Feminine Principles to change the World Patricia Smith Melton and Elana Auerbach
C8. An Environmental Movement That Cares about More Than Humans Rabbi Daniel Swartz, with Kurt Hoelting, Felicia Markus and Bishop Mark MacDonald
C9. Non-violent Communication: Inesa Love
C10. Spiritual Challenges of Aging Debora Kohn
c11. The Role of the Arts in a Spiritual Progressive Movement
C 12. A Spirit-Friendly Approach to Science Building a spirit-friendly society requires a conception of human nature that doesn’t reduce people to selfish genes driven only by survival needs, but incorporates cooperation, meaning, pleasure, and mutuality as intrinsic biological motivations. Dan Levine
C 13. Children's Spirituality Christie Duncan-Tessmer
6:30 pm Dinner Break
7:30 pm Shabbat Service led by Rabbi Michael Lerner
Sufi, Hindu, Shamanic and Jewish Shabbat ServicesPlus Other Spiriutal Workshops:
D1. Progressive spiritual media Jochen Strack
D 2. Grassroots Spiritual Progressives in the
Democratic Party: Nicoli Bailey and Charles Lenchner, PDA
D3. Healing Israel/Palestine Muhammed Abu-Nimer
D4 The Ethics of Eating Jaydee Hansen et.al. Molly Anderson
D5
D6 Is God a Pacifist? Not according to Carter Phipps in this provocative workshop
. Zen Peacemaker Bernie Glassman on Not Knowing, Bearing Witness and Loving Actions
10:30-11 am Small group meetings
11 a.m. Plenary: Spiritual Resources for Peace and Social Healing
Arun Gandhi, Svi Shapiro and more
12:15 pm Small groups and lunch
3:30 pm Strategies for the NSP in the coming year: how to bring these ideas into your local communities
led by Rabbi Michael Lerner
5:30 pm Dinner break
7:30 pm Poetry Kathryn Fishman-Weaver, Drew Dellinger
Performance from the Play “Motherblood” by the Omega Theatre (with Saphira)
Humor from Swami Beyondonanda and music from Michael Franti.
In addition, we urge you to introduce yourself to other conference participants, even if that’s not something you’re usually comfortable doing. Part of what this conference, and the Network of Spiritual Progressives in general, is about it exploring a new way of interacting with each other, recognizing each other as unique embodiments of the sacred. Please take this opportunity to practice that way of relating!
We will also have an active discussion forum online for conference participants directed through SpaceShare. You will need a user name and password that will be emailed to each conference participant.
1) challenges the misuse of God and religion to justify militarism, an assault on the poor, and ecological insensitivity;
2) challenges the anti-spiritual and religio-phobic tendencies in some sections of liberal and progressive culture;
3) champions a new bottom line by which institutions are judged “rational,” “efficient,” and “productive” not only to the extent that they maximize money and power but also to the extent that they maximize love and caring, kindness and generosity, ethical and ecological sensitivity, peace and nonviolence, and a capacity to respond to the world with awe and wonder at the grandeur of creation.
In preparation for hosting the conference, the congregation has been engaging in study and reflection on the topic of spiritual activism. The conference wouldn’t be possible without the contributions of many church volunteers and the commitment of the church staff and leadership.
The address of the church is 1500 Harvard Ave NW, Washington, DC 20009-4216
All Souls is located at the crossroads of Washington DC -- at the intersection of the Mt. Pleasant, Adams Morgan, and Columbia Heights neighborhoods.
Some workshops will be held in buildings in the neighborhood surrounding the church. Maps will be provided.
In addition, attending some workshops may require up to a ten-minute walk. However, other workshops will be held right in the church building.
Conference Flight Discount
We have a 10% conference discount that you may use through Air Tran airways. Visit www.airtran.com to find flights from your area into Washington DC. These flights must enter Washington DC within three days of the beginning of the conference and depart within three days of the end of the conference. You will receive a 10% discount off of your flight only if you call in and make your reservation; call 1-866-68EVENT, and mention that you are part of the conference discount for "SpaceShare06."
Reagan National Airport is served by the green and yellow lines of Washington’s excellent Metro system. You can purchase fare cards for the Metro from the automated machines at the entrance to the station. (One-way fare from the airport to the church will be $1.35.) To get to the church, take the yellow line toward Mt Vernon Square to the Gallery Place/Chinatown station and transfer to the green line toward Greenbelt. Get off the green line train at the Columbia Heights station. Walk two blocks down 14th Street to Harvard St. and turn right. The church will be one block down Harvard.
From Dulles International Airport, you can take the Washington Flyer shuttle from the baggage claim level to the West Falls Church station (a 20-22 minute ride) along the orange line of the Metro system. (Cost for the shuttle is $9.00 one way or $16 round trip.) When you arrive at the station, purchase a metro fare card from the automated machines at the entrance. (One-way fare from the West Falls Church station to the church will be $2.35.) Take the orange line towards New Carrollton to the L’Enfant Plaza station, where you can transfer to a green line train toward Greenbelt. Get off the green line train at the Columbia Heights station. Walk two blocks down 14th Street to Harvard St. and turn right. The church will be one block down Harvard on the left.
From points South:
Take 95 to 395 North over the 14th Street Bridge.
Take 14th Street, and turn left onto R Street.
Turn right onto 16th Street.
Turn right onto Harvard Street. The church is on the right.
From Route 66 or Route 50:
Take Rte 50/66 to the Roosevelt Bridge.
Exit onto E Street.
Turn left on 18th Street and stay in the right lane.
Turn right onto Columbia Road.
Cross 16th Street. The church is on the right at Harvard and 16th.
From 495 and points North:
Take 495 to the Georgia Avenue exit.
Stay in the far right lane, and veer onto 16th Street.
Turn right onto Harvard Street.
Make an immediate U-turn on the left to Columbia Road.
Cross 16th Street, and the church is on the right.
The Washington Area Metropolitan Transit website features a trip planner that will help you plot a route from one address or sightseeing destination to any other.
The church is three blocks from the Columbia Heights station on the green line of the Metro train system. Walk two blocks down 14th Street to Harvard St. and turn right. The church will be one block down Harvard.
It is also relatively easy to hail a taxi cab in the area surrounding the church.
There is a large free public parking lot at Carter Barron city park on 16th Street and Kennedy Street, north of the church. From the parking lot, you can either walk 15-20 minutes south on 16th Street or take one of the buses (S1, S2, or S4 ) that run continuously up and down the street. Bus fare is $1.50.
In addition, volunteers from All Souls Church will provide hospitality packets containing maps and recommendations of restaurants in the area surrounding the church.
1. Carpool system by SpaceShare: This sytem will allow you to connect with others who are coming from your area. Traveling together is a great way to begin building a network of spiritual progressives in your region!
2. Roommate matching by SpaceShare: Conserve space and resources by sharing a hotel room. Our matching system allows you to search for a roommate based on a number of criteria and preferences.
3. Use public transportation: The church is well-served by both bus lines and the green line of the Metro train system. See information above, or visit Washington Area Transit for more information.
4. Register online, and direct your friends to register via the website rather than on paper.
5. Bring your own utensils and coffee mug.
If you have other ideas for making the event more environmentally friendly, please let us know!
At our conference in July and in subsequent discussions in our chapters we developed a core vision that is fully articulated in Michael Lerner’s book The Left Hand of God: Taking Back our Country from the Religious Right. We urge you to create a study group in your community, church, synagogue, union, professional organization, or neighborhood. You’ll find Lerner’s book an easy way to introduce a progressive spiritual vision with details about what that would mean in restructuring American domestic and foreign policy.
We also urge you to read: Jim Wallis’ God’s Politics, Sharon Welch’s After Empire, Peter Gabel’s The Bank Teller and Other Essays on the Politics of Meaning, Tony Campolo’s Speaking My Mind, Marjorie Kelly’s The Divine Right of Capital, Jonanthan Schell’s The Unconquerable World, Cornel West’s Democracy Matters, Joan Chittister’s Called to Question, Brian McLaren’s The Secret Message of Jesus, Kirk J. Schneider’s Rediscovery of Awe, Rosemary Ruether’s Gaia and God, Charlene Spretnak’s The Resurgence of the Real, Glen H. Stassen’s Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context, Seyyed Hosein Nasr’s The Heart of Islam, Riane Eisler’s The Partnership Society, Robert Thurman’s Inner Revolution, Sharon Salzberg’s Lovingkindness, Thich Nhat Hanh’s Essential Writings, Michael Shellenberger’s The Death of Environmentalism, Michael Nagler’s In the Footsteps of Gandhi, Mona West’s Take Back the Word, Mary A. Tolbert’s Reading From this Place, Ivan Petrella’s collection Latin American Liberation Theology, Matthew Fox’s A New Reformation, Arthur Waskow’s Down to Earth Judaism, David Cooper’s God is a Verb, the writings of all our speakers at this conference, and the articles that appear every two months in Tikkun magazine, which provides a continuing source for new ideas and debates about progressive spiritual politics (and which you receive as gift when you join The Network of Spiritual Progressives). Start building your study group with The Left Hand of God, then go on study these other works. When we see people in every political party capitulating to the logic of the war-makers and those who think salvation comes from endless economic growth and the globalization of selfishness and materialism we know that winning the battle of ideas and speaking to the hearts of Americans is the central task for healing and transforming our society.
http://www.spiritualprogressives.org/q-and-a. Unlike our first conference where we were in the exploring mode, this conference is meant to present outward to the world what we've come up with--so that's why it's not the place for a debate about the fundamentals we've arrived at so far. We want to avoid the temptation to spend our energies arguing with each other and thus avoiding the deeper challenge of speaking to Congress, the media, and the country about a new vision.
Come to the Spiritual Activism Conference, study The Left Hand of God, and join The Network of Spiritual Progressives (NSP)
Scroll down to read about the following topics.About the Spiritual Activism Conference • Tentative Agenda • Workshops • Small Groups and Networking • Activities on Capitol Hill • Peace Demonstration • Conference Sponsor and Cosponsors • Conference Site • Accessibility • Directions and Getting Around Washington • Parking Near the Conference Site • Carpools and Public Transportation Networking • Lodging • Roommate Matching • Food • Registration • Bookstore • Audio Recordings • T-shirts • Toward a Greener Conference • Ideas Matter • An Important Note about Process: Spiritual Covenant with America • More about last year’s conference
About the Spiritual Activism Conference
Building on the July, 2005 conference in Berkeley, this will be the national conference to launch a prophetic spiritual politics agenda to the media and the politicians in D.C. and to train organizers who will take the agenda into their communities. The conference will also celebrate the release of Rabbi Michael Lerner's new book The Left Hand of God, with its proposed Spiritual Covenant for America and the release of the paperback version of Jim Wallis' God's Politics.We will bring the Spiritual Covenant for America (based in part on the conversations that took place at the July 2005 conference and developed into a platform in Rabbi Lerner's The Left Hand of God) to the attention of the U.S. Congress and the liberal and progressive forces headquartered in D.C.
The Religious Right has dominated public discourse because it has managed to portray itself as the force that genuinely cares about the spiritual crisis that permeates American life. Yet the Religious Right uses the legitimacy it gets from articulating spiritual needs to support a political program that includes militarism and the war in Iraq, reducing the taxes on rich people while eliminating badly needed social programs for the poor, rejecting international agreements to combat global warming (thereby contributing to a series of environmental disasters like the increased ferocity and frequency of destructive hurricanes), and divisive assaults on the rights of women and homosexuals.
Unfortunately, liberals and progressives, even when they try to articulate an alternative program, too often revert to technocratic and economistic alternatives that miss the spiritual dimension of human needs. That is why we are building a movement of spiritual progressives that is a challenge both to the Right and to the anti-religious and anti-spiritual tendencies within some parts of the Left.
Our conference is part of that process, and we will be highlighting a Spiritual Covenant with America that is as much an alternative to the tepid and visionless rhetoric of some sections of establishment liberals as it is to the moral insensitivity of some sections of the Right. Our perspective is unabashedly visionary and "unrealistic" in the sense that it challenges the contemporary denizens of political realism and insists that the challenges facing the human race today require a major jump in consciousness and political courage. We are honored to be working with All Souls Church, which has a rich history of social justice ministry.
For more details please visit the Tikkun website
Scroll down for a tentative conference agenda. You can register here
Tentative Agenda
Wednesday, May 17
8:00 am Registration9:00 am Opening Religious/Spiritual Rituals.
10:00 am Introduction to the Conference: Deborah Kory and Rev. Robert Hardies
10:30-12:00 am Understanding Spiritual Politics: Sister Joan Chittister and Peter Gabel
12:00-12:30 pm Introduction to Small Groups
12;30-1:30 pm Lunch with small groups
1:30-3:15 pm Keynote Plenary: Rabbi Michael Lerner: How Spiritual Progressives Can Take Back our Country from the Religious Right and Build a New Bottom Line in America so that Our Society Can Manifest the Love, Kindness, Generosity and Connection to God that Reflects the Highest Vision of our Spiritual and Religious Traditions and Defeats Media Cynicism and Cynical Realism.
3:30-5:15 pm Trainings focused on the Spiritual Covenant with America to prepare participants for presenting these ideas to their elected representatives
Presentation by Friends Committee on National Legislation preparing us for meeting Congress, then each person chooses one of the 8 areas of the Spiritual Covenant to get further training in how to present it to their elected representatives:SPIRITUAL COVENANT GROUPS preparing for meetings with Congress on Thurs. a.m.
1. Create a society that promotes loving relationships and families Rabbi Debora Kohn2. Take Personal Responsibility for Ethical Behavior (including sexual behavior) Facilitator: Rev. Tony Campolo and Rev. Ama Zenya
3. Build Social Responsibility into our economic and political institutions Facilitator: Peter Gabel
4. Reshape education to teach love, caring, generosity, nonviolent communication, cooperation, compassion, environmental responsibility, awe and wonder, respect and thanksgiving. Facilitator: Svi Shapiro and Ralph Wolf (W.A.S.C.)
5. Build a broader understanding of health care while also pursuing a single payer national health care plan. Facilitators: Dr.Roy Farrell, Harvey Fernbach, and Dr. Bill Benda
6. Be stewards of the environment Facilitator: Thea Levkovitz & Paul Wapner
7. A spiritual foreign policy, homeland security and elimination of Poverty: safety through a strategy of generosity and nonviolence. Rabbi Michael Lerner
8. Separation of church and state and science while bringing our new bottom line into the public sphere Jonathan Granoff
5:30-6:30 pm Workshops on spiritual politics
A 1. Global Warming: An opportunity for Global Awakening?
Moderator: Rev Jim, Ruth Mulligan, Russ Agdern or Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Brent Balckwelden
2. Our own and others' fears of Progressive Social Change Rev. Deborah L. Johnson
3. Kety Esquivel: Cross Left
4. The Spiritual Crisis in Our Lives Generated by the War in Iraq Stacy Bannerman
5. How Authentic Spirituality Drives People to be Advocates of Social Justice Mary Darling
6. Religion and Faith in the GLBTQ Community Harry Knox
7. Politics of Meaning Peter Gabel and Michael Lerner
8. "Spiritual but not Religious": How to create a movement that has room for those whose connection to God and the spiritual wisdom of humanity is done outside traditional religious communities and without the theo-centric language that suggests hierarchical and patriarchal visions of God? Ama Zenya
9. Spiritual Nonviolence Training for personal and social change Janet Chisholm
10. The Encounter & Reconciliation of Civilizations (a challenge to the "clash of civilizations" world view) Shaikh Kabir Helminski
11. The Ethical and Spiritual Dimensions of the New Immigrants-Rights Movement Norma Chavez
12. The Heart of a Spiritual Progressive Movement that Cares Julie Oxenberg et.al.
13. Youth Caucus Deb Kory
14. Domestic and International Poverty: The Spiritual Dimension Bread for the World & Kristan Sumbrell (Jubilee USA)
6:30-8:00 pm Dinner break
8:00-11:00 pm Carrie Newomer 2 songs Plus song by Rabbi David Schneyer
and speakers on
The Role of Spirit and Religion in Politics
Michael Bader, Rev. William Sinkford, Mary Darling, Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, Sayyed Hussein Nasr, Rabbi Brian Walt, Rev. Tony Campolo, Marie Denis, ArchDeacon Michael Kendall
Thursday, May 18
Please Note: Sessions from 9 to 3 are not in the Unitarian Church, but in another place: Capitol Hill in the morning, Lafayette Park oppoite the White House in the afternoon.
8:45-noon Congressional Briefing to our Elected Official on the Spiritual Covenant with America
Here is how it works: a. Come to the embarkation point at the Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church, 201 4th Street, SE on Capitol Hill (behind the Library of Congress/Supreme Court) by 9 a.m. (202) 547-8118. Breakfast type snacks and coffee available from 8:45-10:00 a.m. Starting at 9:30 we will have a program there and some Congresspeople will stop by to learn more about our Spiritual Covenant.
Speakers at this will include Tony Campolo, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, Taylor Branch, Abdul Aziz Said, Michael Posner, Peter Gabel and more.
Meanwhile, we have hundreds of meeting already scheduled with elected representatives for many of the over 1,100 people who have registered for this conference (but not for all--those who signed up in the last two weeks may want to contact their elected officials on their own to make sure that they can have a meeting, though we are simultaneously working to the last moment to get such meetings for you with your Congerssperson or Senator) When the time nears for your scheduled meetings with Congressional representatives, you can walk over to their office (not more than a 15 minute walk, but we also urge you to get there 15 minutes before the time your meeting is scheduled so you can meet with any others from our organization who might happen to be scheduled with you for that same meeting and so you can plan together your mode of presenting the Spiritiual Covenant and the parts that are most important to you).
When you finish your meeting with the elected official (or most likely, one of their aides), please return to the Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church, unless the time is already 11:45 or later, at which point we suggest you simply find a place to eat (perhaps in the House Office Building cafeteria on the basement level) and then take a cab or subway over to Lafayette Park (right opposite the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue) for our 1 p.m. pray-in.
1:00-3:00 pm Pray-in for peace outside the White House at Lafayette Park :
Prayer leaders include Bob Edgar, Rev.Lennox Yearwood, Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, Ahmed Ahrar, Holly Near, 2 Methodist Bishops, Rev. Osagyefo Sekou, Rev. Jim Winkler, Norma Chavez, John Dear S.J., Archdeacon Michael Kendall and Pledge of Resistance to the Iraq War: Ken Butigan. Cindy Sheehan and Code Pink and Global Exchange present Petition Against Bombing Iran to White House.
Though the Global Exchange group may be organizing other activities, to keep the coherence of our conference working, we urge you to come back to the conferenc which resumes now at 3:30 at the All Souls Unitarian Church (the same place we were meeting all day Wednesday).
Return to the ALL SOULS UNITARIAN CHURCH 1500 Harvard Street, N.W.
3:30 pm Workshops on spiritual politics
B1.B2. Theological Perspectives on the Free Market System: Idolatry, Sin and the Structures of Evil in Economic Life Stan Duncan & John Surr
B3. Emancipatory Design Toby Israel
B4. Environmental Consciousness John Seed
B5. Music and Social Transformation Holly Near
B6. Islam: Perception and Reality: Ammad Ahrar
B.7 Law as a Vehicle for Social Connection or Disconnection: Can law be reconstructed in ways nurturing to the soul rather than its enemy? Peter Gabel and Nanette Schorr
B8. Torture: Building a Spiritual/Religious Campaign Against Torture Rabbi Brian Walt & Michael Posner
B9. End of Life Decisions: Moral and Spiritual Issues Barbara Coombs Lee and Rev. Paul Smith
B10 The Heart of a Progressive Spiritual Movement--Part 2 Rosa Naparstek
B11. Environmental Health and Justice Thea Levkowitz
B12. A Progressive Pro-Families Agenda Michelle Dean & Enola Aird
B13 Reconciliation, building Communities and Identities of Inclusive Otherness Gilbert Bond
B14. Declaration of Peace: Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service
5:00-6:30 pm The Struggle for the Heart & Mind of Traditional Religious Communities
Rev. Paul Sherry. Rev. Jim Winkler, Glen Harold Stassen, Andrew Weaver. Rev. Ama Zenya, Jason Lendez and more6:30-7:30 pm Dinner break with your small group,
7:30-8:15 pm Song and Inspiration from Holly Near and All Souls Choir
8:15-10:00 pm How to Make the Liberal World Diverse Not Only in Race, Sex and Gender, but also in Class and Religious Orientation
Rev Deborah Johnson, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Rev. Glen Harold Stassen, Jeffrey Kuan, Rev. Diane Ford Johnson, John Dear S.J., Norma ChavezFriday, May 19
7:30-9:00 am Spiritual and Religious Practices
9:00 am Spiritual Progressives address Poverty: Rev. Jim Wallis and comemnts from Rabbi Michael Lerner
10:30 am Plenary on A Progressive Pro-Families Movement that also Addresses The Spiritual Dimension to Relationships and Sexuality
Rev. Ama Zenya, Rev. Donna Schaper, Rabbi Debora Kohn, Enola Aird, Partrick Whelan, and Matt Foreman12:00 Noon Small group meetings and lunch
1:30 pm Plenary on How to Bring a Spiritual Politics into the Heart of the Democrats and into the Liberal and Progressive Social Change Movements. Directions for 2006, 2008 and beyond.
Obery Hendricks, Michael Bader, Congressman Jim Moran, Lisa Rea and more.3:30 pm Workshops focused on the Spiritual Covenant with Americans: How to Bring the Spiritual Covenant to our Local City Councils and State Legislatures, unions and professional organizations, religious institutions and communal associations.
Eight workshops, each on one of the 8 planks of the Spiritual Covenant with America1. Create a society that promotes loving relationships and families Rabbi Debora Kohn
2. Take Personal Responsibility for Ethical Behavior (including sexual behavior) Facilitator: Rev. Tony Campolo and Rev. Ama Zenya
3. Build Social Responsibility into our economic and political institutions Facilitator: Peter Gabel
4. Reshape education to teach love, caring, generosity, nonviolent communication, cooperation, compassion, environmental responsibility, awe and wonder, respect and thanksgiving. Facilitator: Svi Shapiro and Ralph Wolf (W.A.S.C.)
5. Build a broader understanding of health care while also pursuing a single payer national health care plan. Facilitators: Dr.Roy Farrell, Harvey Fernbach, and Dr. Bill Benda
6. Be stewards of the environment Facilitator: Thea Levkovitz & Paul Wapner
7. A spiritual foreign policy, homeland security and elimination of Poverty: safety through a strategy of generosity and nonviolence. Rev. John Dear & Rabbi Michael Lerner
8. Separation of church and state and science while bringing our new bottom line into the public sphere Jonathan Granoff
5:00 pm Workshops on Spiritual Politics
C1. Spiritual & Religious Experience of Peoples of Asian or Pacific Islander Backgrounds Jeffrey KuanC2. Spiriutal and Religious Experience for African Americans Rev. Debora Johnson
C3. Spiriutality and Religious Experience for Latinos Norma Chavez
C4. Trade Justice Elizabeth Carty & Oxfam
C5. Biotechonlogy and the Human Future Jaydee Hanson and Andrew Kimbrell
C6. Reproductive Freedom and Spiritual Healing Rebecca Trotzky-Surr
C7. Using Feminine Principles to change the World Patricia Smith Melton and Elana Auerbach
C8. An Environmental Movement That Cares about More Than Humans Rabbi Daniel Swartz, with Kurt Hoelting, Felicia Markus and Bishop Mark MacDonald
C9. Non-violent Communication: Inesa Love
C10. Spiritual Challenges of Aging Debora Kohn
c11. The Role of the Arts in a Spiritual Progressive Movement
C 12. A Spirit-Friendly Approach to Science Building a spirit-friendly society requires a conception of human nature that doesn’t reduce people to selfish genes driven only by survival needs, but incorporates cooperation, meaning, pleasure, and mutuality as intrinsic biological motivations. Dan Levine
C 13. Children's Spirituality Christie Duncan-Tessmer
6:30 pm Dinner Break
7:30 pm Shabbat Service led by Rabbi Michael Lerner
8:00 pm Evening Plenary: Spiritual Progressives Facing The Globalization of Selfishness (the globalization of capital, the environmental crisis)
David Beckman, Charlene Spretnak, Jonathan Granoff, Robert Thurman, Bill Meadows, Andrew Kimbrell, (Music with Sharon Abreu, Michael Hurwicz, and Stephen Fisk)Saturday, May 20
9:oo am Spiritual Practices: Ecumenical Christian, Buddhist, Muslim,
D1. Progressive spiritual media Jochen Strack
D 2. Grassroots Spiritual Progressives in the
Democratic Party: Nicoli Bailey and Charles Lenchner, PDA
D3. Healing Israel/Palestine Muhammed Abu-Nimer
D4 The Ethics of Eating Jaydee Hansen et.al. Molly Anderson
D5
D6 Is God a Pacifist? Not according to Carter Phipps in this provocative workshop
. Zen Peacemaker Bernie Glassman on Not Knowing, Bearing Witness and Loving Actions
10:30-11 am Small group meetings
11 a.m. Plenary: Spiritual Resources for Peace and Social Healing
Arun Gandhi, Svi Shapiro and more12:15 pm Small groups and lunch
2:00 pm Spiritual Wisdom at the Center of our Spiritual Politics:
Matthew Fox, Andrew Harvey,
3:30 pm Strategies for the NSP in the coming year: how to bring these ideas into your local communities
led by Rabbi Michael Lerner5:30 pm Dinner break
Conference Grand Finale
7:30 pm Poetry Kathryn Fishman-Weaver, Drew Dellinger
Performance from the Play “Motherblood” by the Omega Theatre (with Saphira)
Speakers on Spiritual Wisdom and Planetary Sanity:
Roshi Bernie Glassman, Rev. Deborah Johnson, Jim Garrison, Carter Phipps, Harry Knox, Thea Levkovitz, Sarah James, Eric LeCompte and Pamela TaylorHumor from Swami Beyondonanda and music from Michael Franti.
Small Groups and Networking
All conference attendees will be divided into small groups of no more than ten people and will be given time to meet with those small groups over meals to get to know each other and to process the ideas from the day.In addition, we urge you to introduce yourself to other conference participants, even if that’s not something you’re usually comfortable doing. Part of what this conference, and the Network of Spiritual Progressives in general, is about it exploring a new way of interacting with each other, recognizing each other as unique embodiments of the sacred. Please take this opportunity to practice that way of relating!
We will also have an active discussion forum online for conference participants directed through SpaceShare. You will need a user name and password that will be emailed to each conference participant.
Activities on Capitol Hill
On Thursday, May 18, conference participants will engage in a teach-in to Congress about the ideas in the Spiritual Covenant with America. We will set up meetings with your Congressional representatives so that you can discuss with them this whole new way to think about the issues.Pray-In for Peace
Thursday afternoon, we will host a vigil and demonstration near the White House. Stay tuned for more details on this event.Conference Sponsor and Cosponsors
The Spiritual Activism Conference is a project of the Network of Spiritual Progressives, an interfaith, grassroots community that1) challenges the misuse of God and religion to justify militarism, an assault on the poor, and ecological insensitivity;
2) challenges the anti-spiritual and religio-phobic tendencies in some sections of liberal and progressive culture;
3) champions a new bottom line by which institutions are judged “rational,” “efficient,” and “productive” not only to the extent that they maximize money and power but also to the extent that they maximize love and caring, kindness and generosity, ethical and ecological sensitivity, peace and nonviolence, and a capacity to respond to the world with awe and wonder at the grandeur of creation.
Cosponsors include:
All Souls Church, American Humanist Association, The Bodhichitta Foundation, Christian Alliance for Progress, CrossWalk America, Human Rights Campaign, New Dimensions World Broadcasting Network, Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service, Pax Christi, Progressive Democrats of America, Progressive Muslim Union of North America, Shambala Sun and Buddhadharma magazines, Share International magazine, SpaceShare,The Nation, What is Enlightenment, and YES! Magazine.Affiliates include:
Buddhist Peace Fellowship; Reciprocity Foundation; the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing; and Steward Creation!.Conference Site
We are delighted that the conference will take place at All Souls Unitarian, a church with a long history of social justice activity, including a leading role in the civil rights movement. Out of a diverse city, All Souls creates a spiritual home to the communities that are separated by the walls within society.In preparation for hosting the conference, the congregation has been engaging in study and reflection on the topic of spiritual activism. The conference wouldn’t be possible without the contributions of many church volunteers and the commitment of the church staff and leadership.
The address of the church is 1500 Harvard Ave NW, Washington, DC 20009-4216
All Souls is located at the crossroads of Washington DC -- at the intersection of the Mt. Pleasant, Adams Morgan, and Columbia Heights neighborhoods.
Some workshops will be held in buildings in the neighborhood surrounding the church. Maps will be provided.
Accessibility
There will be accessible activities taking place at all times. Because the event is in a historic church, however, some areas are not accessible, so please understand in advance that your first-choice workshop may not be accessible.In addition, attending some workshops may require up to a ten-minute walk. However, other workshops will be held right in the church building.
Lodging
Click here for information on lodging in the area around the church.Roommate Matching
Roommate(s) can make staying in Washington more affordable, easier, and more fun. Check out the nifty roommate matching system designed for us by SpaceShare!Directions and Getting Around Washington
Carpools and Travel Networking
Traveling with other conference-goers is not only ecologically sensitive but also more fun! Check out the nifty carpool and travel networking system designed for us by SpaceShare. From this site, you can connect with others coming to the conference from your area and make plans to fly, drive, bike, walk, or take the train or bus together.Conference Flight Discount
We have a 10% conference discount that you may use through Air Tran airways. Visit www.airtran.com to find flights from your area into Washington DC. These flights must enter Washington DC within three days of the beginning of the conference and depart within three days of the end of the conference. You will receive a 10% discount off of your flight only if you call in and make your reservation; call 1-866-68EVENT, and mention that you are part of the conference discount for "SpaceShare06."
Arriving by plane:
Washington, DC, is served by two major airports: Ronald Reagan National Airport to the south and Washington Dulles International Airport to the west.Reagan National Airport is served by the green and yellow lines of Washington’s excellent Metro system. You can purchase fare cards for the Metro from the automated machines at the entrance to the station. (One-way fare from the airport to the church will be $1.35.) To get to the church, take the yellow line toward Mt Vernon Square to the Gallery Place/Chinatown station and transfer to the green line toward Greenbelt. Get off the green line train at the Columbia Heights station. Walk two blocks down 14th Street to Harvard St. and turn right. The church will be one block down Harvard.
From Dulles International Airport, you can take the Washington Flyer shuttle from the baggage claim level to the West Falls Church station (a 20-22 minute ride) along the orange line of the Metro system. (Cost for the shuttle is $9.00 one way or $16 round trip.) When you arrive at the station, purchase a metro fare card from the automated machines at the entrance. (One-way fare from the West Falls Church station to the church will be $2.35.) Take the orange line towards New Carrollton to the L’Enfant Plaza station, where you can transfer to a green line train toward Greenbelt. Get off the green line train at the Columbia Heights station. Walk two blocks down 14th Street to Harvard St. and turn right. The church will be one block down Harvard on the left.
Arrriving by train
The Washington DC Amtrak stops at Union Station. To get to the church take the Union Station Metro. You can purchase fare cards for the Metro from the automated machines at the entrance to the station (total fare to the church will cost $1.35). Board the red line towards Silver Spring to the Fort Totten Metro Station. Here you will transfer to the green line towards Branch Avenue and get off at the Columbia Heights station. Walk two blocks down 14th Street to Harvard St. and turn right. The church will be one block down Harvard on the left.Arriving by car
If you will be driving to the conference, please check out our SpaceShare carpool system and help us make the conference as environmentally friendly as possible!From points South:
Take 95 to 395 North over the 14th Street Bridge.
Take 14th Street, and turn left onto R Street.
Turn right onto 16th Street.
Turn right onto Harvard Street. The church is on the right.
From Route 66 or Route 50:
Take Rte 50/66 to the Roosevelt Bridge.
Exit onto E Street.
Turn left on 18th Street and stay in the right lane.
Turn right onto Columbia Road.
Cross 16th Street. The church is on the right at Harvard and 16th.
From 495 and points North:
Take 495 to the Georgia Avenue exit.
Stay in the far right lane, and veer onto 16th Street.
Turn right onto Harvard Street.
Make an immediate U-turn on the left to Columbia Road.
Cross 16th Street, and the church is on the right.
Getting around within Washington
Washington, DC, is served by an excellent, user-friendly public transportation system consisting of subway trains and buses. If you plan to do any sightseeing, or if you will be taking the Metro trains or buses to and from your hotel, you may want to purchase a SmarTrip Metro pass, a stored value card which is good on both trains and buses.The Washington Area Metropolitan Transit website features a trip planner that will help you plot a route from one address or sightseeing destination to any other.
The church is three blocks from the Columbia Heights station on the green line of the Metro train system. Walk two blocks down 14th Street to Harvard St. and turn right. The church will be one block down Harvard.
It is also relatively easy to hail a taxi cab in the area surrounding the church.
Parking Near the Conference Site
Parking in the neighborhood around the church is tight. Please be sure to read any posted signs about parking restrictions.There is a large free public parking lot at Carter Barron city park on 16th Street and Kennedy Street, north of the church. From the parking lot, you can either walk 15-20 minutes south on 16th Street or take one of the buses (S1, S2, or S4 ) that run continuously up and down the street. Bus fare is $1.50.
Food
Light breakfast and lunch fare will be available for purchase at the conference site. Food tickets for each day will be available for purchase at registration on Wednesday morning.In addition, volunteers from All Souls Church will provide hospitality packets containing maps and recommendations of restaurants in the area surrounding the church.
Registration
It is highly doubtful that registration will be available on site, since space is filling up fast! Please visit our registration site. The cost of registration is on a sliding scale to make it accessible to as many people as possible. NOTE: If someone else purchases your conference pass for you under his or her name, please remember that and use his or her name in picking up your materials on the first morning of the conference.Bookstore
Books by conference speakers will be available for purchase at the conference site. Our bookseller will be Potters House, a local not-for-profit bookstore that donates proceeds to the ministries of the Church of Our Savior.Audio Recordings
All sessions of the conference will be recorded and made available for purchase onsite on audio CDS and after the conference as both CDs and audiotapes.T-Shirts
Yes, we will have conference t-shirts! They will be available for $15 in the registration area.Toward a Greener Conference
How to bring people together with the lightest possible environmental impact is an ongoing question. Here are some the ways we and All Souls Church have attempted to make this conference more environmentally friendly, along with some ways you can help.1. Carpool system by SpaceShare: This sytem will allow you to connect with others who are coming from your area. Traveling together is a great way to begin building a network of spiritual progressives in your region!
2. Roommate matching by SpaceShare: Conserve space and resources by sharing a hotel room. Our matching system allows you to search for a roommate based on a number of criteria and preferences.
3. Use public transportation: The church is well-served by both bus lines and the green line of the Metro train system. See information above, or visit Washington Area Transit for more information.
4. Register online, and direct your friends to register via the website rather than on paper.
5. Bring your own utensils and coffee mug.
If you have other ideas for making the event more environmentally friendly, please let us know!
Ideas Matter
The Right gained power by popularizing its worldview in both major political parties. The NSP (Network of Spiritual Progressives) has a powerful alternative. We can help educate the progressive and liberal world with a new vision that will reach into the hearts of the American people.At our conference in July and in subsequent discussions in our chapters we developed a core vision that is fully articulated in Michael Lerner’s book The Left Hand of God: Taking Back our Country from the Religious Right. We urge you to create a study group in your community, church, synagogue, union, professional organization, or neighborhood. You’ll find Lerner’s book an easy way to introduce a progressive spiritual vision with details about what that would mean in restructuring American domestic and foreign policy.
We also urge you to read: Jim Wallis’ God’s Politics, Sharon Welch’s After Empire, Peter Gabel’s The Bank Teller and Other Essays on the Politics of Meaning, Tony Campolo’s Speaking My Mind, Marjorie Kelly’s The Divine Right of Capital, Jonanthan Schell’s The Unconquerable World, Cornel West’s Democracy Matters, Joan Chittister’s Called to Question, Brian McLaren’s The Secret Message of Jesus, Kirk J. Schneider’s Rediscovery of Awe, Rosemary Ruether’s Gaia and God, Charlene Spretnak’s The Resurgence of the Real, Glen H. Stassen’s Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context, Seyyed Hosein Nasr’s The Heart of Islam, Riane Eisler’s The Partnership Society, Robert Thurman’s Inner Revolution, Sharon Salzberg’s Lovingkindness, Thich Nhat Hanh’s Essential Writings, Michael Shellenberger’s The Death of Environmentalism, Michael Nagler’s In the Footsteps of Gandhi, Mona West’s Take Back the Word, Mary A. Tolbert’s Reading From this Place, Ivan Petrella’s collection Latin American Liberation Theology, Matthew Fox’s A New Reformation, Arthur Waskow’s Down to Earth Judaism, David Cooper’s God is a Verb, the writings of all our speakers at this conference, and the articles that appear every two months in Tikkun magazine, which provides a continuing source for new ideas and debates about progressive spiritual politics (and which you receive as gift when you join The Network of Spiritual Progressives). Start building your study group with The Left Hand of God, then go on study these other works. When we see people in every political party capitulating to the logic of the war-makers and those who think salvation comes from endless economic growth and the globalization of selfishness and materialism we know that winning the battle of ideas and speaking to the hearts of Americans is the central task for healing and transforming our society.
An Important Note about Process: Spiritual Covenant with America
At the last conference we sought to democratically empower work groups to come up with a platform. While many of those groups made significant contributions, the lack of time available meant that this wasn’t a workable way to develop a platform. So, we've decided instead to use the Spiritual Covenant with America that appears in the book The Left Hand of God (and which was compiled in part in response to the discussions that took place at the first conference) as the tentative platform and to use it as the foundation both for our initial educating of Congress and the liberal and progressive forces that we hope to do in our conference in DC May 17-20, 2006 and as the foundation for subsequent discussion in local NSP and Tikkun Community chapters over the course of the next 20 months leading up to the Fall of 2007, at which time we hope to have our national office consolidate all the feedback we've received, integrate it into a slightly revised platform agenda, have that revised version re-discussed at the local level in chapters, and then finally a draft based on all this feedback submitted for vote by the membership through a mail or email ballot. In the meantime, and till the beginning of 2008, the Spiritual Covenant with America will function as our public platform, and the book The Left Hand of God: Taking Back our Country from the Religious Right will serve as the interpretive frame for understanding the full dimensions explicit and implicit in the Spiritual Covenant. If you are coming to this conference, please understand that it will be guided by that book and by the organizational framework put forward in our Q&A on the website. which presents an additional but critical framework for the conference--so please read that as well (and if you find yourself uncomfortable with its definition of the organization and its approach to issues, you should not come to this conference, because we are proceeding from that foundation rather than debating it here--check it out athttp://www.spiritualprogressives.org/q-and-a. Unlike our first conference where we were in the exploring mode, this conference is meant to present outward to the world what we've come up with--so that's why it's not the place for a debate about the fundamentals we've arrived at so far. We want to avoid the temptation to spend our energies arguing with each other and thus avoiding the deeper challenge of speaking to Congress, the media, and the country about a new vision.
An Outreach Conference--Not an Organization Focused Decision Making Conference
The goal of our conference is to a. bring the central ideas of the Network of Spiritual Progressives to people who have not yet heard them in detail--hence our format is focused on exploring the ideas in depth b. bringing the Spiritual Covenant with America to the attention of the media and our elected representatives in order to broaden the public discourse about the kind of society we need to build. This is not a conference focused on how to build or structure our organization. For more on the structure, reread www.spiritualprogressives.org/q-and-aMore about last year’s conference
Read 2005 Press Coverage
Purchase 2005 Audio Recordings
We are an international community of people of many faiths calling for social justice and political freedom in the context of new structures of work, caring communities, and democratic social and economic arrangements. We seek to influence public discourse in order to inspire compassion, generosity, non-violence and recognition of the spiritual dimensions of life.
