Presentation Description:

In Crisis Contemplation, the Rev. Dr. Barbara Holmes will address two entry points into contemplation which have seldom been addressed: contemplation during crisis, and how we contemplate as community.

Engaging deeply with both history and current events, Holmes will address the emergence of crisis contemplation, especially through the lenses of BIPOC peoples. Dr b will be exploring existing communal contemplative experiences. As she looks into types of crises (pandemics, earthquakes, and systemic abuses), she examines the resulting traumatic wounds which manifest across generations.

In the second half of the presentation, she will shift toward a village response to crises, addressing communal formation, belonging, resistance, and resilience. A deeper look at healing through memory and story, culture and ritual, will lead to a final chapter on envisioning different futures through liminality and bio-spiritual resurrection. 

Recording Note:  This event will be recorded.  All registrants will receive a copy of the Zoom recording within 2 weeks of the event.

About Rev. Dr. Barbara A. Holmes

Dr. Holmes is a spiritual teacher and writer focused on African American spirituality, mysticism, cosmology and culture.  She is President Emerita of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities (2012-2016).  She also served as Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Memphis Theological Seminary (2005-2010). She holds the title of Professor Emerita of Ethics and African American Religious Studies at that seminary. Currently, she is a core faculty member at the Center for Action and Contemplation founded by Fr. Richard Rohr. 

Holmes was called to ministry while working as a corporate lawyer for the J.C. Penney Corporation, and was ordained in the Latter Rain Apostolic Holiness Church in Dallas, Texas. Today, she has privilege of call in the United Church of Christ and recognition of ministerial standing in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Dr. Holmes grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, and was a member of Dixwell Avenue Congregational Church.

Dr. Holmes has earned the following degrees: a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a minor in Theatre Arts from the University of Connecticut; a Master of Science in Education from Southern Connecticut University; a Master of Divinity degree from Columbia Theological Seminary; and a Doctor of Philosophy in Religion (Ethics) from Vanderbilt.  Also, she earned a law degree from Walter F. George School of Law, at Mercer University and practiced law in Miami, Atlanta, Macon and Dallas. She specialized in civil litigation, corporate, and appellate practice. She says, "My life is committed to the struggle for justice, the healing of the human spirit, and the art of relevant and radical creativity."