Explore the roots of ritual in our individual and collective lives by drawing on personal and communal wisdom. This course begins with storytelling and progresses to deep meaning-making through creation of rituals for life passages, domestic life, civic life, healing, and seasonal change. By doing, reflecting, and being, experience the way theology emerges out of contemplative reflection on these experiences of life. Readings, field trips, class sessions, and group work will culminate in a rich stew of shared learning and creative projects.

TEXTS (Students obtain prior to class – purchase at local bookstores or order online.): Dissident Daughters - Feminist Liturgies in Global Context, Teresa Berger, editor (Westminster John Knox Press 2001); Earth Prayers, Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon, editors (Harper Collins 1991); To Dance With God, Gertrud Mueller Nelson (Paulist Press 1986); assorted articles and readings distributed in class. 

Optional readings: Beautiful Necessity: The Art and Meaning of Women's Altars, Kay Turner, (Thames and Hudson 1999); For the Beauty of the Earth: Women, Sacramentality, and Justice, Susan A. Ross (Paulist Press 2006); Women at Worship: Interpretations of North American Diversity, Marjorie Proctor-Smith and Janet Walton, editors (Westminster John Knox Press 1993).

SYLLABUS:  Now available  -- click here.

INSTRUCTORS:

Mary Kaye Medinger, M.A., is a teacher, ritualist, grandmother, lover of the saints and seasons, and retreat leader. After serving as founding director of Wisdom Ways for 13 years, Mary Kaye now serves on the Consociate Services Team of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

Karen Hilgers, CSJ, Ph.D., is a psychologist and dramaturg. She currently teaches in the graduate Holistic Health Studies program at the College of St. Catherine. Her courses include Spiritual Wellness: The Search for Meaning, and Core Concepts of Mind-Body Interactions. She lives in St. Paul with two other CSJs, Baily the Dog, and Lacey the Cat.

REGISTRATION: This course has already begun. No further registrations are being taken.

WHEN: Mondays, September 8 through November 24, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

WHERE: Carondelet Center, 1890 Randolph Ave., St. Paul

COST: $240 for the 24-hour class, additional cost for books. Scholarships and payment plan available.