RSVP here! Mon, Nov 3, 6-8PM CST
Idolatry is a prominent theme in many faith traditions. Join us as we explore its importance in our traditions and in our lives, and how it gets expressed in our daily navigation of the world in a pluralistic society.
SIGN UP here! Thurs, Nov 6, 6-8PM CST
Join us for our classic - and very timely! workshop. Learn more here! If you’re not available for this round, please email carrie@thechurchlab.org to let us know of your interest. We often schedule these on a rolling basis, and according to participants’ availability.
RSVP here! Mon, Nov 17, 6-8PM CST - ZOOM ONLY
We live our lives surrounded by other-than-human animals, and our spiritual and philosophical traditions often have something to say about them and about our lives together. Join us, and our guest facilitator Dash Kees, as we explore how those traditions inform our relationship with the creatures that surround us.
RSVP here! Mon, Dec 1, 6-8PM CST
Join us for a dialogue where we share why we are part of the belief system with which we identify. For those of us who have left a different tradition, we’ll reflect on what factors informed their movement away from that system and into either another one or an in-between place for this season. This makes for a vulnerable, deeply reflective and connective dialogue. Come on in!
RSVP here! Mon, Dec 15, 6-8PM CST
Join us for our last dialogue of the calendar year! You’re invited to share about, and even demonstrate a favorite exercise that is worshipful within your faith practice and/or community. Come share and learn about the beauty of one another’s traditions and what infuses them with meaning.
Join us for a morning of volunteering at Casa Marianella in Austin!
In uncertain, turbulent times, our belief system’s may inform how we approach/demand/question/embody courage. Join us for a dialogue where we share the way our faith traditions influence our relationship to courage.
Join us for a dialogue about the relationship between our favorite sci-fi tales and the very real rise of A.I., and how our belief systems frame our understanding of both!
Join in on a dialogue where we talk about the movies, shows, cartoons had a significant impact on our faith!
Join us for our classic Facilitators’ Training. If you are an aspiring or experienced facilitator in any given environment, particularly where there exists a diversity of perspectives, join us to level up your skills and confidence! It’s a fun, interactive day that is dedicated to contextualizing your goals with the material we’ve gleaned from nearly 2 decades of facilitation. Email carrie@thechurchlab.org for more info and to learn about rates to attend.
Join us for a dialogue about a topic that resonates with the lives and loved ones of so many. How does our faith act as a lens for pain and illness?
Join us for a dialogue about the political stereotypes we wrestle with in our lives about “them.” How does your faith influence, help or challenge how you interface with those stereotypes?
Who in your sacred texts, your faith, your life plays a significant support role? Why and how does that work, and what makes it so important? Join us for a dialogue where we learn about the steadfast support structures that have so often been the glue that hold together our faith traditions and communities.
Is it just an empty phrase, or a powerful practice? Join us for a dialogue about what “thoughts and prayers” really means, where it comes from and where it takes us.
Join us for our classic Navigating Divisive Conversations workshop! If you have relationships in your life that have tension, or easily could, this workshop will help you with the building blocks of how to address potential or existing division in any sphere of our lives. Email carrie@thechurchlab.org for more info and to inquire about rates.
Join us for a night where all are invited to come nerd out about a given theological topic. Topic TBA!
Join us for a dialogue about how our belief systems create challenges and/or help for a time in our world in which gender norms are not always widely accepted in one way or another.
Join us for a dialogue on grace. What is it? Why does it matter, if it does at all?
RSVP here! Mon, Oct 20th, 6-8PM CST
Join us for a dialogue about the purpose and influence of prophets and prophetic voices within and beyond our belief systems’ frameworks!
RSVP here! Mon 10/6, 6-8PM CST
A natural part of being human is co-existing with other humans with convictions that don’t always mesh well with our own. How does your belief system inform how you grapple with others whose beliefs may clash with your own, even as you seek to be a peacebuilder? Join us for this pivotal topic for a polarized season such as this.
Join us for our classic facilitators’ training! Check out more info here.
RSVP here! Mon, Sep 15, 6-8PM CST
Join us for a special spotlight dialogue from someone in our community we haven’t yet had an opportunity to learn more about! More info to come.
RSVP here! Thurs, Sep 11, 6-8PM CST
Join us for a night of nerding out about a particular theological topic! Topic TBA!
RSVP here! Mon, Sep 8, 6-8PM CST
What is Joy? What does it have to do with your belief system? Your daily life? How does it arrive and why does it go, if it does? Please join us as we explore how our theologies frame up our understanding and experience of JOY!
RSVP here! Mon, Aug 25th, 6-8PM CST
Join us as we kick off the fall together! If you’re local, please come IRL and be part of a potluck. If you’re on Zoom, please bring your own celebratory food! We’ll explore the purpose of movement, from kneeling to bowing to dancing, in our faith traditions.
RSVP here! WEDNESDAY, July 30th, 6-8PM CST
This is a special WEDNESDAY dialogue. We do this once a year, when our board of directors have driven and flown in and can join us in-person for this special session! Please join us, whether in-person or via Zoom!
For some of us, there is a Spirit among us. For some, there are many spirits. Perhaps there are angels and demons. Perhaps none of this exists for some. Join us as we explore our various belief systems around the spirit realm, its existence or not, its nature and purpose for being there or not.
RSVP here! Wed, July 23 6-8PM CST
Join us as we nerd out about a particular theological topic. The topic for this night is: Small Things, Big Difference. This will include concepts like the purpose of prayer and theology of the mundane, where seemingly small things hold bigger significance in our lives.
RSVP here! Mon, June 30th, 6-8pm CT
What does your belief system have to offer to the plight of the immigrant? How does this impact your engagement with the immigrant community, including if you yourself are an immigrant? How does this impact your civic engagement, or even participation in society? Come join us as we dig deep into our theological frameworks around this timely topic.
RSVP here! Mon, June 2, 6-8pm CT
Join us for a dialogue where we dive into a vulnerable question: What do I struggle with about my own belief system? What are the challenges I wrestle with, the parts of my faith tradition I don’t always like? What does it mean to continue to be a part of this belief system, even in the thick of this wrestling? What makes it worth it?
RSVP here! Mon, May 19, 6-8pm CT
Join us for a dialogue about the relationship of religion and culture. Are they friends, foes, both or neither? Come consider the various layers and angles of this inevitable, terrible, wonderful dynamic.
RSVP here! Mon, May 5, 6-8PM CT
This topic is for experienced TCL dialoguers who touch base with Pastor Carrie about participating beforehand. We will consider physical places our faith traditions consider to be holy or sacred. What makes them so? What is it like to approach a sacred space or holy place to our belief system? How does our theological lens inform how we honor sacred places while also grappling with the destructive actions+conflicts that have -and are often- associated with them?
RSVP here! Sat, May 3, 10am-2pm CT
Join us for a day of service in which we gather to serve around a common cause! Check out Casa Marianella here!
RSVP here! Mon, April 21, 6-8PM CT
Join us for a dialogue exploring the dynamics of God, spirituality, faith practice and artificial intelligence. Is one a threat to the other? Could they become the same thing? Are they a complement to one another? Come consider this timely topic with us.
RSVP here! Mon, April 7, 6-8PM CT
Join us for a dialogue where we consider our faith traditions and belief systems when it comes to dialogue and activism? Are they important practices in your lens? Are they at odds, or do they help one another? Similarly, what is the healthy versus actual relationship between government and religion? Come consider the relationship of standing up for what is right, public advocacy, justice seeking, civics and faith…all done while seeking to understand before being understood…?
Join us for a dialogue that examines the mysterious stories in our lives in which we have wondered or suspected God’s/god’s/gods’/deities/the universe’s/Spirit’s/etc intervention or participation. What do we make of these mysteries, with our belief systems and faith traditions in mind?
Join us for a dialogue which considers our belief systems and faith practices with the way we engage social media, news communication and even intergenerational communication across various channels.
Join us for a poignant session for experienced TCL dialoguers. We will explore the relationship of our belief system and faith tradition with the existence of suffering.
Join us for a fun, reflective dialogue exploring our belief systems’ influence on our experience of awe, wonder and play. Especially in tough times, these can be some of our most important considerations. See you there!
Join us for a dialogue which poses a timely question for many of us: What does our belief systems say about love of neighbor, or perhaps tolerance, when we are in a dynamic with intolerant or unloving dynamics?
Join us for our first dialogue of the year! This is a great dialogue for those who have never tried it before. If you join IRL, we will offer a potluck option, but all are welcome, whether via Zoom or in-person.
We will be talking about 2 experiences which have been said to be twins: grief and joy. Come consider the ways that our belief systems and faith practices undergird our experiences -and understanding of- these 2 common human experiences.
This is a great way to get the year started, just on the heels of Inauguration Day and MLK, Jr., Day!
Please join as we conclude the year with a lighthearted dialogue, while pausing to commemorate TCL’s annual commitment to donating 10% of TCL’s budget to causes we love as a multi-faith community. We’ll also celebrate our year together as we prepare to pause for the holidays! Please email carrie@thechurchlab.org for more info.
RSVP HERE! Join us for our last dialogue of the year! We’ll be sharing stories of where our faith and/or spirituality has brought us Hope. Email carrie@thechurchlab.org for more info.
RSVP HERE Join us for part two of our post-election dialogue reflection. Email carrie@thechurchlab.org for more info.
RSVP HERE! However it went, it’s a good time for dialogue. Join us as we reflect on how to be bridgebuilders in the election results and aftermath. Email carrie@thechurchlab.org for more info.
RSVP HERE! Please join us! Email carrie@thechurchlab.org for more info.
At a time in the world where politics is often more divisive than religion, join us to devote a posture of seeking to understand before being understood (as St. Francis of Assisi’s prayer says).
At a time in the world where politics is often more divisive than religion, join us to devote a posture of seeking to understand before being understood (as St. Francis of Assisi’s prayer says).
Join us for a dialogue about intervention, whether your faith says God intervenes, or perhaps loved ones or strangers have intervened, in a life-altering manner that would not have occurred had you kept chugging along without them. Email carrie@thechurchlab.org for more info.
