Current Classes

Current and Upcoming Classes

Love Your Neighbor As Yourself: A Laboratory for Cultivating the Love that Does Justice

This class is dangerous. The skills and capacities for loving that we will be trying to develop together are a real and present danger to the status quo. Abuse and exploitation are only possible in the absence of real love. The abuser seeks to isolate his or her victim in order to make the victim vulnerable. When the victim is surrounded by a loving community that is willing to intervene on the victim’s behalf, abuse simply can’t take place.

We know that this is true on an intimate scale, for example in spousal and child abuse. I believe it is also true on a social scale. The systematic abuse and exploitation of human beings and of the planet is possible only to the degree that love is managed, confined, controlled, and limited. We are taught in subtle and overt ways from the time we are born whom and what we may love and whom and what we may not, who and what is worthy of love and who and what is not.

In this class, we will seek to unlearn those lessons and to experiment with loving outside the lines. My hope is that we can support each other to take risks both internally and out in the world.

Week 1: Loving Ourselves as God Loves Us

Week 2: Love, Power, and Difference

Week 3: Loving in a Culture of Individualism

Week 4: Generosity Practices

Week 5: Hospitality Practices

Week 6: Loving Your Enemies

Week 7: Loving Your Neighbor As Yourself

Week 8: Celebration and Closure

Wednesdays, January 25-March 17, 2010; 7-9pm
First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. in Oakland
**Sliding scale $80-120
To register, email our registration desk.

SIMPLIFY: Finding a Path Toward Greater Freedom & Creativity
(In an Era of Scarcity and Greed)

In light of the continuing economic crisis, many of us find ourselves anxious about our own financial situations. Freedom and creativity in how we deal with our finances may feel far out of reach.

At the same time, we are increasingly aware of the disproportionate privilege we possess in comparison with most of the world’s population. What does it mean to live justly and sustainably in a culture of prosperity and materialism?

This class will use the teachings of Jesus as a starting place for a conversation about our relationship to money and resources. (Note: At Seminary of the Street, we recognize the harm that has been done in the name of Christianity and other religions, and at the same time we are committed to recuperating their radical potential for social change. People of all faiths, as well as agnostics and atheists, are welcome to attend any of our events and to bring their own background to the discussions.)

How can we apply what Jesus taught about time, money and possessions to our current life context? In this one-day workshop we will explore how we might translate these teachings into concrete life practices: abundance, gratefulness, contentment, trust, generosity, simplicity and frugality.

Instructors: Mark and Lisa Scandrette of the ReImagine Community

Saturday, January 30, 2010; 9am-3pm
First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. in Oakland
Sliding scale $60-40
To register, email our registration desk.

FREE Workshop: Be a Resource in Your Community

Would you like to learn how to become a resource in your neighborhood or community?

In this workshop you can learn basic skills in empathic listening that can support you in the following areas:

* capacity to stay present in challenging situations
* ability to reflect your understanding regardless of content
* competence in checking for understanding of deeper meaning of what is shared
* willingness to listen without trying to solve problems

Miki Kashtan, certified NVC trainer, is a founder of Bay Area Nonviolent Communication and the North America Leadership Program. Miki conducts organizational trainings, consults with private and public sector organizations and teaches NVC at workshops in the San Francisco Bay Area and around the country. Miki has been supporting global social change movements, including coaching of Peace Alliance members in their Department of Peace campaign, facilitation of the African Alliance for Peace summit in Ghana, and a global peace building and conflict transformation summit in Japan. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley.

Continuing Education Units are available. For information, please go to: http://www.baynvc.org/new_announcement_details.php?announcement_id=289

Note: Space is limited. Although this is a free event, we ask that you pre-register if at all possible. To register, contact BayNVC at (510) 433-0700 or register@baynvc.org. Donations accepted.

Friday, February 5, 2010; 4:30-6:30pm

First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St in Oakland

See www.baynvc.org for more information

Shame and White Allies Working for Racial Justice

Guilt and shame are common issues for white people seeking to acknowledge and address racism. White people’s shame about racism often shows up as behaviors that reinforce racist dynamics, including denial, defensiveness, passivity and self-absorption, the calling out of which often serves to deepen shame and limit white people’s receptivity. How can we respond compassionately to this shame without condoning the resulting racist dynamics?

On February 13, Vanissar Tarakali will offer a workshop that brings theory and embodied practice together to explore white people’s automatic, shame-coping behaviors, and offers insights into why certain racist behaviors are so entrenched, even in well-intentioned white people.

This workshop, which draws on over a decade of research into the psychology of how white people unlearn racism, will benefit white allies seeking to strengthen mutual support and compassion for everyone working to transform racism. People of color who would like to recognize when racial shame is motivating white behavior are also welcome to attend. This workshop will help everyone recognize when white racial shame is operating and offer options and antidotes to support white allyship and accountability.

Saturday, February 13, 2010
10am-5pm
First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. in Oakland
Email our registration desk to sign up.

Contemplative Practices for Lent

Lent is a time when Christians look deeply at ourselves, work to change the rhythms of our lives to slow down, look closely, examine our hearts, and dig deeply into what it means to be people of God and followers of Jesus.

Contemplative practice can be an important part of our Lenten process. These two 1/2 day workshops are designed to introduce you to a variety of methods of Christian contemplative practice, from centering prayer, to lectio divina, to praying the hours and others. These workshops will be primarily experiential, with lots of time for practice and small group discussion.

Saturdays March 6 and 20, 2010; 1-5pm

First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St in Oakland

**Sliding scale $15-30 per workshop

FREE Workshop: Empathy in the Workplace

Would you like to increase effectiveness and connection in your organization?

Are you tired of difficult conversations and strenuous meetings and would like some manageability in your work life?

In this workshop we plan on exploring some basic principles related to empathic communication in the workplace. We are particularly hopeful that groups and organizations that may not have a training budget will send some key individuals to this event.

The focus of this workshop is to provide an initial exposure to the following principles and practices and to the inquiry about how to bring them into the workplace:

* presence, even in the face of difficulty
* clarity of purpose when making decisions or running meetings
* attention to both parties’ needs in a conflict
* providing feedback without criticism

Miki Kashtan, certified NVC trainer, is a founder of Bay Area Nonviolent Communication and the North America Leadership Program. Miki conducts organizational trainings, consults with private and public sector organizations and teaches NVC at workshops in the San Francisco Bay Area and around the country. Miki has been supporting global social change movements, including coaching of Peace Alliance members in their Department of Peace campaign, facilitation of the African Alliance for Peace summit in Ghana, and a global peace building and conflict transformation summit in Japan.

Continuing Education Units are available. For information, please go to: http://www.baynvc.org/new_announcement_details.php?announcement_id=289

Note: Space is limited. Although this is a free event, we ask that you pre-register if at all possible. To register, contact BayNVC at (510) 433-0700 or register@baynvc.org Donations accepted.

Friday, March 26, 2010; 12-2pm

First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St in Oakland

See www.baynvc.org for more information.

Book Group: Seeding The Irresistible Revolution

Are you drawn to alternative forms of community and social change? Are you looking for justice work that involves more than writing emails to your representatives, that is more like a lifestyle? That is exactly what i find so appealing about Shane Claiborne's book The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical. With some friends from college, Shane Claiborne co-founded The Simple Way, an intentional community in inner-city Philadelphia. Committed to loving their neighbors, they feed the hungry, house the homeless, befriend the lonely, and play lots of games with the neighborhood kids, while occasionally staging a social action that embodies the possibility of a new and more loving way of life.

Read the book--you can order it from any local bookstore or get it online-- and then come talk about what we can do here in the Bay area to seed the revolution! If you don't get a chance to read it, come anyway. There will be plenty to talk about.

Tuesdays, April 6, 13, and 20, 7-9pm
First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. in Oakland
Free, but pre-registration requested; To register, email our registration desk.

Lessons from THE COLOR OF FEAR with Victor Lee Lewis

Many Seminary of the Street students raved about Victor Lee Lewis's Healing the Heart of Justice series last spring and summer. Victor is simply one of the most incisive, creative, lively social justice educators around. This winter, he'll be back with a brand new class based on the renowned documentary THE COLOR OF FEAR, in which he is featured along with several others. What lessons can we draw from this film for our liberation work today? Don't miss this opportunity to study the film with Victor himself.

Details coming soon!

What to Expect

Our classes are designed to invite every participant into their own full humanity and, simultaneously, into deep community. Here is some of what you can expect:

As much as possible, we seek to break down barriers between teachers and learners to become a learning community to which everyone contributes.
We value collaboration and joint investigation as ways to challenge the individualism and competition of the culture.
We value rigorous critical engagement with tradition We will not dismiss difficult material nor will we accept ideas unquestioningly. Instead, we will grapple with inherited ideas and traditions to uncover that which serves life.
We value lived experience and seek always to make learning useful in participants’ daily lives without conforming to the dominant culture.
Learning is emotional and spiritual as well as intellectual; we value creative/emotional knowledge as well as facts and reason.
Real transformation occurs in the context of relationship, so our courses devote time and energy to the cultivation of relationships across lines of difference. As I come to care about you, I care about barriers to your freedom and full exercise of your humanity and want to work to eliminate those barriers.
Oppression of various kinds has created barriers to participation in learning communities. We seek to be inclusive in all our practices and to encourage participation from those who have been silenced. At the same time, participation in any activity or discussion is voluntary.
Recognizing that self-reflection is a vital activist skill, we give frequent opportunities and encouragement for reflection in private and in community.

**Members and pledging friends of First Congregational Church of Oakland do not have to pay registration fees and may take Seminary of the Street classes on a free-will donation basis. This applies to in-house classes only, not to those sponsored by other organizations. The latter are marked with a single asterisk on this site.

*These courses are offered by other organizations but share our approach of combining inner work with outer work for social justice. Registration is through the sponsoring organization, as listed in the description.