Center for Contemplative Leadership
Prayer as Resistance 2.2:
Notes of Rest with Julian Davis Reid
March 7-8, 2025
Overview
Notes of Rest® invites the weary into the rest of God practiced in the Bible and Black music. The offering interweaves various spiritual disciplines (“notes”) such as Sabbath, Sleep, and Sanctuary with the playing and history of Black American music. Braiding these notes equips participants to solo over the chord changes of their lives, harmonize their journeys with one another, and resolve to practice rest and music that unifies us with God, neighbor, and self. As Jesus’ restful New Creation emerges out of this restless world, Notes of Rest® provides hospitable space to discern our participation in it.
Leadership
Retreat Presiders
Retreat Host
Prayer as Resistance Series Convener
Musicians
WORKSHOP LEADERS
WORSHIP LEADERS
SPIRITUAL DIRECTORS (Facilitators of Contemplative Listening Circles)
Schedule
All times are Eastern Time, and all events are held on the Princeton Seminary Campus in Princeton, NJ.
Friday, March 7
| Princeton Seminary Chapel – Evening Jazz Concert |
Saturday, March 8
| Stuart Hall 6 – Retreat Session 1: Practicing the Scale |
|
| MacKay Student Center – Lunch Together | |
| 1:30 p.m. | Stuart Hall 6 – Session 2: Playing in Time |
| 3:15 p.m. | Stuart Hall 6 – Session 3: Listening Back to Rehearsal |
| 4:45 p.m. | Stuart Hall 6 – Retreat Dismissal |
| Dinner Break |
|
| MacKay Student Center – An Evening of Live Poetry |
Workshops
Participants can choose from a variety of workshops with options for creative expression, mindful movement, and theological reflection.
Title: Artful Collaboration in a Polarized World
Time Slot: Workshop #1, 1:15 p.m.
Format: In-Person Only
Description: In a world where we are constantly saturated by polarizing tensions, how may we co-create with others in a contemplative and mindful way? We will explore this question through a practice of contemplation, collaboration, and sacred art-making called CreatioDivina. CreatioDivina, hosted by BeauFolio Studio, brings together the sacred practice of lectio divina alongside artmaking that invites participants into a five-movement journey from the artists’ studio, to the art gallery, culminating at the artists’ round table. No previous art experience or skill is required. All materials will be provided.
Title: Praying With Your Feet: Understanding the Healing Power of the Labyrinth
Time Slot: Workshop #1, 1:15 p.m.
Format: In-Person Only
Description: “The labyrinth is a spiritual tool meant to awaken us to the deep rhythm that unites us to ourselves and the light that calls from within. In surrendering to the winding path, the soul finds healing and wholeness.” Lauren Artress. Join Rev. Katrina Jenkins for an interactive workshop on how t0 use the labyrinth as a spiritual and meditative tool. During this workshop you will have the opportunity to walk a beautiful outdoor labyrinth on the property of House Next Door, at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church (indoors in case of rain).
Title: Prayer as Resistance to Slavery
Time Slot: Workshop #1, 1:15 p.m.
Format: Virtual
Description: This workshop begins with the stories of several Black persons and communities who have turned to prayer as a form of resistance to slavery. It invites participants to reflect on the power of these acts of spiritual resistance and how they counteract political, economic, social, and psychological oppression. It includes an opportunity to pray with these ancestors for healing and liberation in our world today. This workshop will be experiential and dialogical.
Title: Notes of Rest
Time Slot: Workshop #1, 1:15 p.m.
Format: Virtual
Description: Notes of Rest® is a Spirit-led ministry that invites the weary to receive Jesus’ new life by practicing God’s gifts of rest played in the Bible and Black music. This workshop interweaves the theological themes (“notes”) of Salvation, Sabbath, Sleep, Stillness & Sanctuary with the playing and history of Black American music. Listening for the harmony between these different notes helps us receive from the writers of the biblical texts and the creators of Black music wisdom to resist the restless evil of this present age. Notes of Rest encourages participants to listen for the Holy Spirit’s leading, share in the journey with one another, and embrace God, neighbor, and self more fully. As Jesus’ restful New Creation emerges out of this restless world, Notes of Rest® provides hospitable space to discern our participation in it.
Title: Renewed Imagination for Divine Encounter: Navigating Spiritual Impasse with Visio Divina
Time Slot: Workshop #2, 2:40 p.m.
Format: In-Person & Virtual
Description: In this workshop, we will explore the transformative practice of Visio Divina, a contemplative approach to engaging with sacred images. Drawing from the rich tradition of Christian spirituality, Visio Divina invites us to encounter the divine through visual contemplation. As Constance Fitzgerald elucidates in her writings on impasse, moments of spiritual deadlock challenge us to transcend familiar frameworks and images to seek deeper, more nuanced understandings of the divine. Through Visio Divina, we will navigate these impasses by opening ourselves to the mystery and beauty of sacred art, allowing new images to evoke fresh insights and new imagination. Together, we will journey towards a renewed and matured spirituality, grounded not in rigid dogma but in the fluidity of contemplative encounter.
Title: Yoga and Stillness: Digest, Rest, and Refresh
Time Slot: Workshop #2, 2:40 p.m.
Format: In-Person & Virtual
Description: Join Nina Laubach for a mid-afternoon respite of movement and rest. This 70-minute workshop brings together yoga, meditation, and reflection and invites you to digest and integrate the conference. The space will offer traditional yoga poses, breath practice, mindfulness, and time for reflection. Nina will offer tools you can use beyond the mat on your own contemplative journeys, to continue the practice of being present in your daily life. Nina is a 500-Hr certified yoga teacher through Alignment Yoga and believes cultivating an attentive heart is central to prayer and the contemplative path.
If possible, BYO mat and wear comfortable clothing.
Title: Ruptures, Repair and Re-creation
Time Slot: Workshop #2, 2:40 p.m.
Format: Virtual
Description: In this workshop you are invited to explore connections between suffering and wisdom in a workshop titled ‘Ruptures and Re-Creation.’ Through storytelling, visio divina contemplative practice, and group dialogue– participants will consider how liminal moments of rupture may be connected to opportunities for recreation and renewal. Participants will be invited to reflect on their own lived experiences of struggle and transformation, as we collectively discern how to co-create worlds anew.
Photo taken from our Prayer as Resistance 2.1 Conference, April 2024
Resources
The following writings can provide a framework for this year’s Prayer as Resistance Retreat. If you’re able to read any of them in advance, your experience might be all the richer when we gather.
- Tricia Hersey’s Rest is Resistance, pp. 1-41
- Barbara Holmes’ Joy Unspeakable, Ch. 3
- Barbara Holmes’ Joy Unspeakable, Ch. 9
Registration
Pricing
| Registration Type | Virtual | In-Person | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Super Early Bird | $37 | $75 | 11:59 pm on Jan. 17, 2025 |
| Early Bird | $47 | $85 | 11:59 pm on Feb. 7, 2025 |
| Regular | $57 | $95 | 11:59 pm on March 3, 2025 (In-person) 11:59 pm on March 5, 2025 (Virtual) |
Lunch is available to purchase for an additional $13 add-on to your registration.
All are welcome to attend this retreat in person or online. If you are in need of a scholarship to attend this event, please email our Program and Community Coordinator, wesley.tenney-free@ptsem.edu. We have a discount code for those in full-time ministry, and for anyone else who may need it, if helpful.
THANK YOU to all our partners and donors whose generosity allows us to keep our registration fees much lower than the actual costs!
Photo taken from our Prayer as Resistance 2.1 Conference, April 2024
Travel & Lodging
HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS
To make your travel arrangements easier, we have reserved a block of rooms at the Erdman Center on Princeton Seminary’s campus. We invite you to reserve a room over the phone at (609) 497-7990. Please reference the block #128657 when you speak with a representative.
Parking
Please park at the Princeton Theological Seminary Library Lot, 25 Library Place, Princeton, NJ 08540. To reach the Seminary Chapel and Stuart Hall, please cross Mercer Street at the stoplight then walk straight to the Seminary’s Main Quad. Both buildings are on the left side of the quad, near Alexander Street. Accessible parking accommodations are available on the quad in front of both buildings, as well as in the library lot. Please feel welcome to email wesley.tenney-free@ptsem.edu if you would like us to reserve an accessible parking spot on the quad for you.
