Virtual Roundtables
Agents of Change During Extreme Times: First Virtual Roothbert Roundtable Brings Fellows Together
Written by Catherine Fairfield
On Saturday May 30th, 2020, fifty-six Roothbert Fellows gathered over Zoom to discuss spirituality in the time of COVID-19. Rev. Dr. Leonisa Ardizzone drew attention to our collective potential to be agents of change during turmoil and pain. She told us that “even in an extreme time, we can still live fully and deeply.” The roundtable demonstrated how the Roothbert Fellowship can harness transformational spirituality to put care, connection and healing at the center of our communities.
The participating Fellows requested that we continue to gather online in a roundtable series. Since we cannot meet in person at Pendle Hill, the next Roothbert Roundtable will be at 2 PM ET on Saturday, September 12th. You can help us plan in two ways: first, by registering early here, and secondly, to have a voice in shaping these events take our 5-minute survey here. In addition, Roothbert Fellows Leonissa Ardizzone and Nadjwa Nelson will lead online discussion groups this summer.
The online Roundtable was a first-time experience for the Roothbert community, as we have a long history of maintaining in-person connection at our Pendle Hill retreats. There was a strong feeling of community and fellowship conveyed over Zoom, and the excitement to see familiar faces and hear each other’s voices as people entered the digital space and recognized old friends was palpable. This dynamic infused the roundtable’s breakout discussion groups with a collegial energy that drove our discussions of where we find connection, peace, and achievement in the midst of the pandemic. In small groups, participants discussed where to put deep feelings and where each person finds strength during crisis. Isolation was a central topic, whether participants found it to be an opportunity for quiet reflection or a painful disconnection from their communities. Changing practices were central to nearly everyone’s experience during social distancing and COVID-19, whether that looked like being creative in finding connection across physical distances or addressing new questions about one’s faith and spirituality. We asked each other, how do you define yourself before, during, and after the pandemic?
Rev. Dr. Ardizzone stressed the importance of not returning to the way things used to be. She pushed us to consider “what we as religious people will do to transform our culture”, which led our discussion toward current calls to change the world through good work. Our discussions turned to facing down a broken system that disenfranchises people of color and working-class people through cultivating spirituality that is rooted in transformation. Participants found that this transformation needs to be less about creating a new normal and more about changing what already exists. Participants asserted that it is imperative to put an end to repeating negative historical cycles. To do so requires learning to stay with the ugliness without falling into the pattern of not seeing it. The roundtable’s discussion groups, both large and small, led to the collaborative creation of a great deal of questions that can help to guide the learning, reflections, and actions of the Roothbert community. Here are some of these questions, shared by participants:
What revisions to your listening and dialogue practices have to take place for you to be more aligned with your spiritualities?
What implications does it have for you if you are defining yourself so differently pre-pandemic and during the pandemic?
What accompanying frameworks in addition to our spiritualities are needed for us to do this work?
How might the dichotomy of a new normal and an old normal not serve us as well as we think it might?
Given that we have never undone certain normalcy, what would have to be done differently this time?
How might we balance the need for safety with the urgency of coming out of our comfort zones to enact change, without the desire for safety reinforcing harmful individualism?
At the Roothbert Fund, we intend to continue to hold space for our community to do this work. We are confident that hosting digital meeting spaces will keep the crucial work of the Roothbert community lively, active, and connected during a future of ongoing social distancing. Our virtual events are our first port-of-call for doing so, and we invite each and every one of you to join these. Please hold the date for our September 12th, 2020, Virtual Roundtable at 2 PM EST. We will also be offering the following digital events to take place over the summer, which will address our community’s desire to continue and expand the work from the May roundtable in an ongoing and sustained platform:
Talks with Leonisa Ardizzone on July 8th, 1 PM EST and August 4th, 1 PM EST
"Designing Endeavors" Workshop with Nadjwa Norton on August 22nd, 12 PM EST
See the June newsletter for RSVP links.
