Previous Formation
Opportunities
The Beloved Community at the Trees offers ongoing formation opportunities for everyone. We hope that you'll explore some of our previously held formation opportunities below. They continue to be discussed in our lectionary discussions, support groups, and around our dinner table. Enjoy!
Previous Formation Opportunities
From Sin to Amazing Grace: Discovering the Queer Christ: "From Sin to Amazing Grace: Discovering the Queer Christ" is a book by Patrick S. Cheng that explores the concepts of sin and grace within a Christian framework, specifically focusing on how these ideas can be reinterpreted to be inclusive of LGBTQ+ individuals, arguing that traditional interpretations often lead to condemnation and exclusion, and proposing a "Queer Christ" model that emphasizes liberation and acceptance through God's grace; the book critiques the traditional "crime-based" model of sin and presents an alternative Christ-centered model based on the concept of "theosis" (deification) where sin and grace are understood through what God has done for humanity through Jesus Christ. (Offered May 2025)
The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred Call to Self Discovery: Discerning your true self is inextricably related to discerning God's purposes for you. Paradoxically, the more you become like Christ, the more you become authentically yourself.In this profound exploration of Christian identity, psychologist and spiritual director David G. Benner illuminates the spirituality of self-discovery. (Offered April 2025)
When Religion Hurts You: In When Religion Hurts You, Dr. Laura Anderson takes an honest look at a side of religion that few like to talk about. Drawing from her own life and therapy practice, she helps readers understand what religious trauma is and isn't, and how high-control churches can be harmful and abusive, often resulting in trauma. She shows how elements of fundamentalist church life--such as fear of hell, purity culture, corporal punishment, and authoritarian leaders--can cause psychological, relational, physical, and spiritual damage. (Offered March 2025)
Beyond A Binary God: All are made in the image and likeness of God. If this is what we believe, then trans people, like all people, reflect something of God, and not just in the ways that they share in common with others, but also in the ways that they are different. They remind us that God is beyond all of our categories, even gender. In this book, Tara Soughers explores theology from the position of a trans ally―a parent of a trans young adult as well as priest. What does it mean about God and about humans, that there is not a strict gender binary? How can we affirm and include what we have learned about the permeability of boundaries to affirm those whose path does not follow traditional cultural stereotypes, and how might the broadening help us to understand the God who is never two for Christians, but both one and three? What gifts does this broader understanding bring to the church? (Offered February 2025)
God After Deconstruction: Thomas Jay Oord and Dr. Tripp Fuller for “God After Deconstruction” – a reflective journey designed to help you embrace the uncertainty, explore profound topics, and offer a constructive, hope-filled vision of God grounded in open and relational theology. (Offered January 2025)
Love Wins: In Love Wins, bestselling author, international teacher, and speaker Rob Bell (Velvet Elvis, Drops Like Stars) addresses one of the most controversial issues of faith—hell and the afterlife—arguing, would a loving God send people to eternal torment forever? (Offered October 2024)
​​Rediscovering Scripture introduces fundamental principles of using source criticism int our interpretation of Holy Scripture. Delving into topics such as canon, genre, hermeneutics, and more, this series will shed new light on the Bible and how we can look beyond what it says to discern the work into which God is calling us. (Offered September 11 - October 23, 2014)
Radical Love: Introduction to Queer Theology: "Patrick Cheng's Radical Love is not only an excellent introduction to LGBT theology but an important contribution to the discipline of theology and the life of the church. It is a must read for anyone who cares about the health of the church and theology today." --James H. Cone, Charles A. Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology, Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY (Offered August 14-September 4)
Walk In Love: Take a journey through The Book of Common Prayer, the Christian life, and basic beliefs of our faith, guided by two Episcopal priests - Scott Gunn and Melody Wilson Shobe. Walk through the liturgical year, the sacraments of the church, habits of daily prayer, and the teachings of Anglican Christianity. See how our prayer shapes our belief and our lives and how our beliefs lead us into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. (Offered July 18-August 8, 2024)
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents: In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched, and beautifully written narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. (Offered May 15 - June 26, 2024)
The Savvy Ally:The Savvy Ally is a vital resource for teachers, mental health professionals, healthcare providers, college professors, faith leaders, family members, and friends who want to support and advocate for the LGBTQ+ people in their lives and help make the world a safer, more inclusive place. This informative, encouraging, and easy-to-understand guidebook will jump-start even the most tentative ally. (Offered April 10 - May 1, 2024)
"Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion" by Sara Miles is a memoir detailing her unexpected conversion to Christianity, where she, a previously atheist, left-wing journalist, found profound spiritual transformation after partaking in communion at a church, leading her to dedicate her life to feeding the hungry through a food pantry, deeply intertwining her faith with tangible acts of service and social justice. (Offered June 2025)
"Accidental Saints: Finding God in All The Wrong People": Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People by Nadia Bolz-Weber is a book about an unconventional pastor's life and her encounters with God. The book is a collection of stories from the pastor's life and the lives of her congregants. (Offered July 2025)
"The Universal Christ": The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr is a book that explores the idea that God is present in everything, and that Christ is a name for the divine love that is expressed in all things. The book invites readers to consider how God's love is revealed in the world around them, and how they can recognize God's presence in others. (Offered August 2025)
"Transforming: The Bible & the Lives of Transgender Christians": “Weaving biblical examples of gender nonconformity and transformation with the stories and voices of contemporary trans Christians, Hartke's approach is both pastoral and prophetic as he addresses harmful Christian theology that has been used to further marginalize and exclude trans people. (Offered September 2025)
"In the Margins: A Transgender Man's Journey with Scripture": Father Shannon Kearns is familiar with liminal spaces. He’s lived in them his whole life. And while his experience as a transgender man has often made it difficult for him to fit in—especially in the context of Christianity—it has also shaped his perspective in important ways on complicated, gender-transgressing aspects of theology and Scripture. In the Margins weaves stories from Shannon’s life into reflections on well-known biblical narratives—such as Jacob wrestling with the divine, Rahab and the Israelite spies, Ezekiel and the dry bones, and the transfiguration of Jesus. In each chapter, Shannon shows how stories have helped him make sense of his own identity, and how those same stories can unlock the transformative power of faith for those willing to listen with an open mind and stand alongside him in the in-between. (Offered October 2025)
"An Altar in the World": "An Altar in the World" by Barbara Brown Taylor is a book that encourages readers to discover the sacred in everyday life, arguing that even the most ordinary acts and experiences can be considered "altars" where we can encounter the divine; it encourages paying attention to the details of our daily lives and finding spiritual meaning in simple actions like walking, working, or interacting with others, essentially showing how to find God beyond the walls of a church by embracing the sacred in the natural world around us. (Offered November 2025)