Our Mission

The Spiritual Transformation Project exists to bring about positive spiritual and social change by creating unique events that foster personal growth, collaborative community, and collective liberation.

VISION

We seek to bring about positive transformation by addressing underlying spiritual narratives, the stories we tell ourselves about what is ultimately true, good, and meaningful. These narratives profoundly shape both our individual lives and larger social systems. Defective spiritual narratives have led to many of our great social ills – the oppression of marginalized groups, poverty and economic exploitation, violence and militarism, environmental destruction, personal and social alienation, and much more. But the Spiritual Transformation Project seeks to create contexts where alternative narratives can be explored – ones that encourage compassion, justice, generosity, and reconciliation rather than apathy, domination, greed, or hostility.

WHAT WE DO

We pursue our mission and vision in three ways:

1) By supporting and amplifying the efforts of those already engaged in transformative work through workshops, events, and social media.

2) By facilitating opportunities for cross-pollination and collaboration among various kinds of spiritual practitioners, religious communities, and social change organizations.

3) By providing online resources and theological coaching for those currently questioning or reconstructing their personal spiritual narratives.

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GUIDING PRINCIPLES

MINDFULNESS

Spiritual transformation begins with mindful awareness, self-surrender, and peaceful acknowledgment of what is, leading to gratitude for all that already reflects the practice of love, honest lament for whatever does not yet do so, and genuine repentance for our own contribution to the latter.

LIBERATION

v Spiritual transformation is inextricable from collective liberation for the common good, through intersectional partnerships that empower those who suffer oppression on account of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, education level, age, physical or mental ability, or immigration status.

HOPE

Spiritual transformation is motivated by a longing for something better, hope for a life and world shaped more thoroughly by the practice of love (what the Christian tradition refers to as the reign, dream, or kin-dom of God), which produces an ongoing pursuit of both personal growth and social progress.

LOVE

Spiritual transformation is grounded, above all, in the practice of love – understood as compassion, kindness, care, beauty, justice, mercy, reconciliation, harmony, generosity, and friendship – directed toward self, others, the divine, and the whole created world, leading toward health, wholeness, peace, and joyful, life-giving community.

PRACTICE

v Spiritual transformation must occur individually, communally, and societally: through personal practices of health and wholeness, communal practices of authentic relating and reconciliation, and sustainable, non-violent social action.

GENERATIVITY

Spiritual transformation is constructive, creative, and proactive, not merely oppositional, believing, in the words of Father Richard Rohr, that “the best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.”

FAQs

What do we mean by “spirituality” and “spiritual transformation”?

Spirituality, in the broadest sense, has to do with our systems of ultimate meaning and deepest values (what some call “the sacred”), from which we construct our personal identities, our interpretation of the world, and our overarching purposes and concerns. More than just “beliefs,” spirituality encompasses our whole selves – the practices and ways of living in the world that shape who we are and what we hold most dear.

Spirituality operates on individual, communal, and cultural levels. Some spiritual systems become institutionalized in particular religious traditions, while others operate in more pervasive yet often unseen ways, affecting the shape and character of our society in everything from economics to entertainment to politics, and much more besides. Sometimes these collective spiritualities work for the overall good of society, and sometimes to its detriment. Effecting positive personal or social change thus often requires a prior spiritual transformation – a shift in a person’s (or a society’s) core values and system of meaning.

The Spiritual Transformation Project aims to bring about positive change for both individuals and society by promoting spirituality that foster compassion, justice, generosity, and reconciliation rather than apathy, domination, greed, or hostility.

Is this connected to a specific religion?

Inspired by the progressive/liberationist Christian tradition which sees the divine presence at work in all of existence and all religious traditions to bring about healed, whole, and just relationships, The Spiritual Transformation Project is a spiritually inclusive effort that seeks to connect and support people of any religious tradition (or none) who are engaged in this divine work of justice, healing, and reconciliation.

How can I get involved?

If you would like to help with the Spiritual Transformation Project, go to this page <<link to “Get Involved” page>> to find out the various ways you and your community can get involved.

Who does STP serve?

While we welcome all who are interested, our events are designed with the following audiences specifically in mind:

- Religious progressives looking to expand their range of spiritual practices and deepen their engagement in positive social action.

- Those from more exclusive and restrictive religious backgrounds who are looking for ways into more expansive and progressive forms of faith.

- The “spiritual but not religious” who wish to connect with those from more established religious traditions.

- Social change agents (activists, non-profits, social entrepreneurs, etc.) wanting to engage more substantially with religious/spiritual communities in mutually beneficial ways.