A Growing Community
From December 2016 to December 2017, a small volunteer team hosted gatherings in five different cities, bringing together more than 100 participants, including sisters from more than 17 different religious communities and a diverse array of millennials representing over 60 groups and organizations. From these catalytic conversations a community of trust has grown—seeding ongoing local groups, a national learning network, and an imaginative action-research initiative on the future of sacred spaces.
Initial Gatherings
Beginning in December, 2016, the Nuns & Nones team hosted two-day gatherings in five cities: Cambridge, the Bay Area, Kalamazoo, Philadelphia and St. Louis. Each of these gatherings surfaced just how much these two populations had in common and unleashed a profound sense of connection and possibility, planting seeds for imaginative new projects, relationships, and communities.
Online Learning
We host monthly Nuns & Nones conversations online, connecting us from across the country and our various communities. We held the first call in December, 2017, on the topic of slowing down. Another recent guiding question was: how do members of this community forgive, and contemplate forgiveness, when confronted with injustice, pain, and violence? We're continuing these conversations to connect with one another on a deeper level between opportunities to gather in person. Want to join the next one? Click below to get looped in!
Local Groups
After initial gatherings, local groups have continued to meet, deepening relationships and build a community of trust. Ongoing activities range from field trips to one another’s homes and work spaces, weekend retreats, discussions of shared readings, co-creating rituals, and—of course—continuing dialogues around themes of mutual interest. If you're interested in getting involved with existing groups in the Bay Area, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Philadelphia, or St. Louis—or, perhaps, starting your own, please be in touch: hello@nunsandnones.org.
Call for a Partner Site
What would it look like to go deeper in a single site, creating and building a new home and community together across generations? We are looking for an intrepid, value-aligned community of women religious that would be interested in partnering with a small group of Millennials for a 3-6 month learning residency—a period of listening, sharing, and relationship-building, with the possibility of more to follow.