CITY BASED LEARNING AND SERVING INTENSIVES.

Our location in San Francisco provides a rich and diverse context for learning. We design 1 to 7 day "Jesus Dojo" intensives for groups that include neighborhood based learning and serving experiences. (High School, College and Adults) Contact us for details and availability. For more information download our brochure. 

 

 

 

CREATE SPACE: A CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER RETREAT

Silence and solitude help us become aware of the presence of God in our lives. Throughout history earnest spiritual seekers have created space for contemplation and prayer, following the example of the prophets and Jesus, who often withdrew to lonely places to pray. The hurry and distractions of our hyper-connected culture have renewed interest in classic spiritual disciplines and the "Desert Spirituality," of the Egyptian Fathers and Mothers of the 3rd and 4th Century. For many of us, the practices of contemplative prayer and reflection are best learned within a supportive group experience. On this retreat we’ll explore 6 classic prayer practices: Silence, Solitude in nature, Stillness prayer, Breath prayer, Contemplative Reading, and Examen. Join us for a weekend of discovering greater self-awareness and deeper intimacy with God-- a great way to begin the new year! Dates for 2016 TBA.

 

 

MISSION DISTRICT NEIGHBORHOOD ENGAGEMENT.

We invite you to learn and serve with us  in actions that care for needs and concerns in San Francisco's Mission District.  Currently we are involved in faith-rooted organizing around the police killing of our neighbor Amilcar Perez-Lopez. Please sign the petition and join us twice a month for Mission Night Walks, a group of neighbors and faith leaders praying and working to end violence in the Mission District. 

 

 

 

 

WORKSHOPS

We offer 1-3 hour practical workshops and training events for groups. Below are some of our most popular topics:

  • Using the Enneagram as a tool for personal transformation.
  • Introduction to Life in the Kingdom of God: an integral vision
  • Seeking the Kingdom within: An Introduction to Stillness/Contemplative Prayer Practice
  • Enter the Jesus Dojo: Creating shared paths for spiritual formation and neighborhood engagement
  • An invitation to simplicity
  • Developing a heart of compassion: An introduction to Christian Community Development
  • Belonging and Becoming: How families can take steps to practice the way of Jesus
  • Naming What Matters Most--Developing a guiding vision for your life
  • Valuing and Aligning time-- How to manage time well and live without hurry, worry, stress or striving
  • Becoming the Beloved: Practical steps for making repairs in relationships
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LEARNING LABS.

For the past 10 years we have facilitated multi-week practice-based groups called Learning Labs, designed to help participants apply the teachings of Christ to everyday life. Some people like to refer to these labs as "Jesus Dojo's,"(as described in Practicing the Way of Jesus), to emphasize a focus on group action, . We make the curriculum for our Learning Labs available to interested groups around the world, on a donation basis. We also design and facilitate customized Learning Labs experiences for groups and churches in the San Francisco Bay Area. Below are several of our most popular Learning Labs. 

Experiments in Truth. The master invites us to rethink or reimagine our whole lives in light of the promise of greater wholeness for our world.  This lab explores the physicality of spiritual formation. If I change what I do in mymind and body, how will it effect my capacity to flow with the Creator’s energy and love? (what eat? how I spend my time?  The media I consume? How I use my money? Who I spend my time with?) This practical workshops seek to deal with the disparity we often feel between how we want to live and how we actually live.  Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness fasting and facing his greatest shadows and temptations. Participants in this lab engage in practices aimed at confronting the false self and other obstacles to the spiritual life through “experiments in truth.”

Simplify: Spending Your Time and Money on What Matters Most. "How you spend your time is how you spend your life. And how you spend your life is shaped by your financial choices." We were made to flourish and do good in a world full of abundance. Yet many of us feel crunched for time, stressed in our finances or perplexed about what makes life meaningful. There is a trusted path for recovering the life of meaning, freedom and compassion were were created for. This journey invites us to adopt soul practices like gratitude, trust, contentment and generosity and practical skills like time management, goal setting and living by a spending plan. 

Awakening Creativity: Exploring the hidden story of your life. Many have observed the vital link between imagination, creativity and spiritual transformation.Since ancient times spiritual seekers have expressed their longings and questions through poetry, art and song. Jesus invited his listeners to reimagine or dream up their whole lives again, which is a profoundly creative act.  This Learning Lab helps participants weave together creativity, personal narrative and theology through individual and group exercises that culminate in a public art event.

Becoming the Beloved Community. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, believed, as did Christ, that together we can become the "beloved community." The teachings of Jesus dare us to believe that it is possible to learn to love our enemies and “be at peace” with all people. In this learning lab we support one other to takes steps to make repairs in our relationships, forgive those who have wronged us, seek healthy boundaries and practice honest, direct and loving communication.