Workshops
Morning Workshops
Join Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson and Meagan Henry for this 5-session workshop exploring social justice as a faith-full practice. You will come away with tools and resources for engaging this rich topic in your faith community as well as in your own life.
Some of the topics we will cover: engaging community partners, re-energizing our justice work, social justice as a spiritual practice, and intercultural competency.
Workshop sessions will include large group instruction and discussion, break-out small groups for deeper engagement, somatic/embodied activities, and opportunities for individual reflection.
Rev. Kimberly and Meagan are both long-time program leaders with the UU College of Social Justice and have extensive experience leading groups of various ages and social locations.
Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson
Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson serves as minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork, on Long Island in Bridgehampton, NY. The core of Kimberly's ministry is faith formation—creating spaces and experiences for people to connect to the sacred, and to express that connection in the world. In her teaching, Kimberly employs the theory and practice of popular education, facilitating the exchange and exploration of our knowledge and experiences to encourage deeper understanding and grounding for action.
Meagan Henry
Meagan is a Unitarian Universalist religious educator serving the First Unitarian Congregation in Brooklyn, NY. Meagan’s deep commitment to community-building and her passion for growing intercultural understanding is evident in her relational leadership style. She is thrilled to be returning to Faith Development Week as a workshop leader and can’t wait to introduce her new granddaughter to Star Island this summer.
Join Shannon Harper and Anna Bethea for this 5 session workshop imagining and shaping whole community faith engagement for the future. These workshops will expand on the theme talk, widening our lenses and perspectives for dreaming and implementing together in your own communities.
Here are things bubbling up for us right now: noticing shifts in how (we and) young people experience the world, ancestral companioning of cyclical patterns of human behavior, moving energy and spirit through grief and change work, and joyfully approaching radical care for ourselves and others in our lifetimes. What’s bubbling up for you?
These workshops, in conjunction with the theme talk, will include optional pre-/post-work (about one hour each) for those seeking credit for the Religious Education Credentialing Program. The workshops will be interactive and participatory, with time for personal reflection, creative mapping, and embodied practices!
Shannon and Anna are religious educators who’ve been collaborating for nine years. We like to imagine faith development which meets people where they’re at - betwixt and between the spiritual and mundane - and empowers us all to reclaim our inherent interconnectedness.
Anna Bethea
Lifespan Faith Engagement Co-Director
Anna Bethea is Co-Director of the Lifespan Faith Engagement Office of the UUA, empowering people to find liberation and make meaning in their lives. Anna has a background in social work, served as a Director of Religious Exploration at the UU Church of Tallahassee, and also worked as the UUA Outreach Specialist before their current role in Lifespan Faith Engagement office. Anna believes in the power of curiosity and respectful mischief in helping humanity get over itself and evolve.
Shannon Harper
Lifespan Faith Engagement Co-Director
Shannon Harper is also Co-Director of the Lifespan Faith Engagement Office at the UUA. Before joining LFE last summer, Shannon served as the Youth and Emerging Adult Ministry Specialist for the Central East Region, and before that, as the Director of Religious Education in Dayton, OH. Shannon is a triple water sign, artist, and avid plant lover. “Go with the flow” has been her life motto since she was 6 years old.
Afternoon Exploration
Come make SoulCollage cards in Community on Star Island. SoulCollage is a process to access your thoughts, emotions and essence, which you may or may not be aware of, through the visual medium of collage. The process of making SoulCollage cards often feels magical.
If you are a recent or seasoned SoulCollage card maker bring your favorite scissors, glue stick and blank cards if you have them. Cards and sleeves will be available at cost for $1.00/set. If you are new to SoulCollage we'll have some supplies for your use. You may want to purchase the book, "SoulCollage Evolving" by Seena Frost to obtain a full understanding of the history of SoulCollage and its many aspects. But it is not a requirement.
It would be a big help if everyone brought 3 magazines, with interesting pictures, from home to donate to the cause. Drop in and meet others on the journey to self-understanding and make some amazing SoulCollage cards!
Vandy Leigh has Masters degree in Creative Arts and Learning, Curriculum and Instruction. She took her 1st soul collage class on Star Island at RE week close to 20 years ago. Eleven years ago she became a SoulCollage facilitator and has offered SoulCollage workshops on Star Island and beyond.
She opened her art center Creative Community Space in Epping, New Hampshire 4 years ago where she offers SoulCollage and many other opportunities for people to express their inner creative. SoulCollage has a special magic to it, what better place to explore SoulCollage than on Star.
Our theme of riding the wave continues in a relaxed, small group format to support and inspire one another as we feel ocean breezes and experience renewed energy to embrace the waves of the future. Cathy Seggel will facilitate the group, welcoming faith leaders, including the minister of the week, musicians, morning workshop and others, who will share their presence as we rock on the porch. Come chat, laugh, vent, grieve and reimagine, surrounded by the sea and caring colleagues.
If you choose, please bring a favorite reading and/or song to share. You can contact Cathy at cseggel@gmail.com.