Festival of Radical Discipleship

A Collaboration between Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries (BCM) and Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center.

Grace Boggs, Detroit organizer and now ancestor, would ask over and over again, “What time is it on the clock of the world?” We cannot deny that we are standing at an urgent and catastrophic moment. We are witnessing an assault on humanity and all of creation from so many directions. From climate disaster to genocidal militarism, to racial and religious supremacy, and so much more.  

Our souls are hungering for time and community to be asking what it means to live humanly in this moment. We need to create space for listening and discernment, deep study and imaginative organizing, a diversity of voices and stories, and perhaps more than anything else hope and joy. So, dear friends, we are throwing a festival! 

We are hosting the Second Festival of Radical Discipleship- a gathering of kindred spirits rooted in the radical Christian tradition. It will be a time to remember past gospel experiments, discuss current calls to witness and work; and conspire about future collaborations! Come and join the feast. 

As spring turns to summer on the mountain, we will gather to lift up experiments in community, study biblical texts, sing and worship, create art, gather around campfires, walk amidst the beauty, and delight in the dreams and company of one another. We will prepare ourselves to move forward beyond the Festival – nourished, energized, connected, inspired, grounded – to live, fully human, in our time on the clock of the world.

The gathering will have three tracks for workshops and bible studies. 

1. Dismantling White Supremacy and Settler Colonialism

White supremacy and settler colonialism are complex, resilient, systemic processes–they live inside and outside of us; they are personal, transpersonal, institutional, ideological, systemic, and atmospheric; and they resist being named, much less changed. Join us as we call the demons by name and call them out of our selves, our spheres, our system and the spaces between us. We are planning not just workshops and bible studies but rituals for transformation. Be ready to be changed!

2. Economies Challenging Capitalism

In this track we will hear from people who are building economic alternatives to capitalism and finding ways to subvert the system of supremacy in which we live. What does it look like on the ground to nurture practices that build solidarity instead of greed? What does it look like to manage our households from a deep sense of enough? Come hear stories of people practicing sabbath economics, creating cooperatives and building an economy that works for everyone!

3. Watershed Discipleship & Creation Justice

Watershed Discipleship is a paradigm and a path that interweaves three meanings: 1) being disciples who call for creation justice during this watershed moment of unprecedented and interlocking ecological crises; 2) being disciples in our watersheds as we become truer people of place; and 3) being disciples of our watersheds, treating our region as rabbi in a way that reframes our values, our relationships, our habits and our taste buds. Wade into this track to hear from creative practitioners, meet allies, and be changed by biblical examples and modern-day exemplars of the movement.

Art by Sarah Fuller