What Does Spirituality Mean to Us?

Member for

1 year 5 months
Photo
Kellen Manley
Cover Photo
pine and sunlight
First Name
Kellen
Last Name
Manley (He/Him/His)
Biography

To do what I love to do for an organization centered on love is indescribable. I am a social media specialist and a videographer and editor. Most of the time you will find me either behind a camera or in front of one or in the editing bay with headphones on, creating and sharing stories. Beyond this, my work is about engagement and our digital platforms—sharing, listening, and maintaining authentic community spaces that welcome everyone into this work.

BA in Film, Video, and Media Studies, am a proud WMU Bronco, and a passionate Tom Hanks Day founder. I love filmmaking, stand-up comedy, and all things humorous.

Job Title
Digital Media Manager
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Email
kmanley@fetzer.org

A Study of Spirituality in the United States

There Is a Season: A Meditation on the Cycles of Our Inner Lives

Member for

12 years 10 months
Photo
Amy Ferguson
Cover Photo
Book stack
First Name
Amy
Last Name
Ferguson
Biography

I am part of a web of writers, editors, videographers, communicators, and ambassadors who help shine a light on how we can all contribute to a loving world. For me this comes through in three simple words: reveal, serve, and inspire. It means researching, listening, sleuthing, writing, connecting, and conspiring for good. 

Our teachers in this work are numerous. I have learned so much from others' fine "translations" of the need for love in our world--epidemiologists, neuroscientists, and public health specialists, artists, clergy, and various lifelong practitioners of compassion--who carry this work into realms of our social life like schools, prisons, and law enforcement circles.

My background is deep in the humanities, and my family tree is of full Catholics (faithful and lapsed), skeptics, and librarians. I have a master's degree in literature and am drawn to volunteer with arts-related organizations and projects. 


 

Quote
Quote

“We are all born with 200 bad poems in us.”  —Billy Collins

Job Title
Internal Communications Officer
Cover Caption
Selections from the We the People Book Club.
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Staff Department
Email
aferguson@fetzer.org

An essay on nature's seasons, both as a physical reality and as a metaphor for our lives. Written by our friend Parker Palmer in celebration of the Fetzer Institute's retreat center, Seasons.

Creating Virtual Sacred Space

Member for

12 years 10 months
Photo
Amy Ferguson
Cover Photo
Book stack
First Name
Amy
Last Name
Ferguson
Biography

I am part of a web of writers, editors, videographers, communicators, and ambassadors who help shine a light on how we can all contribute to a loving world. For me this comes through in three simple words: reveal, serve, and inspire. It means researching, listening, sleuthing, writing, connecting, and conspiring for good. 

Our teachers in this work are numerous. I have learned so much from others' fine "translations" of the need for love in our world--epidemiologists, neuroscientists, and public health specialists, artists, clergy, and various lifelong practitioners of compassion--who carry this work into realms of our social life like schools, prisons, and law enforcement circles.

My background is deep in the humanities, and my family tree is of full Catholics (faithful and lapsed), skeptics, and librarians. I have a master's degree in literature and am drawn to volunteer with arts-related organizations and projects. 


 

Quote
Quote

“We are all born with 200 bad poems in us.”  —Billy Collins

Job Title
Internal Communications Officer
Cover Caption
Selections from the We the People Book Club.
Engagement Results Display
On
Staff Department
Email
aferguson@fetzer.org

With much of our lives taking place online, the Fetzer Institute is exploring ways to foster meaningful connection and deep inner work in virtual and hybrid spaces. Our inquiry is driven by an interest in the field of virtual spirituality—how do we and others create a sense of energy, connection, and spirit to do soul-level work amid our many screens and devices? While we continue to explore and nurture what is emerging, we offer this guide for facilitators and conveners of online gatherings.

Sharing Spiritual Heritage Report

Member for

12 years 10 months
Photo
Amy Ferguson
Cover Photo
Book stack
First Name
Amy
Last Name
Ferguson
Biography

I am part of a web of writers, editors, videographers, communicators, and ambassadors who help shine a light on how we can all contribute to a loving world. For me this comes through in three simple words: reveal, serve, and inspire. It means researching, listening, sleuthing, writing, connecting, and conspiring for good. 

Our teachers in this work are numerous. I have learned so much from others' fine "translations" of the need for love in our world--epidemiologists, neuroscientists, and public health specialists, artists, clergy, and various lifelong practitioners of compassion--who carry this work into realms of our social life like schools, prisons, and law enforcement circles.

My background is deep in the humanities, and my family tree is of full Catholics (faithful and lapsed), skeptics, and librarians. I have a master's degree in literature and am drawn to volunteer with arts-related organizations and projects. 


 

Quote
Quote

“We are all born with 200 bad poems in us.”  —Billy Collins

Job Title
Internal Communications Officer
Cover Caption
Selections from the We the People Book Club.
Engagement Results Display
On
Staff Department
Email
aferguson@fetzer.org

Sharing Spiritual Heritage is a report based on several years of research and conversations that are breathing life into the question: How will we hold onto the rich teachings of our historic faith and wisdom traditions while applying them creatively in today’s time?

If you are a spiritual leader/innovator who feels a little on the fringe; if you are studying theology and the changing religious landscape; if you are seeking spiritual nourishment in new and life-giving ways, this report may be for you.

Science and Spirituality: The Need for a Change in Culture

Member for

1 year 5 months
Photo
Kellen Manley
Cover Photo
pine and sunlight
First Name
Kellen
Last Name
Manley (He/Him/His)
Biography

To do what I love to do for an organization centered on love is indescribable. I am a social media specialist and a videographer and editor. Most of the time you will find me either behind a camera or in front of one or in the editing bay with headphones on, creating and sharing stories. Beyond this, my work is about engagement and our digital platforms—sharing, listening, and maintaining authentic community spaces that welcome everyone into this work.

BA in Film, Video, and Media Studies, am a proud WMU Bronco, and a passionate Tom Hanks Day founder. I love filmmaking, stand-up comedy, and all things humorous.

Job Title
Digital Media Manager
Engagement Results Display
Off
Email
kmanley@fetzer.org

Late in his career, acclaimed physicist David Bohm (1917–1992), was a scholar in residence at the Fetzer Institute. A student of Robert Oppenheimer and a colleague of Albert Einstein, Bohm proposed that all parts of the universe are fundamentally interconnected, forming what he called “an unbroken flowing whole.” This paper, delivered as a public lecture on October 23, 1990, addresses what Bohm considers the essential relationship between science and spirituality, wholeness, culture, and the role of dialogue.

Something More

Member for

12 years 10 months
Photo
Amy Ferguson
Cover Photo
Book stack
First Name
Amy
Last Name
Ferguson
Biography

I am part of a web of writers, editors, videographers, communicators, and ambassadors who help shine a light on how we can all contribute to a loving world. For me this comes through in three simple words: reveal, serve, and inspire. It means researching, listening, sleuthing, writing, connecting, and conspiring for good. 

Our teachers in this work are numerous. I have learned so much from others' fine "translations" of the need for love in our world--epidemiologists, neuroscientists, and public health specialists, artists, clergy, and various lifelong practitioners of compassion--who carry this work into realms of our social life like schools, prisons, and law enforcement circles.

My background is deep in the humanities, and my family tree is of full Catholics (faithful and lapsed), skeptics, and librarians. I have a master's degree in literature and am drawn to volunteer with arts-related organizations and projects. 


 

Quote
Quote

“We are all born with 200 bad poems in us.”  —Billy Collins

Job Title
Internal Communications Officer
Cover Caption
Selections from the We the People Book Club.
Engagement Results Display
On
Staff Department
Email
aferguson@fetzer.org

Secular communities increasingly fulfill religious functions and new religious communities barely resemble their institutional forebears. Meanwhile, 3,500 churches close each year. To organized religions in crisis, this report issues a challenge: how might they transform to meet a rising generation?

The Common Cradle of Concern

In the winter of 2004, during several conversations with Mark Nepo, the legendary and late historian Howard Zinn explored the nature of being an American today. This essay gathers those musings on moral progress and the myths of freedom into a meditation on America called "The Common Cradle of Concern," which was put together and edited by both Zinn and Nepo.

Opening Doors in a Closed Society

 

In this essay William F. Winter, the 58th governor of Mississippi, reflects on the progress we have made in addressing racial conflicts. He reminds us that “as we seek to embrace our common humanity, we must also face the reality that there are forces in this increasingly complex world that threaten to continue to divide us.” Read this essay and learn Winter's perspective on how we pass on to the next generation a better country than the one we inherited.