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Collegeville Institute

Bearings Online

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  • Residency Programs
      • Scholars, clergy, church leaders, thinkers, artists, and writers who are seeking to discern and communicate the meaning of Christian identity and unity in a religiously and culturally diverse world are invited to apply for our residency programs.
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        for those looking to stay a semester or a full academic year

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        for those looking to stay for a shorter period of time

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  • Writing Workshops
      • Each summer, the Collegeville Institute opens its doors to pastors, ministers, lay leaders, and other thinkers and writers for week-long, intensive writing workshops geared toward various levels of writing skill, genre and interest.
        Each fall, the Collegeville Institute partners with other institutes, seminaries, or churches to coordinate regional off-site workshops.
      • Get Practical Information »
      • View 2021 Workshops »
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      • Open Applications:

      • Our Own Deep Wells: Writing on Vocation across Race and Culture
      • Emerging Writers Mentorship Program
      • Apply Now »
      • Closed Applications:

      • Please note: We are not accepting applications for many of our summer 2021 workshops because we rescheduled several from summer 2020 due to Covid-19. We will return to a full roster of our summer writing workshops in 2022.
      • Apart, and Yet a Part: A Workshop with Writing Coach Michael N. McGregor
      • Exploring Identity and (Dis)belonging through the Personal Essay
      • In the Thick of It: Explorations of Advanced Topics in Prose Writing
      • Breaking the Academic Mold: Liberating the Powerful, Personal Voice Inside You
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  • Vocation Projects
      • The Communities of Calling Initiative invites congregations into a 5-year project on vocation.
        The Collegeville Institute Seminars offer resources to explore calling in your community.
      • Vocation Projects Overview »
    • Resources on Vocation:

      • BridgeCalled to Life – a free program for small groups
      • Called to Work - hands at a laptopCalled to Work – a free program for small groups
      • FrancoisLives Explored – a video storytelling project
      • booksBooks – publications on vocation
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  • Fellows Program
    • Bringing together an ecumenical group of gifted Minnesota faith leaders, the Collegeville Institute Fellows Program focuses on leadership development with the goal of strengthening religious leaders’ sense of themselves as civic leaders.
    • Fellows Program Overview
    • Twin Cities Fellows Program
    • Rural Minnesota Fellows Program
    • Multi-Religious Fellows Program
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  • Faith and Writing
    • Good writing is essential to powerful theological education within congregations. In this section we highlight book reviews, provide resources for good writing, feature the writing of our program participants, and more.
    • Resources for Faith and Writing
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    • Bearings magazine
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  • Search
  • Safe

    By Andrew Taylor-Troutman

    Andrew Taylor-Troutman's new sonnet explores grief and the comfort received from what remains. →

  • Book Notes, January 2021

    By Collegeville Institute

    In this series, we highlight books we think our readers may enjoy, written by authors affiliated with the Collegeville Institute. →

  • What Does Faith Have to Do with Justice?

    By Benjamin Tapper

    Do Christians stand for justice? In what ways has the message of white supremacy worked its way into Christian churches? →

  • Consider the Birds

    A Conversation on Community Organizing with Nicholas Tangen

    By Collegeville Institute

    Community organizing is often hard and contentious work. How can people stay committed when the world becomes overwhelming? →

  • 12 Tiny Things

    An Interview with Ellie Roscher

    By Ellie Roscher

    Ellie Roscher's book "12 Tiny Things" offers small spiritual micro practices that bring our attention to the work of justice and help prevent overwhelm. →

Featured Content

News

Job Announcement: Executive Director

By Collegeville Institute

The Search Committee is accepting applications for the Collegeville Institute Executive Director position until Monday, March 1, 2021.
  • Resident Scholars Conclude Program on Zoom
  • Lauren Winner Leads Final 2020 Writing Workshop Online

Unlikely Conversations Podcast

Consider the Birds

By Collegeville Institute

Community organizing is often hard and contentious work. How can people stay committed when the world becomes overwhelming?
  • Writing in Luminous Darkness
  • Midwifing Stories in the American South

Poetry

Safe

By Andrew Taylor-Troutman

Andrew Taylor-Troutman's new sonnet explores grief and the comfort received from what remains.
  • Prie Dieu
  • Prayer for Light in Darkness

Resources for Congregations

Called to Life

A free 6-week program for small groups to explore God’s call in their lives.

Called to Work

A free 6-week program for small groups to explore profession and vocation.

Lives Explored videos

A video series with real-life stories of calling.

Books

Publications from the Seminars.

Resources for Faith & Writing

Rhythm and Balance:

Perhaps no one needs Sabbath as much as activists. This essay and prayer recommend rest as important to the work.
edit

Edit Yourself

A good day of deleting feels like a successful day of purging your closet, cleaning your kitchen, or weeding your garden.

Please Don’t Hate Me

When editor Charnell Peters sent out her first rejections to writers, she added a desperate whisper: “Please don’t hate me!”
needles

Finding the Needles

What is it like reading through submissions at a literary journal? Finding the proverbial needle in the haystack calls for ruthless efficiency.

New? Start Here…

  • Check out our Resident Scholar program »
  • Read articles from Bearings Online »
  • Listen to our Unlikely Conversations podcast »
  • Explore the Communities of Calling Initiative »
  • Discover resources on vocation for congregations »
  • Learn about our Fellows program for Minnesota faith leaders »

Our Mission

At the Collegeville Institute we promote scholarship, leadership, creativity, & community among people of faith.

Read more »

Recent Tweets

  • Want to write more in 2021? Apply now for a Collegeville Institute summer writing program. https://t.co/qB6Ve0qGyc14 hours ago
  • RT @CollegevilleIns: Job Announcement: Collegeville Institute Executive Director Do you know someone who might be a good candidate? Pleas…17 hours ago

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Collegeville Institute
How do individuals and churches collectively disce How do individuals and churches collectively discern what choices to make? And how can metaphors help with the process?⠀
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On Wednesday, February 3, 2021 at 12 – 1 PM, CST, join us for #CollegevilleConnections with @jessie.bazan and Rev. Dr. Jane Patterson to learn how metaphors can be a tool for discernment. They will consider the metaphor of pottery to reflect with some Collegeville Institute Communities of Calling Initiative participants about their recent experiences in congregational life.⠀
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Register now for this event by clicking on the link in our profile.⠀
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#pottery #metaphor #discernment #CommunitiesofCalling #calling #vocation
Applications are now open for the 2021-22 Emerging Applications are now open for the 2021-22 Emerging Writers Mentorship Program at the Collegeville Institute! ⠀
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Work with writing mentor Michael N. McGregor or Sophfronia Scott to hone and deepen your writing skills. This 13-month program includes a Collegeville Institute writing workshop on Friday, July 30 – Tuesday, August 3, 2021. The application deadline is Sunday, February 21, 2021. Learn more by clicking on the link in our profile.
Applications are now open for a 2021 summer writin Applications are now open for a 2021 summer writing workshop led by Patrice Gopo and Dori Baker at the Collegeville Institute. Our Own Deep Wells: Writing on Vocation Across Race and Culture will be held on Wednesday, June 23 - Tuesday, June 29, 2021. ⠀
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Writing about vocation that centers distinct identities holds power to transform individuals, communities, and the world. Writers will draw from their own deep wells, wherein lie stories, images, and artifacts handed down from their ancestors to help live into a better future. Find out how to apply by clicking on the link in our profile.⠀
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@patricegopo #DoriBaker #writing #vocation #race #culture
Andrew Taylor-Troutman's new sonnet, "Safe," explo Andrew Taylor-Troutman's new sonnet, "Safe," explores grief and the comfort we get from what is left behind. Read it at the link in our profile.⠀
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#poetry #poetryWednesday @ataylortroutman
What books are you reading this January? If you're What books are you reading this January? If you're looking for inspiration, check out these recently published books written by Collegeville Institute alumni. Find out more by clicking on the link in our profile⠀
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#BookNotes #amreading #bookstagram #books #JoyceHollyday @wipfandstock @aprilxstace #JuliaJordanZachery @azpress
We need your help to recruit the next Executive Di We need your help to recruit the next Executive Director of the Collegeville Institute! Do you know someone who might be a good candidate? Nominate them or share this post with your networks.⠀
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Find the link to the position description and application information in our profile. Applications are due Monday, March 1, 2021.⠀
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#myCollegeville #JobAnnouncement #ExecutiveDirector
#mycollegeville #mycollegeville
How has the message of white supremacy and tacit s How has the message of white supremacy and tacit support of its rise worked its way into Christian churches? Benjamin Tapper asks this in his essay, "What does faith have to do with justice?" Read the essay by clicking on the link in our profile. ⠀
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#racialjustice #faith #CRT @mr.tapper
Community organizing is often hard and contentious Community organizing is often hard and contentious work. How can people stay committed when the world becomes overwhelming?⠀
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In this podcast episode, writer and congregational organizer Nicholas Tangen describes how observing the natural world is connected to his work for justice within the ELCA church. Nicholas has relied on birdwatching as a spiritual practice during the pandemic. The birds remind him that there is a wide diversity of gifts and strengths needed in movements for social change. Nicholas also speaks about his role as a writer in the Lutheran Church and how Benedictine spirituality has been important in sustaining his work.⠀
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To listen to the podcast, please click on the link in our profile.⠀
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#NicholasTangen #podcast #UnlikelyConversations #birdwatching #ELCA #Lutheran #Minneapolis #faith #justice #writing
For many of us this is a period of heightened awar For many of us this is a period of heightened awareness of our personal responsibilities on a larger historical stage that includes deep racial, economic, and political divisions, intensifying climate change, and the brokenness laid bare by the pandemic. What does it mean to live in our present moment, yet with a deeper moral sense of our own connections to larger historical events?⠀
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Former Collegeville Institute Resident Scholar Victoria J. Barnett has spent her career exploring this question with regard to Germans during the Nazi era, focusing especially on the example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In our virtual event tomorrow, she will explore the connections between how we think of our own moral responsibility in light of a historical perspective provided by Bonhoeffer and his times.⠀
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Register now for our Collegeville Connections virtual event with Barnett tomorrow on Wednesday, January 13th, at 12 PM CST. Find the link in our profile.⠀
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#CollegevilleConnections #Bonhoeffer
Ellie Roscher's new book 12 Tiny Things offers sim Ellie Roscher's new book 12 Tiny Things offers simple, small practices that ground us in our bodies and ready us for the work of justice. ⠀
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Read an interview with her at the link in our profile. ⠀
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#NewYear #tinythings #spiritualpractices @EllieRoscher #12tinythings @broadleafbooks @heidicbarr
#mycollegeville #mycollegeville
It's one of the oldest questions: What is the purp It's one of the oldest questions: What is the purpose of suffering? Catherine Hervey's interview with Liuan Huska explores this question in relationship to her book, "Hurting Yet Whole: Reconciling Body and Spirit in Chronic Pain and Illness."⠀
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Read it at the link in our profile.⠀
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#suffering #spirituality #wholeness
Gideon Iching Okpeta's poem "Prie Dieu" offers a p Gideon Iching Okpeta's poem "Prie Dieu" offers a prayer at the beginning of this new year. Read it with the link in our profile.⠀
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#poetryWednesday #poetry #prayer #forgiveness
There is still time to register for our first Coll There is still time to register for our first Collegeville Connections gathering on Wednesday, January 6! In this virtual event, moderated by Collegeville Institute Executive Director Don Ottenhoff, De'Amon Harges and Mike Mather will share stories and reflections on what they have learned in the church and community across their 20 year friendship.⠀
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Find the link in our profile for more information.⠀
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#CollegevilleConnections
Did you catch our latest email newsletter in your Did you catch our latest email newsletter in your inbox this week? It includes news about our Resident Scholar and writing workshop programs, as well as great resources like our Leading Lives That Matter small group modules. Read it by clicking on our profile link.
As we anticipate entering a new year, we’re taki As we anticipate entering a new year, we’re taking a moment to look back at the Bearings Online articles that our readers and staff have most enjoyed in 2020. Read the top posts from this past year by clicking on the link in our profile.
A call for Sabbath rest, especially for those doin A call for Sabbath rest, especially for those doing the hard work of anti-racism and social justice. Read Onleilove Chika Alston's "Rhythm and Balance: A Litany for Anchoring and Energizing Justice Work with Sabbath, Contemplation, and Community," which was published in Rally: Communal Prayers for Lovers of Jesus and Justice.
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Find the link to this book excerpt in our profile. ⠀
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#sabbath #prayer #NewYear #socialjustice #activism #rally @propheticwhirlwind @britneywinnlee @upperroombooks
We are grateful for all the ways you connect with We are grateful for all the ways you connect with the Collegeville Institute. In this loveliest of seasons may you find many reasons for happiness.⠀
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From: Amy, Carla, Don, Elisa, Jessie, Kathleen, Stina, Susan, and Viv⠀
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(photo credit: Fall 2020 Resident Scholar Eric LeCompte)
In this time between the darkest day of the year a In this time between the darkest day of the year and the birth of Christ our Light, we offer "A Prayer for Light in Darkness," by Tiona Cage. ⠀
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Read the prayer using the link in our bio.⠀
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#solstice #light #PoetryWednesday #Advent @tiona_cage
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Latest News

Job Announcement: Executive Director

January 8, 2021

Resident Scholars Conclude Program on Zoom

December 18, 2020

Lauren Winner Leads Final 2020 Writing Workshop Online

December 14, 2020

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