ACTIVIST THEOLOGY RETREAT
APRIL 20-23, 2023
Imagining Another Possible World:
Stewarding Ethical Futures
William Black Lodge, Montreat NC
April 20-23, 2023
SCHEDULE
Arrive after dinner
Settle in and get to know other attendees
Morning:
- Breakfast with participants
- Session One
Afternoon:
- Lunch with participants
- Session Two
- Free time to rest or explore Montreat
Evening:
- Somatic Practice
- Dinner with participants
- Fireside gathering
Morning:
- Breakfast with participants
- Session Three
Afternoon:
- Lunch with participants
- Session Four
- Free time to rest or explore Montreat
Evening:
- Dinner with participants
- Session Five
- Fireside gathering
- Breakfast with participants
- Closing gathering, departure at noon
This amazing lodge contains less than 30 private rooms, so space is limited for this intimate gathering.
We encourage you to get your tickets soon. They WILL sell out.
KEY THEMES FOR THE WEEKEND
WHY IMAGINATION?
We will start with a theories of ethical futures and theories of imaginations. What is it? Where do we derive the imagination? How much of is is spiritual activism? We will gather together for some narrative remarks that helps translate theory into praxis, then turn to embodiment and somatics work to metabolize the theory in our bodies. Doing this will help connect the dots in somatic ways and begin to create conditions for embodied awareness.
For this retreat, we will welcome Dr. Steed V. Davidson and Dr. Thelathia ’Nikki’ Young to help us imagine another possible world Both Drs. Davidson and Young will participate in conversations around imagination and ethical futures as a way to offset lectures and passive epistemologies and lean into the revolution of values by centering bodily wisdom, somatic practice, and conversations as the primary teaching method.
WHAT KIND OF IMAGINATION?
CHANGING OURSELVES TO CHANGE THE WORLD
Building on previous conversations and remarks, we will focus on stewarding ethical futures and the interior work needed to be the healing of the wounds. We will work to change ourselves, so that we can change the world.
- What does that look like?
- What/how does the work of ethical futures lead us to this discovery?
- How might the work of stewarding ethical futures help enliven this work of justice and belonging and equity?
COSTS
LIMITED EARLY BIRD
TICKETS AVAILABLE
EARLY BIRD
TICKET
$339
Price is valid until February 28, 2023 at 11:59pm
or until early bird tickets are all claimed.
Then price increases to $399
Ticket Cost Includes:
- Private lodging for 3 nights (Thursday, Friday, & Saturday) – Click here to view rooms
- All meals (Friday and Saturday – breakfast/lunch/dinner, Sunday – breakfast)
- Retreat Content (Five curated sessions)
- A copy of Body Becoming: A Path to Our Liberation by Dr. Roberto Che Espinoza
- Custom Retreat T-Shirt
- Other goodies to be announced
TRAVEL
AIRPORTS:
- Asheville Regional Airport (30 miles to Black Mountain Lodge)
- Charlotte Douglas International Airport (110 miles to Black Mountain Lodge)
FACILITATORS
Roberto Che Espinoza, PhD (he/they) has been described in a myriad of ways: a scholar-activist, scholar-leader, thought-leader, teacher, public theologian, ethicist, poet of moral reason, and word artist. Among these ways of describing Dr. Roberto, he is also a visionary thinker who has spent two decades working in the hybrid space of church, academy, & movements seeking to not only disrupt but dismantle supremacy culture by focusing his PhD studies on new concepts of being & becoming, decolonizing knowledge production, & bridging with radical difference. He enfleshes a deep hope of collaborating in these hybrid spaces where his work seeks to contribute to the ongoing work of collective liberation. Activist Theology as a disciplinary off-shoot of liberation theology & Movement idea has been incubating since 2008 with Dr. Roberto and further developed throughout his doctoral program and engagement with Movement leaders. Now, Activist Theology has the chance to emerge as a collaborative project. Dr. Roberto was named 1 of 10 Faith Leaders to watch by the Center for American Progress in 2018. As a scholar-activist, Dr. Roberto is committed to translating theory to action, so that our work in the hybrid spaces reflect the deep spiritual work of transforming self to transforming the world. Dr. Roberto writes & creates both academic & other valuable resources, including digital resources. Roberto Che Espinoza, PhD is a non-binary trans guy. You may see him referenced by his old name on the internet or on podcasts and books. Please use his current name Dr. Roberto Che Espinoza moving forward, thank you!, He calls Nashville, TN home.
Nikki is Haverford College’s inaugural vice president for institutional equity and access, and a professor of religion and gender and sexuality studies. She directs the College’s diversity and equity work. Nikki comes to Haverford from Bucknell University, where she served as associate provost for equity and inclusive excellence since 2020 and taught in both the women’s and gender studies and religion departments since 2011. Nikki earned her Ph.D. in religion and ethics from Emory University, where she also earned two master’s degrees: a master of theology, with a focus on race, gender, and sexuality and a master’s of divinity with a specialization in ethics. She also holds a B.A. in biology from the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
She is the author of three books, including last year’s Queer Soul and Queer Theology: Ethics and Redemption in Real Life. Her next book, We Plead the Blood of Freedom: A Transnational Ethics of Black Queer Liberative Practice, is currently in progress. She has taught classes on queer Christian thought, race and sexuality, Black feminism, and more.
Davidson is the author of Empire and Exile: Postcolonial Readings of Selected Texts of the Book of Jeremiah, as well as Writing/Reading the Bible in Postcolonial Perspective, and a co-editor of Islands, Islanders and the Bible: RumiNations. He is currently co-authoring Postcolonial Biblical Criticism: A Guide for the Perplexed and co-editing Prophetic Otherness , both of which should be completed in 2019. He has authored various essays that explore the Hebrew Bible from postcolonial, gendered, and several critical perspectives.
Davidson, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, earned a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. He received a S.T.M. from Boston University, a M.A. from the University of the West Indies, a Diploma of Ministerial Studies from the United Theological College of the West Indies, and a B.A. from the University of the West Indies.
A member of the Society of Biblical Literature, Davidson serves as the General Editor of Semeia Studies. In addition, he Chairs the steering committee of the Israelite Prophetic Literature Section and serves on the Bible and Empire as well as the Reading/Writing Jeremiah program units of the SBL. His other professional memberships include the Society for the Study of Black Religions. He also serves on the editorial boards of Biblical Interpretation and Black Theology: An International Journal. Davidson is an ordained elder within the United Methodist Church (New York Annual Conference).
Colton Bernasol is an editor and writer from Plainfield, Illinois, a Southwest suburb in the Chicagoland area. He graduated from Wheaton College with a BA in Philosophy and Biblical/Theological Studies and from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary with an MA in Theology and Ethics. He writes at the intersection of religion, society, and culture. Currently, he lives in Chicagoland with his wife Anna.
