Seeing White Podcast Series

Have you ever asked the question: “What can I personally do to recognize my white advantage and become more antiracist? I really care about this, but I don’t know where to begin.”
Whether you’ve been involved in racial justice issues your entire life, for a couple of decades, or just a few months, the podcast series “Seeing White” is a superb way to familiarize yourself with how the concept of whiteness has shaped our nation.
All Plymouth members are invited to listen to this series at their own leisure and to then join a Zoom discussion focused on each episode.
Co-sponsored by Racial Justice Initiative

14 sessions (total)
Podcasts may be listened to individually, and join a group Zoom discussion once a month.
Registration for the podcast or discussions is not required, and you do not need to attend every session.

Plymouth Reads, I’m Still Here

By Austin Charming Brown, sponsored by The Racial Justice Initiative.

Austin Channing Brown’s has book is filled with stories pulled from her own life that illuminate the experiences of many Black Americans. She shares what it is like to navigate not just this country’s deep issues with race but also her experience as a Black woman working in a white religious institution.
Co-sponsored by Racial Justice Initiative

Intersection: Racial Injustice and Immigration

We will use a structured approach to study issues of racial injustice and immigration, particularly the intersections. Participants will prepare for each discussion session by reading a book or article, watching a documentary, or listening to a podcast. Sessions will provide opportunities for sharing, learning, and reflection. These sessions are intended to help participants nurture their capacity to love by cultivating their best selves. Ultimately, we hope participants will be inspired to work for human rights and serve people in need.
Co-sponsored by the Racial Injustice Initiative and the Immigrant Welcoming Working Group

6 Discussion Sessions
Wednesdays

Details by session
January: Listen to 1619, a podcast from the New York Times (five episodes, approx. 30-40 min. ea).

February: Watch PBS 4-part series Reconstruction; Watch Against All Odds: The Fight for a Black Middle Class (1-hr news program on PBS)

March: Read What is Owed: Is It Time for Reparations? by Nikole Hannah-Jones available in the New York Times Magazine, June 30, 2020

April: Read Separated by Jacob Sobaroff

May: Watch Netflix series Immigration Nation (6 episodes, approx.. 1 hr ea.)

June: Read How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi

Illuminating the Way

sponsored by Plymouth Contemplatives

This continuing monthly group explores practices and insights for living a fully embodied Gospel. We read both classic and contemporary teachers of the progressive and contemplative Christian traditions, and may also connect with perspectives from other wisdom traditions as a way of deepening our own journeys. While primarily a book study group, we are open to a variety of formats and resources for our shared learning (i.e., podcasts, magazine articles, recorded talks/sermons). Examples of past titles are Immortal Diamond by Richard Rohr and Light of the World: A Beginner’s Guide to Advent by Amy-Jill Levine. New members are always welcome. For the title being studied each month, contact Chris Lance (clance730@gmail.com).
Co-sponsored by Plymouth Contemplatives

Book Study on Learning to Walk in the Dark, by Barbara Brown Taylor

This book study is based on her latest publication that provides a way to find spirituality in those times when we don’t have all the answers.
Taylor has become increasingly uncomfortable with our tendency to associate all that is good with lightness and all that is evil and dangerous with darkness. Doesn’t God work in the nighttime as well? In Learning to Walk in the Dark, Taylor asks us to put aside our fears and anxieties and to explore all that God has to teach us “in the dark.” She argues that we need to move away from our “solar spirituality” and ease our way into appreciating “lunar spirituality” (since, like the moon, our experience of the light waxes and wanes). Through darkness we find courage, we understand the world in new ways, and we feel God’s presence around us, guiding us through things seen and unseen. Often, it is while we are in the dark that we grow the most.
With her characteristic charm and literary wisdom, Taylor is our guide through a spirituality of the nighttime, teaching us how to find our footing in times of uncertainty and giving us strength and hope to face all of life’s challenging moments.

Book Study on Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Dr. Kimmerer presents this book as a gift of braided stories “meant to heal our relationship with the world” by weaving together the three strands of “indigenous ways of knowing, scientific knowledge, and the story of an Anishinabekwe scientist trying to bring them together in service to what matters most.” That is, the necessity for humankind to be rejoined with its relationships to nature, and to understand the implications of the Earth’s gifts and our responsibility to return these gifts. The book is filled with poignant stories of the natural world and of loss and a hopeful challenge to humankind to restore the gifts of Mother Earth and the balance that once was.
Co-sponsored by Climate and Environmental Justice Committee

Facilitators highly recommend purchasing book AND a braid of sweetgrass at native-owned Birchbark Books, mail or curbside delivery, http://birchbarkbooks.com.

The Heart of Aging with Wisdom

We will explore spirituality and living fully in our later years. This class encourages participants to harvest life experiences that molded them and embrace the role of the spiritual elder in our families and communities. Through journaling, reflection, and discussion in dyads, we will create new paths for authentic living as elders. Co-sponsored by the Mortality Project.

Introduction to Centering Prayer

This course presents the basic theological principles and method of Centering Prayer which is a form of Christian meditation now practiced worldwide. There are 2 sessions of centering prayer as well as brief presentations on the why, how, and purpose of Centering Prayer. (Participants are encouraged to attend follow up sessions of “Centering Prayer in Practice”

Minneapolis and the Many Layers of Our Story

All spiritual journeys must be rooted in something, and Plymouth Church’s is rooted firmly in the city of Minneapolis for over 160 years. Using Tom Weber’s excellent book Minneapolis: An Urban Biography as a guide, this class will explore forces influencing the formation and growth of Minnesota’s largest city. We will especially focus on the ‘whiplash’ moments that have created a city of opposing realities. Mr. Weber will join us for discussion at the final class.