Writing Our Way Into Recovery: Trauma, Addictions and Healing

Registrations for this jointly sponsored Southern New England Conference/Collegeville Institute online workshop series are on a first-come, first-served basis.

The 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) laid the spiritual foundation for the most popular and widespread self-help movement of the 20th century and beyond. Yet most people outside of AA and other recovery communities don’t know that the steps are based upon ancient spiritual practices. These include surrender, self-examination, confession to God and a trusted confidante, making amends, daily prayer, and helping others to find a higher power and achieve sobriety. The steps seek to help humans heal their brokenness and find God in a caring community. In the class we’ll use the craft of writing and the spiritual lens of the Twelve Steps to reflect upon our experience as humans in recovery. Recovery from addictions and also from personal and communal trauma (like life in COVID), recovery from broken relationships and recovery from faith lost.

The class is for anyone who writes to get a better understanding of life and God, enjoys mining their own lives for material, and wants to be in a creative and supportive community with other authors. We will have fun and use the Word and words to capture our experiences of God. Each week we will gather in prayer, discuss our reading assignment, listen to a craft lecture, workshop our writing pieces and receive a writing prompt for the next class. Workshop readings will be distributed in advance of the first class, as will the first writing prompt and assignment. We will seek to create a community of trust, creativity, and joy.

Reverend John F. Hudson is Senior Pastor of the Pilgrim Church, United Church of Christ, in Sherborn, Massachusetts. John is a frequent Collegeville Institute resident scholar and past writing workshop participant and leader. For twenty-five years he was a columnist whose essays appeared in newspapers throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and he currently blogs at sherbornpastor.blogspot.com. He teaches online spiritual memoir classes to clergy and laity. He has served churches in New England since 1989.

Workshop Details

All sessions will be held from 6:00pm-8:15pm North America Central Time.

Maximum number of participants: 10

SCHEDULE

Week 1, Thursday, Oct 5th, 2023, 6:00 pm-8:15pm CT: Introduction to 12 Step Spirituality

Week 2, Thursday, Oct 12th, 2023, 6:00 pm-8:15pm CT: Surrender/Defeat

Week 3, Thursday, Oct 19th, 2023, 6:00 pm-8:15pm CT: Spiritual Awakening/Trust in God

Week 4, Thursday, Oct 26th, 2023, 6:00 pm-8:15pm CT: Confession

Week 5, Thursday, Nov 2nd, 2023, 6:00 pm-8:15pm CT: Making Amends

Week 6, Thursday, Nov 9th, 2023, 6:00 pm-8:15pm CT: Daily Self-Examination and Prayer

Week 7, Thursday, Nov 16th, 2023, 6:00 pm-8:15pm CT: Helping Another Find Their Way

Some advance reading and/or writing may be required in preparation for the workshop series.

Registration Process:

Registration is now closed as all spots have been filled.

All sessions will be held on Thursdays from 6:00pm-8:15pm North America Central Time.