Faithful Words Literary Ministry
Faithful Words is a community ministry of poetry, stories and words. Engaging writing as a spiritual practice and a tool for social action, Faithful Words offers guided writing and meditative reading sessions as well as social action communications workshops in congregational, community and retreat settings.
“Whether we are writers or not, words help us reach beyond ourselves to find and name and claim our greater wholeness. They help us summon our best possibilities, bridging between the world as it is today and the place of justice and peace that we long for it to be.” ~Rev. Karen Hering, consulting literary minister Faithful Words increases our fluency in the languages of faith. An ecumenical and interfaith program, it enriches and deepens our conversations with one another. Its guided writing programs explore writing as a correspondence with the “still, small voice within,” inviting participants to mine their own inner truths and bring them to the page. Its communications workshops help participants understand how to use metaphor and story to better communicate across differences and diverse worldviews. Its lectio divina programs offer an opportunity to receive the meditative gifts of poetry. Faithful Words Programs
Open Page Guided Writing Sessions
These 2-3 hour sessions are invitations to the creative spirit, opportunities to correspond with ourselves. No writing experience is required. Participants reflect on broad theological themes prompted by poetry, stories, teachings from world religions, visual images and physical objects. Over 25 themes are available, including Vocation, Blessing, Pilgrimage, Thresholds and many more. Length can be adjusted as needed. “Very beautifully done. Very calming, focusing, joyful.” “A great way to explore multiple dimensions of one’s life through writing. It opened doors of thoughts and feelings that have been beneath the surface.” "I love these sessions! They give me time and a reason to sit in quiet intention around a table of faith - like a ropes course for my soul, building trust with people I know only a little but just enough to safely uncover my truths." Lectio Divina (meditative reading)
In these 30- to 45-minute small group meditative reading sessions, participants read a given poem (or scripture passage) out loud, with each person listening for how it speaks to them on that day. A simple, reflective method for receiving poetry’s sacred gifts, based on the Benedictine practice of “lectio divina” or holy reading. A Frame Is Worth a Thousand Words This 2-hour workshop helps those working for social change to communicate more effectively. Whether we’re addressing legislators and newspaper editors, or our own neighbors, friends and family, sharing our message often requires first building the right frame to hold and carry it, especially when it runs counter to the thinking of the day. The workshop offers practical tips for using stories and metaphors as frames that can help get your message across. Project Leadership
Faithful Words is led by the Reverend Karen Hering, a literary minister who has been immersed in the work of words for over 30 years. In addition to her Faithful Words programs, she leads Nicaraguan literary tours, participating in a global conversation about the transformative power of poetry, literature and the imagination. She is a graduate of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, and her writing has been published in numerous periodicals and meditation anthologies.
“Karen is a wonderful guide to discovering new ideas and words that had been lying dormant.
She provides thoughtful, interesting, and insightful suggestions for beginning to develop these into language. I was surprised at the memories and associations that I found.” -- Open Page participant How to Participate
Open Page writing sessions, open to the public, are offered regularly at Unity Church-Unitarian and other locations and are announced on this web site and through e-mail notices. Programs can also be scheduled in your own community of faith or as part of personal or professional retreats. To add your name to the email list or to request information about scheduling a program, contact Karen Hering.
Support Faithful Words
Faithful Words is made possible by donations from individuals and foundations, including a grant from the Fund for Unitarian Universalism. Your tax-deductible contribution to Faithful Words can be made on-line or by mailing a check to Faithful Words, c/o Unity Church Unitarian, 732 Holly Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55104. Donors are invited to receive a monthly email including a written reflection and writing prompt on a theological theme. Gifts from new donors in 2011 will be matched dollar for dollar by the Fund for Unitarian Universalism. Thank you for your support!
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Upcoming Events
Open Page Writing Sessions
Led by Consulting Literary Minister Karen Hering, Open Page writing sessions are opportunities to correspond with the "still, small voice within." Using stories, poetry, images and objects as well as wisdom from religious teachings, science and history, participants reflect on the month's theme in their own words and on their own pages. No writing experience is necessary. Offerings are held at Unity Church. Writing sessions are free, and an RSVP is required to karen@unityunitarian.org. Surrender: the nerve center of consent Wednesday, March 13 • 7:00-8:30 p.m. Henri Nouwen called surrender an act of deep listening and receiving. Howard Thurman often referred to it as the “nerve center of consent.” Others have defined surrender as an offering of ourselves. To what sacred truth and presence do you offer yourself? What is the meaning of surrender in our spiritual journeys? What does it ask — and not ask — of us today? Freedom Wednesday, April 3 • 7:00-8:30 p.m. “Freedom is not something that anybody can be given,” said James Baldwin. “Freedom is something that people take and people are as free as they want to be.” How do we find and claim the freedom we each want and need? And what responsibilities accompany our freedom? How does true freedom ironically bind us to others? Peace: inside and out Wednesday, May 8 • 7:00-8:30 p.m. “Peace is people talking together with a heart in between them.” So says a wise eight-year-old, reminding us that peace is less about the absence of conflict than our ability to respond to one another with hearts engaged and held open in conversation and relationship. This session explores the inner and outer dimensions of peace and how one affects the other. Wisdom Wednesday, June 5 • 7:00-8:30 p.m. “At the crossroads, Wisdom takes her stand.” As we consider the crossroads of our own times, this writing session explores the proverbs Wisdom offers now as her stand and guidance. What proverbial wisdom, old and new, do we need today and where might we find it, worldwide and within? Contact
Rev. Karen Hering
Faithful Words Literary Minister c/o Unity Church-Unitarian 732 Holly Avenue St. Paul, MN 55104 651-228-1456 karen@unityunitarian.org Join the Faithful Words Mailing List |
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