Rooted Wisdom
Growing Together, Seeing Anew, Living Deeply
An 8-Month Learning Community
January 27 – April 28 & September 8 – December 1
There is deep wisdom within us and deep wisdom between us. In this eight-month learning community, we will explore our world today and hold questions like:
- Who am I, really?
- How do I feel the Spirit moving in my life?
- When do I experience flow with the Divine?
- How does Divine knowing call me to be and act for the good of myself, my community, and the more-than-human world?
In this program, we will:
- Study prophetic voices who point us in the direction of living deeply.
These diverse voices are drawn from many traditions, and expand our vision through new scientific
paradigms and discoveries in the humanities.
- Become a learning community in which we claim the sacred within us, among us, and all around us.
Together we will deepen our sense of spiritual presence within and with others.
- Reflect on the wisdom of our experiences.
Sharing this wisdom with others, we will bear witness and be witnessed in the joys and sorrows of life.
- Try new ways of being in relationship as a community.
Allowing our imaginations and inner knowing move us into the current of love.
We need more awareness.
We need more well-being.
We need more love.
Right now, things feel in need of deep and difficult change– the way power is held by governments, religions, and people. Things can feel fast – the speed of technology and the amount of information we are constantly receiving from news, from work, or socially. Things can feel lonely – the friendships we are missing and the differences that are keeping us apart.
And yet, staying awake and living into the hope, wonder and beauty around us can powerfully usher into the world more awareness, more well-being, more love.
If you are feeling drawn to lean into a new way of being – this program may be for you.
Is this course for me?
Participants in the learning community might arrive…
- Longing for a different way
- Curious about living more fully and in greater alignment with yourself and all of creation
- With a sense of glad expectancy for being guided into becoming more fully yourself
- Ready to contribute your unique giftedness to the world’s great need
- In despair at the state of the world
- Distracted from life as it is
- Resolved to roll up your sleeves
- Carrying an open-hearted readiness to be in community
- With a hope of seeing and being seen
We all arrive here from different paths. We trust that our past experiences will support us as we hold space for Spirit to move. Some of the greatest guidance and insights will emerge from within ourselves and the collective community we build together.
What to expect
Some of the source teachers for the course materials include but are not limited to: Cynthia Bourgeault, Abraham Heschel, Barbara A. Holmes, Thomas Keating, Thomas Merton, John Philip Newell, Richard Rohr, and Howard Thurman; poets and authors including but not limited to Maya Angelou, John O’Donohue, T.S. Eliot, Ted Loder, Mary Oliver, Cole Arthur Riley, and Rumi; and academics including but not limited to Brené Brown, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Kristen Neff, Parker Palmer, and Jill Bolte Taylor.
The Rooted Wisdom learning community will explore:
- Ways to be more present in your life and access the wisdom that is within you
- Practices of mindfulness, contemplation, and reflection for deepening spiritual life
- The stories we tell about ourselves and the world and how they impact our sense of reality
- The way Jesus looked at the world and called his disciples towards “fullness of life”
- What happens when our worldview shifts
- When we feel authentic, when we feel constricted, and what helps us move towards authenticity
- With discernment, where your gladness and aliveness meet a deep need in the world
Community is a core component of this program.
You will move through this program as part of an intimate community. You will practice, study, and engage in action alongside one another. You will bear witness and be witnessed in whole group and small group circles.
We believe many of the problems we have today are because we are not seeing each other in all of our complexity and all of our beauty. We want to create a space where we do just this and grow individually and together.
Spiritual practice is a core component of this program.
Over the 25 weeks, we will support each other as we find unique ways to “center down” that quiet the mind, cultivate compassion in the heart, access wisdom in the body, and together, allow us to listen deeply to Spirit.
Action is also a core component of this program.
The class will meet weekly. You will have reading and writing assignments to complete between gatherings (approximately 1 hour weekly). Beginning about 8 weeks into the first semester, each member of the community will dedicate around an hour weekly to a community placement or dedicate an hour weekly to an existing community engagement in a rhythm that works for the service partner and you.
How to join
The virtual cohort runs from January 2026 – November 2026 and meets online on Zoom. The virtual cohort capped at 16 people and enrollment is first-come first-serve.
If you are interested please complete the “Registration and Commitment Form” for your class of choice at the links below. In this form, you will have the opportunity to share your intention for your time in the program, your capacity to meaningfully make space for this commitment, and what your spiritual path and practice looks like in this season of life. Upon review of the registration form, the team will respond with any clarifying questions and provide you with a payment and formal enrollment link.
This program is a significant commitment of time and heart. We trust each person to honestly discern whether you can meaningfully make space in your life for this right now.
We welcome applicants of all education levels, faith traditions (including no faith tradition), racial and ethnic heritage, sexual orientations, gender identities, and political affiliations.
NOTE: At this time, this is an English-only program offering. Reading, writing, and listening are key components of the program
IN PERSON COHORT
FACILITATED BY JOHN DE BEER & ELIZABETH MCCAIN IRWIN
Rooted Wisdom | Fall 2025
Mondays, Sept 15 – April 27 • 6 – 8pm
$850
Cost will never be a barrier to accessing our teachings. If you would like a scholarship, email [email protected].
VIRTUAL COHORT
FACILITATED BY PHANTA LANSDEN & JENNIFER REDA
Rooted Wisdom | Spring 2026
9:30 – 11:30am EST
January 27 – April 28, 2026
September 8 – December 1, 2026
$850
Cost will never be a barrier to accessing our teachings. If you would like a scholarship, email [email protected].
