Crossing Identity Boundaries: Where Hope Enlivens Us to Life
with Luther E. Smith
Friday, November 21, 2025
4-6pm Ireland
11am-1pm Eastern
8-10am Pacific
Beloved community relies on persistent efforts to enter another’s heart and to offer our own.
Program Description
Our experiences of beloved community begin with crossing identity boundaries—our own boundaries, and those of neighbors, strangers, friends, family, and enemies. Beloved community relies on persistent efforts to enter another’s heart and to offer our own. Crossing identity boundaries is a lifelong endeavor that deepens understanding, inspires trust, engenders respect, and enacts love. And yet, how we cross identity boundaries is also cause for conflict, violation, resentment, and increased alienation.
Our retreat will focus on crossing identity boundaries as a spiritual practice for personal fulfillment and beloved community. Whether we self-identify as an introvert or extrovert, our living faithfully depends upon us to nurture caring relationships and to engage hostile relationships with care.
The retreat will highlight exercises (things we can do) to: assess our own identity boundary; name identity boundary crossings that are most challenging and those that are taken with ease; determine our readiness for crossings; address mistakes made in boundary crossings; and reflect upon how we receive others who cross our identity boundary.
Beloved community is not only experienced in successfully connecting with other hearts. The joy of beloved community is also experienced in the process of embracing others. This retreat is designed to facilitate our commitment to “the process”.
We will turn on closed captioning during the live Zoom session (which you are able to turn off in your settings if you find distracting) as well as provide a video recording with closed captioning available and a text transcript of the session within 24 hours. You will be sent a notification when this is ready to view.
You have lifetime access to all online programs.
Your Guide for the Journey
Luther E. Smith
Luther E. Smith, Jr., MDiv, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus of Church and Community, Candler School of Theology of Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia). He writes and speaks extensively on issues of church and society, congregational renewal, meanings and dynamics of community, interfaith cooperation, Christian spirituality, and the thought of Howard Thurman. He is the author of Howard Thurman: The Mystic as Prophet, Intimacy and Mission: Intentional Community as Crucible for Radical Discipleship, and editor of Howard Thurman: Essential Writings. He is the Senior Advisory Editor for the five volume The Papers of Howard Washington Thurman, which is the second largest papers project on an African American. His latest book is, Hope is Here! Spiritual Practices for Pursuing Justice and Beloved Community. Luther has received many awards for his scholarship, teaching, and community service. He is a founder of the Interfaith Children’s Movement (Georgia) that educates, mobilizes, and networks faith communities in being advocates for all children.
Registration
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$30
reduced fee
- Includes partial scholarship
- Select this only if you require financial assistance
If you are in need of additional financial assistance please fill out our Scholarship Request form.
Terms and Conditions
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