The LMU Center for Religion and Spirituality invites you to this online workshop with writer Debbie Thomas.

“Sacred writing” is writing that opens us up on a deep and nourishing heart level.  It is writing that asks probing questions and challenges easy assumptions.  It can take many forms -- fiction, poetry, memoir, song -- but it always honors process over product, and probes the hidden places in our lives – places ripe for exploration, confrontation, healing, celebration, and lament.

In this two-part generative workshop, we will consider what it means to write as a practice of the heart.  We’ll read and discuss some masterful examples of spiritual writing, and do a LOT of writing ourselves, guided by “free-writing” exercises and prompts; meditations on scripture, poetry, and visual art; and collaborative conversation.  In short, we will practice shaping our experiences of the numinous, the painful, the mysterious, and the transcendent into writing that draws us closer to what is real, true, and sacred.

To Attend
Registration is open online (click Buy Tickets button) Times listed are set to Pacific Time. This is a virtual workshop. Registered participants will receive an email invitation prior to the start of the workshop to connect via live videoconference using Zoom. Read here on how to connect.

In the event the workshop is canceled, participants will be notified by Wednesday, the week of the workshop. Registration fees are refunded only if the workshop is canceled; no refund for partial attendance or no-show. For further information, please email the Center at crs@lmu.edu. 

About the Speaker
Debie Thomas is the author of Into the Mess and Other Jesus Stories, and a columnist and contributing editor for The Christian Century.  She serves as the Minister of Lifelong Formation at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Palo Alto, California, and leads retreats and workshops on scripture, Christian formation, and writing as a spiritual practice.  Her published work includes personal essays, book reviews, sermons, and reflections on the Revised Common Lectionary.  She holds a Masters in English Literature from Brown University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from The Ohio State University.