It is not uncommon to feel conflicted about your faith
Especially when you try to reconcile it with historical events and the modern-day implications of those events.
Your faith is not about guns, greed, and power.
Your faith is not about Empire.
Your faith is about love and liberation for all people.
The Undoing Conquest webinar introduces you to a framework that gives you practical ways to apply new scholarship to your spiritual community, especially in terms of promoting justice and reconciliation.
Gain Knowledge, Grow Spiritually, Work for Justice
The personal transformation you will experience through the webinar:
1. Gain a deeper understanding of biblical narratives, especially the conquest story, and its real-world implications.
2. Become more aware of how spiritual and historical narratives influence current social and justice issues.
3. Experiencing a sense of connection and shared purpose with others who are on a similar journey of re-examining and reshaping their faith-based understandings.
4. Feel empowered to participate in justice-oriented actions within your communities.
What You Can Expect
Our 60-minute webinar explores groundbreaking scholarship to reimagine the biblical stories used to justify colonialism and conquest and ignites your passion for justice.
But this webinar is more than just information; it's about creating a community of action.
In the first half, we dissect the conquest narrative
Offering a fresh, archaeologically-supported story of Israelite origins.
You'll see how this new understanding can reshape actions in faith communities and promote justice.
The second half is all about connection.
Through polls, chat prompts, and breakout rooms, you become an active participant, not just a listener.
Share your insights, ask burning questions, and join a visual annotation activity, leaving your personal mark on our collective journey.
By signing up, you're not just attending a webinar
You're stepping into a transformative experience that redefines your spiritual journey and impacts your community.
This is more than learning; it's a call to action for a just future.
Don't miss this opportunity to transform your faith and be part of the movement for a more just world.
The Webinar Structure
Content Presentation (First 30 minutes):
Section 1:
Create context by demonstrating how the current mix of politics and religions is based on reading the Bible in a way that justifies colonialism and conquest.
Chat Question Prompt: Participants respond to a question in the chat, fostering interaction and sharing perspectives.
Section 2
Discuss the problematic conquest narrative found in the Bible and its historical implications.
Interactive Poll: Engage participants with a poll, followed by a discussion of the results.
Section 3:
Introducing the peaceful origin story of the Israelites based on archaeological evidence.
Chat Question Prompt: Participants respond to a question in the chat, fostering interaction and sharing perspectives.
Connection Time (Next 30 minutes):
Breakout Rooms Session:
Small group discussions with specific prompts, followed by sharing insights in the chat.
Q&A Session:
Live interaction with participants asking questions and receiving answers.
Annotation Session:
Participants collaboratively create a slide, sharing their discoveries and learning interests.
Conclusion:
Summarizing key points, emphasizing the importance of the "Undoing Conquest" course, and inviting further engagement.
"The idea of the Highland communities is incredibly hopeful to me.
I love the idea of a miraculous emergence—of the possibility of this narrative—because it gives me hope for what could emerge today.
In a time of such disorientation, in a time of climate change, and what feels like the demise of civilization, it is easy to despair.
But this narrative makes me feel that we, too, could create new ways of being, even in the midst of the despair of a similar climate."
—Rev. AJ Bush
About Kate
Dr. Kate Common is an Assistant Professor of Public and Practical Theology at Methodist Theological School in Ohio and a Louisville Institute scholar.
Coming out as gay in a fundamentalist Christian setting led Kate to pursue the creation of a more just Christianity.
She left a successful corporate career as a graphic designer to follow a sense of call to go to seminary.
She earned an MA from Andover Newton Seminary and a Ph.D. in theology from Boston University.
Kate integrates her creative design practices with her theological work focusing on social justice and the church.
These threads come together in her teaching and in her forthcoming book, Undoing Conquest: Ancient Israel, the Bible, and the Future of Christianity (Feb. 2024, Orbis Books). She is working on a second book, Desiring Utopia: The Queer Feminist Church in conjunction with the AAR Academy Series and Oxford University Press.
Kate co-produced the documentary film Forging Voice: Conversations with Pioneering Feminist & Womanist Scholars in Religion, which explores gender, race, and theology through interviews with pioneering feminist and womanist scholars in religion.
Kate lives with three dogs, two step-kids, and her wife. When she’s not walking the dogs, she likes to paddle board the Connecticut River, make art, watch a good show, and hike the woodlands of Massachusetts. Find out more about Kate here: katecommon.com
