Join folks from the United Church and Inclusive Christians to discuss this engaging book that explores non-western forms of spirituality and the gifts they offer!
Our Unforming is a 2022 book written by Cindy S. Lee, a BIPOC-centred spiritual companion and author.
In Our Unforming: De-Westernizing Spiritual Formation, Cindy S. Lee proposes that we as the church need a new way to engage in spiritual formation. To thrive in our increasingly diverse contexts, we need an unforming and a reforming of our souls. We need to unform the ways Western-dominated church leaders have understood formation. We need to reform--to imagine and create a more intricate spirituality that includes diverse experiences of God.
Our Unforming is organized into three cultural orientations and eight postures. Lee proposes that when we consider non-Western cultural ways of being--turning from linear to cyclical, from cerebral to experiential, and from individual to collective--the formation journey shifts. We live out these movements through postures, ways of entering into deeper spiritual transformation. The eight postures reflect our experience of time, generations, imagination, uncertainty, language, work, dependence, elders, and harmony.
Lee offers a more robust spirituality to hold the complexities of a multicultural God and the God-human relationship. Our Unforming is sure to inspire further conversation as it shifts how we approach formation in our diverse communities.
Cindy holds a Ph.D in Practical Theology in the area of Spirituality from Claremont School of Theology. She writes and teaches as an adjunct professor in the areas of mysticism, spiritual accompaniment, and particularly BIPOC-centred spirituality. She also trains new spiritual companions and care practitioners at Liberated Together Spiritual Direction School and currently serves as a board member of Spiritual Directors International.
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