Meadville Lombard
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meadvillelombard.bsky.social
Meadville Lombard
@meadvillelombard.bsky.social
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A seminary devoted to social justice, climate change , and anti-racism. Find us at www.meadville.edu
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Grab your needles, yarn, pencils, or hot glue gun (or a hot cup of tea!) and join us for a crafting circle and theological conversation with school president Dr. Eliás Ortega this Thursday at 12pm CT. Register here: bit.ly/3JkNdbg
So awesome to see our faculty & staff out in the world, sharing their truth. Check out this video from Rev. Tandi Rogers, who leads our Spiritual Direction program, as she speaks out about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).

Find the full video here: bit.ly/47v03eU
Glimpses of FASD - Meet Tandi
FASD United is excited to launch “Glimpses of FASD,” an exciting new short video initiative featuring individuals living with FASD sharing their own stories in their own words. The videos are a great way for people to learn more about FASDs and what it’s like to live with them in just a few minutes. These videos are an opportunity for people to hear directly from people living with FASD and better understand and appreciate the living experience of FASD. Anyone who lives with FASD or prenatal substance exposure is welcome to participate.  You don’t need to have a formal diagnosis or any prior experience.  We want to hear from everyone, from children to adolescents to adults. Minors under age 18 are welcome to be included and must have parent or guardian permission. The purpose of these videos is to allow people living with FASD to have a seat at the table and to educate the systems of care and the public. We hope that by sharing your story, society will gain a valuable tool to attain support services and meaningfully inform research. Our hope, too, is to get policies enacted that will ultimately improve the quality of life for individuals living with FASD across the nation.
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Do you ever want to fall to your knees and yell “why?” This is lament, a difficult emotion but one that helps us name our own and our communities’ pain. You are not alone. On 10/28, join us for a virtual Vespers service aimed at reclaiming lament as a spiritual act grounded in resistance and love.
We are so proud to once again sponsor the LGBTQ Religious Archives Network gala! On 10/19, come together with people from across the country to applaud LGBTQ-RAN's crucial work preserving the stories of queer/ trans religious people. Reserve your place: lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/gala-2025
GALA 2025: Holy Troublemakers • LGBTQ Religious Archives Network
Preserving personal papers and organizational records from LGBTQ religious movements.
lgbtqreligiousarchives.org
Learn spiritual concepts you can take with you on life’s journey and gain resilience to face disappointment and loss of all kinds in "Navigating the Land of Never", a new six-week course. www.meadville.edu/ml-commons/d...
Navigating the Land of Never: Empowering a Broken-Hearted Spirit
www.meadville.edu
In "Organizational Leadership and Management," you'll sharpen the tools you need to set direction, develop teams, manage conflict, lead employees, and work effectively with volunteers and board members. Snag your place by 10/1! www.meadville.edu/light/certif...
Certificate in Non-Profit Management
www.meadville.edu
Don't forget to register! Our first info session is happening today at 7pm ET/6pm CT.
Ready to strengthen your leadership skills and deepen your impact? You don't want to miss our Certificate in Non-profit Management for Religious Professionals and Faith-Based Leaders.
Ready to strengthen your leadership skills and deepen your impact? You don't want to miss our Certificate in Non-profit Management for Religious Professionals and Faith-Based Leaders.
Our Fall 2025 Convocation festivities continue today with discussions of Dr. Harris' remarks and a worship service. Students will be on campus in Chicago all week to kick off their semester with a week of intensive study. Congrats and best of luck to our new and returning students!
Constructive responses to political grief include maintaining a big picture perspective and an awareness of common humanity, engaging in principled activism, and accessing all forms of media with care and intention.
Dr. Harris emphasizes that outcome-oriented thinking is a product of capitalism. Process- and intention-oriented thinking is more useful than outcome-oriented thinking.
Dr. Harris shares the model of "Structural Apathy", where individuals burn out on being able to engage empathetically with others and the world. This can come from two directions: being overwhelmed (too much), or being oblivious (not enough).
In a nod to her Star Trek fandom, Dr. Harris emphasizes that resistance is NOT futile. History teaches us that those who stand up and fight back against oppression have won great gains for humanity.
People who feel displaced feel threatened by diversity and change, and no longer feel respected or valued. This can drive feelings of grief, under the threat management model, whether or not the feelings are logical or material.
Oppression and displacement are two driving factors. Those who have experienced oppression suffered under bigoted regimes, but have gained rights in civil society in the last 70 years. However, these gains are precarious.
So how do we deal with all of this? As religious professionals, counselors, and members of communities, how does this affect the work we're training to do at Meadville Lombard?
Dr. Harris introduces the concept of "threat management theory", which outlines how people react differently to themselves, others, and the world, when they feel that they are under threat.
Political grief can challenge each aspect of our assumptive world (how I view others, how I view myself, and how does the world work).
Dr. Harris shares that she is currently working with a colleague in Singapore on creating a scale of political grief, and reminds us that people worldwide are facing their own types of political grief based on their own unique situations.
The outcome of political grief can be a sense of despair and polarization. Polarization was Meriam-Webster's 2024 word of the year. Polarization shatters informal but crucial norms of tolerance.
3. Loss of life, safety, and/or security due to decisions and actions made by those who have power, authority, and/or influence in the sociopolitical sphere.
2. Losses experienced as a result of historical or contemporary political policies, decisions, and actions that give rise to division, oppression, and/or marginalization enacted and empowered at the sociopolitical level.