Cobb Institute

Learning Circle: Process Thought 101: Process-Relational Philosophy
2024-10-21 08:30 - 09:30, 2024-10-14 08:30 - 09:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Online Event
Probing Process-Relational Worldviews For Newcomers

Want to learn more about process thought? Join our learning circle, as we read and discuss together various essays and books on important themes to process thought. Our reflections will be guided by the Twenty Key Ideas of Process Thought.

Like many of you I do not have a formal background in process thought. My seminary program did not include readings in process theology. However, through various offerings from the Cobb Institute and Process and Faith and Open Horizons I have received a good and welcome introduction to process thought. My interest has grown with my increased knowledge of process. My hope is that this learning circle with provide a place for those of you, like me, who are new to process to read and discuss the books and essays of process theologians and philosophers.

The focus in our next round will be C. Robert Mesle’s Process-Relational Philosophy: An Introduction to Alfred North Whitehead. This short book covers a lot of territory and provides an excellent overview of Whitehead’s thinking.

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Learning Circle: Process & Coffee
2024-10-17 08:00 - 09:00, 2024-10-10 08:00 - 09:00, 2024-10-03 08:00 - 09:00, 2024-09-26 08:00 - 09:00, 2024-09-19 08:00 - 09:00, 2024-09-12 08:00 - 09:00, 2024-09-05 08:00 - 09:00, 2024-08-29 08:00 - 09:00 and 3 more dates
Process & Coffee is about spiritual integration and exploration. We meet weekly to dive into books by mystics and sages. The discussion that follows helps to deepen our own spiritual lives.

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John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Sharon Delgado
2024-10-15 10:00 - 12:00 | Online Via Zoom
Topic: Divestment from Fossil Fuels as Climate Change Strategy

Presenters: Sharon Delgado

The Reverend Sharon Delgado is a retired United Methodist pastor, author, and longtime activist and nonviolence practitioner, whose introduction to John Cobb and process theology in the 1980s helped shape her theology and ministry. Sharon is Convener of Fossil Free UMC, which advocates for the United Methodist Church to divest from fossil fuels. She is a member of the Coordinating Committee of the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement, which works across annual conferences to coordinate actions related to creation justice. Sharon names the invisible powers that influence human behavior and that are embodied in today’s domination system, and points in the direction of both personal and social transformation. Find out more and follow her blog, Progressive Christian Social Action, at sharondelgado.org.

Sharon is author of Shaking the Gates of Hell (2007, 2020), Love in a Time of Climate Change (2017) and The Cross in the Midst of Creation (2022). An updated Second Edition of Love in a Time of Climate Change will be released in the spring of 2025. The book is a Wesleyan approach to climate change, which uses scripture, tradition, reason, and experience to explore the issue. The inside cover of the first edition includes an endorsement by John Cobb, who wrote:

“Sharon Delgado makes it clear that we, especially we who stand in the Wesleyan tradition, cannot choose between being scriptural in the fullest sense and activity to save as much as possible from destruction through climate change. There is no tension between biblical preaching and preaching on the overwhelming, life-determining issues surrounding climate change. Let’s stop hemming and hawing and work with God to save God’s creation.”

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John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Jeremy Schumacher
2024-10-08 10:00 - 12:00 | Online Via Zoom
Topic: Recovering from Religious Trauma

Presenters: Jeremy Schumacher

See Jeremy Schumacher’s self-introduction and description of his counseling practice. Explore his webpage on “Religious Trauma,” a resource he offers out of his own experience.

“Maybe at some point church became unsafe for you. . . .

Now the group that once felt close doesn’t feel so welcoming. Maybe you’re dealing with more than doubt, maybe you’re dealing with fear of abandonment by friends or family. Maybe you’re dealing with the fear that the way you were taught to look at the world doesn’t seem accurate at all anymore, and now you aren’t sure how to make sense of your life.

“This process can be scary, but you don’t need to do it alone. Finding a safe space to ask questions, to deconstruct old ill-fitting beliefs, and to rebuild healthier, more congruent beliefs is what I offer in therapy.

“I don’t claim to have all the answers, but going through the deconversion process myself, I know what it can feel like. I know the fear of being cast out, being judged, and losing friends and family. But like many of my clients, I also know about the joy of having a belief system that wasn’t just handed down to you, but that you cultivated and nurtured to fit who you really are.

“If you are having doubts about the faith you were raised with, or if those doubts have led to turning away from your church, I can help. I work with people who are actively deconstructing their old, harmful, dogmatic belief systems, and help those who are recovering from religious abuse and other adverse religious experiences.”

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Process Pop-Up: Faith & Feeling
2024-10-01 17:00 - 18:00
In theological circles, German philosopher Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834) may be best known for his text, On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers, his effort to defend religion from Enlightenment skeptics. He’s also been a subject of interest to process thinkers like Philip Clayton, Thandeka, and, more recently, Chad Bahl. In his doctoral research, Chad has been putting Schleirmacher’s thoughts on faith and feeling into conversation with the work of Alfred North Whitehead.

He has found that “In both process thought and Schleiermacher’s philosophy, the essence of existence is not lifeless matter or dogmatic precepts. Rather, it is lived experience. In this lived experience, we are interconnected both as human beings and in fellowship with the Divine.”

Schleiermacher is known for talking about faith as a feeling of “absolute dependence.” Resonant with Whitehead’s thinking about God’s aims for every actual event, Chad describes this as a “natural result of being in tune with our deepest intuitions. It arises from our recognition of the presence and purpose of God in our lives.” As we cultivate our awareness of God – through spiritual practices like contemplation – this feeling naturally arises as a kind of “God-consciousness” that is “developed as we experience community with others, fellowship with the Divine, interaction with nature, the Gospel story, and much more.”

While each of us may experience the Divine differently, it is this “personal perception, (not reason, dogma, or scientific proof), which serves as the centering principle for faith.” According to Chad, attuning to this interior faith and feeling is crucial to human life. “We become fully actualized human beings when we realize fellowship with the Divine in our experiences of both Creator and creation.”

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John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Rebecca Shoot
2024-10-01 10:00 - 12:00 | Online Via Zoom
Topic: How International Law Supports Citizens Seeking Global Solutions

Presenters: Rebecca Shoot

In a world where so many conflicts are contested on the battlefield, how can international law offer a better way? Rebecca A. Shoot is the Executive Director of Citizens for Global Solutions Education Fund, which is Working for a Peaceful, Free, Just, and Sustainable World Community. She will review some of the initiatives that Citizens for Global Solutions has taken to enhance awareness and compliance with international law particularly regarding use and control of nuclear weapons and preserving the world’s climate.

Rebecca Shoot is an international lawyer and democracy and governance practitioner with more than 15 years of experience in the non-governmental, inter-governmental, and private sectors supporting human rights on five continents. She is recently involved with the “Summit of the Future” process, which is being hailed as a once-in-a-generation opportunity for global governance reform. Citizens for Global Solutions specific advocacy has been to try to ensure that international justice, human rights, and the rule of law are a respective and central element of this process and its outcome document, the “Pact for the Future.” In doing so, Rebecca Shoot was a penholder on the Peace and Security chapter of the companion “People’s Pact,” which contains recommendations to enhance the international judicial architecture. They will host a side event at the Civil Society “Action Days” around the Summit in late September on the future of global governance.

For a more detailed biodata, see this link.

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John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Thomas Jay Oord
2024-09-24 10:00 - 12:00 | Online Via Zoom
Topic: What I Learned When Defrocked and Excommunicated for Being Queer Affirming

Presenters: Thomas Jay Oord

Thomas Jay Oord recently endured an official church trial for his full queer affirmation. The trial verdict: his license and membership were taken. In this Cobb and Friends session, Oord talks about his journey from becoming queer affirming 30 years ago to eventually being defrocked and excommunicated. That journey included times of guilt and triumph, emotional turmoil and social pressures. Oord also talks about principles in open and relational theology that guided him on this journey, and he shares lessons learned in the process. To prepare, participants might read Oord’s short essay that recently appeared in Newsweek: “I Was Expelled from My Church. I was Found Guilty, But I Do Not Feel Sorry.” https://www.newsweek.com/defrocked-church-found-guilty-do-not-feel-sorry-1947556.

Thomas Jay Oord is a theologian, philosopher, and scholar of multi-disciplinary studies. Oord is a best-selling and award-winning author, having written or edited more than thirty books. Academic Influence ranks him among the most influential theologians in the 21st century. Oord directs doctoral programs at Northwind Theological Seminary and directs the Center for Open and Relational Theology. He is known for his research and writing on love, open and relational theology, science and religion, evil and power, and the implications of freedom and relationships for transformation. Explore his website at https://thomasjayoord.com.

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John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Audrey E Kitagawa, JD
2024-09-17 10:00 - 12:00 | Online Via Zoom
Topic: Moral and Ethical Imperative: Abolishing Nuclear Weapons

Presenters: Audrey E Kitagawa, JD

Watch for further details about Audrey Kitagawa’s international interfaith media ministry. She is the one who produced the inaugural ZOOMcast of the launch of the Living Earth Movement on John Cobb’s 97th birthday. She has served as chair of the Board of Trustees of the Parliament of World Religions.

Audrey E. Kitagawa, J.D., is President/Founder of the International Academy for Multicultural Cooperation, President of the Light of Awareness International Spiritual Family, Chair of the Anti-Racism Initiative & Co-Chair of the Gender Equality Working Group of the G20 Interfaith Forum, and former Advisor to the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict at the United Nations. She is an Ambassador of Religions for Peace International, a United Religions Initiative UN Representative – as a member of URI CC “Voices for a Nuclear Weapons Free World,” a co-facilitator of the URI UN CC, and Chair Emerita of the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns. She has been enstooled into the royal family of Ajiyamanti, Ghana as the Nekoso Hemaa (Queen Mother of Development) where the Nana Ode Anyankobea Junior Secondary School which she helped to build is named after her. She is the recipient of the Spirit of the UN Award given to outstanding individuals who have demonstrated the vision and spirit of the UN as expressed through the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She was conferred an Honorary Interfaith Minister degree by the New Seminary.

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John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Paul Kittlaus
2024-09-10 10:00 - 12:00 | Online Via Zoom
Topic: The Tyrant Fears the Poet

Presenters: Paul Kittlaus

Here’s how Paul Kittlaus, John Cobb’s neighbor at Pilgrim Place, introduces himself. “The gifts of ministry given to me have included organizing people within the progressive church for social change. The civil rights movement, Selma, women’s liberation, Chicano Moratorium, opposition to the war in Vietnam, aiding young men to turn in their draft cards, the environmental issues, these and other social issues have presented themselves to my generation.

“In 2014, the year of my 80th birthday, I was drawn into a weeklong workshop on Abstract Acrylic Painting. Surprising doors in my spirit were opened. And I found myself in another resistance movement.”

My paintings are now in the permanent collection of the Claremont-Lewis Art Museum, Claremont Heritage, the Claremont United Church of Christ. I have had solo shows in the Prison Library Project, the Claremont Chamber of Commerce, at the HoltxPalm Gallery in Ontario, and in exhibition at the Community Arts Workshop Gallery in Santa Barbara, and the Riverside Art Museum.”

Check out his art at https://paulkittlaus.art, where you’ll find this brief bio: “Reverend Paul Kittlaus was ordained in the United Church of Christ (UCC), San Diego, CA and during his career served UCC church pastorates throughout Southern California and Madison, WI. He also held ecumenical positions to advance theological training and social justice, and served as the director of the UCC Washington Office for The Office for Church in Society. He is a published author and contributor to multiple journals and magazines. Retired in 1999 at Pilgrim Place in Claremont, CA, Rev. Kittlaus is an active steward of the community and a board member of Progressive Christians Uniting, Southern California Ecumenical Council, and Pilgrim Pines Camp. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Missouri, a masters of divinity from the University of Chicago/Chicago Theological Seminary in 1959, and masters in political science from George Washington University in 1981.”

See the video in which he is honored by Chicago Theological Seminary as their 2024 distinguished Alumni of the Year.

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John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Leslie King
2024-09-03 10:00 - 12:00 | Online Via Zoom
Topic: Leadership and Process Thought

Presenters: Leslie King

Leslie King, chair of the Cobb Institute Education Team, says, “Leading a local community can be fraught with challenge. This may, in part, be true because of a leader’s perception of right organization. Process thought can alleviate unnecessary tension and stress as it informs a new model of leadership adventure. I have sought to discover in my career as a local pastor how process thought can strengthen leadership efforts.” She is happy to be sharing her experiences and values with the Cobb and Friends Community.

Rev. Dr. Leslie King is the Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Waco. She received her BA from Kansas University (’91) and her Masters of Divinity from McCormick Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Chicago (‘94). In 2010 she completed her Doctor of Ministry at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City Missouri with an emphasis in Spirituality and Organizational Change. She began her service to First Presbyterian Church of Waco in 2012. Process Theology has been a passion since 2007 when she began her Doctor of Ministry. Since September 2020, she is a yoga instructor (RYT 200) with Spirit Bear Yoga and (RYT 500) with My Vinaysa Practice. She’s a member of Yoga Alliance. She enjoys leading yoga flows for the youth and adults of the church. Her particular interest is in Yin and Restorative yoga as it relates to spiritual well-being. Piano competency is slowly emerging and music is a source of joy. She has been married to DJ King since November of 1996 and together they enjoy watching their three young adult children, Cody, Katie and Claire make their way in the world. With a menagerie of stray animals, the Kings are glad to call Waco home.

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John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Zhihe Wang, Meijun Fan and Friends
2024-08-27 10:00 - 12:00 | Online Via Zoom
Topic: Celebrating the Summer Programs in China

Presenters: Zhihe Wang, Meijun Fan and Friends

For many years the Institute for Postmodern Development of China has been sponsoring learning events in China to explore the “process way.” After a COVID-related hiatus, the program was back this summer! With Zhihe Wang and Meijun Fan we will celebrate their report. Also, participants in these cross-cultural learning opportunities will be sharing their experience. We’ll hear from Jay McDaniel, Bob Mesle, Barbara Hiles Mesle, Paul Bube, John Becker, and Kevin Clark.

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Process Philosophy & Music
2024-08-21 17:00 - 18:00, 2024-08-14 17:00 - 18:00, 2024-08-07 17:00 - 18:00 | Online Event
Exploring the Connections Between Philosophical and Musical Modes of Becoming

This three-session conversation explores connections between process philosophy and music, focusing on the nature of music, different genres of music, music and community, music and therapy, music and ecology, music and cultural identity, music and technology, and music and spirituality. Facilitated by Jay McDaniel, it is open-ended and conversational in spirit, its purpose is to explore. It builds upon twenty key ideas introduced by Jay McDaniel in an essay in Open Horizons: https://www.openhorizons.org/process-and-music-twenty-key-ideas.html. This page and these ideas are the springboards for exploration.

No prior knowledge of process thought is required.

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John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Alyn Ware
2024-08-20 10:00 - 12:00 | Online Via Zoom
Topic: Pursuing Peace, Security and Nuclear Disarmament through our Common Humanity

Presenters: Alyn Ware

Alyn Ware began his career as a kindergarten teacher, helping kids learn to get along. This grew into educational strategies to promote peace in his native New Zealand, a country that chose to remain a “nuclear free” zone. See this description of his role as Interim Director of the World Federalist Movement Institute for Global Policy, including a long list of awards, such as the Right Livelihood Award (the alternative Nobel Prize). Check out his biodata in Wikipedia. He’s coming to invite our support of current interfaith initiatives aiming for nuclear disarmament now.

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Process Thought 101
2024-08-19 08:30 - 09:30, 2024-08-12 08:30 - 09:30 | Online Event
Probing Process-Relational Worldviews For Newcomers

Want to learn more about process thought? Join our learning circle, as we read and discuss together various essays on important themes to process thought. Topics include the interconnectedness and relational nature of the universe, the idea that nature is alive and has value for itself, and process and beauty.

This learning circle will continue our study of process thought for those of us beginning our journey on the path of continuous change. We will meet three times to discuss the book What is Process Thought? Seven Answers to Seven Questions, by Jay McDaniel, and then wrap up the learning circle with a Q&A with the author.

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John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Thomas Atwood
2024-08-13 10:00 - 12:00 | Online Via Zoom
Topic: Akashic Follies: A Fool’s Journey into Mysticism

Presenters: Thomas Atwood

Welcome to our play! Thomas Atwood, a Cobb Institute regular and retired fool, will discuss his first large-scale creative writing project: a three-act play with musical elements called Akashic Follies. An imaginative story suffused with historical verité, this “work in process” traces the co-evolution of four characters through multiple incarnations that span 3,000 years — from the siege of Jericho to an NPR newsroom. A panexperientialist worldview is assumed, revealed for the most part in non-coercive dialogue and action. Thomas will reveal a bit of his personal journey and influences, followed by a brief scene synopsis and summary of next steps toward completion. The presentation will close with a dramatic reading of a draft scene titled Deception, assisted by four readers familiar to the Cobb Institute community.

Bio: In 1976, Thomas Atwood earned a Bachelor’s degree in music education and voice from Boston University. Never one to allow formal schooling to interfere with his education, he retired from a global software enterprise in 2014 with a job classification of Software Engineer, without ever having taken a computer science class. He’s an anachronistic dinosaur as well as a fool. Other formative experiences include 30 years as an Associate Member of the Westar Institute (convener of the Jesus Seminar) and a community internship with the Faithful Fools Street Ministry in San Francisco. In retirement, he co-founded a sister organization on the San Francisco Peninsula called Fools Mission. After a year and a half with the Cobb Institute community, he is overjoyed to share this “process report” on his play in such excellent company. You can visit his blog site at Fool’s Tales.

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Process Pop-Up: Pasts and Futures of Islamic Process Theology
2024-08-08 17:00 - 18:00
In this Pop-Up, Jared Morningstar will present Islamic process theologies, overviewing resonances between existing Muslim philosophies and cosmologies with contemporary process perspectives, and also exploring the emerging forms of explicit Islamic process theologies.

Some topics to be explored in this pop-up include:

Intellectual and spiritual developments in Islamic history that are resonant with process thought

Muhammad Iqbal’s Islamic process theology and the influence of Alfred North Whitehead and Henri Bergson on his thought

Adis Duderija’s scholarship on progressive Islam and process thought

Recent Muslim engagement with Gilles Deleuze as another form of Islamic process thought

This conversation will introduce these different historic and contemporary forms of Muslim process thinking, exploring the possibilities for further development as well as the barriers to broader interest in Islamic process theology.

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