An Ancient Flowing Stream
Presented by Michael Battle and Julian Davis Reid
Online via Zoom
Saturday, May 3, 2025
9:00 a.m. – Noon
Mountain Daylight Time
Cost: $50
How African Origins, Heritage, Culture and Music Power the Christian Contemplative Spirit
Combining the wisdom and talents of two great teachers, this creative workshop will use storytelling, music, art, and poetry to bring alive the many contributions to contemplative life that flow from Africa and the Black experience.
Sponsored by: the Contemplative Outreach Chapters of Chicago, Atlanta, Colorado, and
Maryland/Washington DC; Awakenings; Closer Than Breath; Centering Prayer USA;
and World Community for Christian Meditation.
The instinct to search for and find a path to God flows like an ancient river through every human heart. It is universal, and like the human race itself, it has its source in Africa. Over time, the river of contemplation has been fed by streams from every continent, and experiencing this diversity of influences has great transformative power.
Here in the West, one stream of influence – white and European – has been the dominant approach to Christian contemplation, while alternative worldviews have tended to be neglected and silenced. But this is changing.
In Centering Prayer and other contemplative practices, diverse persons find a path that opens into communion, and so contemplative communities, often without recognizing it, yearn for access to the full range of human spiritual experience. At the same time, let us seek the grace to extend a warmer and more authentic welcome to people of all backgrounds, and to be transformed by what they can teach us. In doing so, we are transformed in Christ as we touch the common Divine Presence in a variety of unique expressions, discovering opportunities to deepen our awareness of God’s presence and action within ourselves, our communities, and our world.
As we open to a greater and more connected state of awareness, it is essential to do so communally, rather than just individually — to share our being more openly with others, including others of diverse backgrounds.
We invite you to swim in an ancient stream toward sacred Communal Contemplative Spirituality. This workshop will invite you into transformation as much as it invites you to learn about the African underpinnings of all contemplative practices, and Black American contemplative practices in particular.
About The Very Rev. Michael Battle, Ph.D
The Very Rev. Michael Battle, Ph.D. is the Extraordinary Professor at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice, the University of the Western Cape, South Africa, Theologian in Community at Trinity Church Boston and formerly taught at General Theological Seminary in New York where he was the Herbert Thompson Professor of Church and Society and Director of the Desmond Tutu Center. In 1993 he was ordained a priest by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Battle’s clergy experience, in addition to his academic work, makes him an internationally sought after speaker, teacher, writer and spiritual leader. He has published nine books, including Reconciliation: the Ubuntu Theology of Desmond Tutu, and Ubuntu: I in You and You in Me.
In 2010, Battle was given one of the highest Anglican Church distinctions as “Six Preacher,” by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. His PeaceBattle Institute works on subjects of diversity, spirituality, prayer, race and reconciliation.
Battle and his wife, Raquel, were married by Archbishop Tutu and are parents to two daughters, Sage and Bliss, and a son, Zion. All of whom were baptized by Archbishop Tutu as well.
About Julian Davis Reid, M.Div.
Julian Davis Reid, M.Div. (Candler School of Theology) is a child of God, the husband of Carmen and father of Lydia, a son and brother, and a Black artist-theologian of Chicago who uses words and music to invite us into the restful lives we were created to live. A musician, speaker, and writer, Julian is the founder of the ministry Notes of Rest®, which invites the weary into the rest of God practiced in the Bible and Black music.
Julian has released numerous records, including with his own ensemble Circle of Trust and the jazz-electronic fusion group The JuJu Exchange (with Nico Segal & Nova Zaii), as well as collaborative work with saxophonist Isaiah Collier. His most recent release is the calming solo piano album, “Beside Still Waters: A Notes of Rest Offering.”
Julian has performed at the Montreal Jazz Fest and Lollapalooza. He has worked or performed with Jennifer Hudson, Chance the Rapper, Tank and the Bangas, and Isaiah Collier.
An award-winning writer, Julian writes about faith, music, Blackness, and rest on his Substack “Julian’s Note.” Julian also consults with the boutique consultancy Fearless Dialogues.
Registration for this event is managed by Contemplative Outreach of Chicago. The Register button below will take you to their registration page.
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