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March 4, 2021Lenten Zoom Retreat
Made in the Image and Likeness of God: Encountering Racism
Thursdays: March 4, 11 and 18 from 7-8:30pm
The power of narrative to move our hearts is not to be underestimated. The stories we read, the videos we view, the testimonies to which we listen can give us different perspectives on how God moves in our lives and help us to know God in new, deeper and more intimate ways. Of course, this is only the case if we truly listen.
The intention of this retreat is to create the space needed to help us listen in deeper ways. Throughout this retreat you’ll have the opportunity to listen to the narratives of those who will share openly about the racism that they have experienced in their lives, as well as those who have witnessed such cruelty and what this all means with regard to their relationship with God. The retreat will also lead us into personal prayer, as we will have some quiet time to be alone with God and consider what being created “in the divine image” (Gn 1:27) means for our lives and all of our relationships. We will be invited to peer into our hearts, and with God’s grace, identify where we face any blindness and how any seeds of prejudice in our hearts can keep us from encountering God and others in deeper ways.
Questions will be provided that you can pray with God about during each week in between our Thursday sessions and even ponder well beyond this retreat.
This retreat will be held via zoom for three consecutive Thursdays, and while you are encouraged to attend all three, you are still welcome to attend individual sessions if attending all three is not possible.
You can register below. The Zoom ID and password will be sent out to you the week the retreat begins.
The retreat will be facilitated by Meghan Robinson.
We will listen to numerous narratives, but two people will be with us live to share their stories:
Damond Wilson of Brighton recently received his master’s in Divinity in 2019, and was the President of the Black Student Caucus at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. He is a member of the Commission on Racial and Structural Equity for Rochester and Monroe County.
Mr. Wilson has served in many ministries throughout his life including teaching, prison ministry, and community outreach.
“I am honored to be part of the Commission on Racial and Structural Equity because I believe that this committee has an opportunity not only to address systemic issues that plague this nation as a whole but to serve as a standard for racial equality and structural justice.”
Sr. Barbara Lum, SSJ spent nine years (starting in 1959) ministering in Selma, Alabama at Good Samaritan Hospital - the only hospital in Selma and the surrounding counties for those who were black during the mid 1900's. She was present at the hospital on Bloody Sunday.
Sr. Barbara returned to Rochester for a master's degree in nursing and, later, nurse practitioner certification in women's health care. For 26 years, she worked and taught at the University of Rochester School of Nursing and Medical Center. She continued to do outreach work at a vocational center for women in poverty and a drop-in center begun by her community in a "troubled" neighborhood in Rochester.
"I think laws help, but people need to change their hearts. How that happens is that people need person-to-person encounters. I don't know how you make that happen until you know someone from another group and respect and care about them."
Lenten Zoom Retreat Sign Up Please sign up here, regardless of whether you can come to all of the sessions or just some. They are March 4, 11 and 18 from 7-8:30pm. A zoom link will be sent to you the week of the first session.
