Proposal Title
Creating Rituals of Healing following Experiences of Abuse or Abortion
Location
Room 3-085
Start Date
9-11-2018 2:00 PM
End Date
9-11-2018 3:00 PM
Presentation Type
Workshop
Abstract
We participate in ritual everyday – from our morning routine to opening a meeting/discussion at work, to lighting a candle. In this workshop participants will define ritual and discuss the key elements of ritual. Participants will explore the importance of healing ritual in a variety of different religious and cultural traditions, and participants will participate in a ritual experience and then create a model of a ritual that could be used with survivors of abuse or individuals with abortion experiences. Ritual opens us up to creatively envisioning our experiences and making meaning out of them through movement, words, and reflection. Rituals can be elaborate or simple. At its core, a ritual experience provides an opportunity for humans to create meaning around a life experience, to more fully integrate it into our understanding of self and to promote healing. As a minister, mother, survivor, and someone with an abortion experience, I have found creating ritual experiences for myself and for individuals and communities incredibly sacred and liberating experiences. Through ritual we can acknowledge places of pain, loss, anger, or grief without shame or stigma, and we can reinvent the parts of ourselves or of our stories that have been harmed. Through ritual we bless ourselves, connect with our ancestors and multiple identities, and create a pathway to move forward in our lives.
Creating Rituals of Healing following Experiences of Abuse or Abortion
Room 3-085
We participate in ritual everyday – from our morning routine to opening a meeting/discussion at work, to lighting a candle. In this workshop participants will define ritual and discuss the key elements of ritual. Participants will explore the importance of healing ritual in a variety of different religious and cultural traditions, and participants will participate in a ritual experience and then create a model of a ritual that could be used with survivors of abuse or individuals with abortion experiences. Ritual opens us up to creatively envisioning our experiences and making meaning out of them through movement, words, and reflection. Rituals can be elaborate or simple. At its core, a ritual experience provides an opportunity for humans to create meaning around a life experience, to more fully integrate it into our understanding of self and to promote healing. As a minister, mother, survivor, and someone with an abortion experience, I have found creating ritual experiences for myself and for individuals and communities incredibly sacred and liberating experiences. Through ritual we can acknowledge places of pain, loss, anger, or grief without shame or stigma, and we can reinvent the parts of ourselves or of our stories that have been harmed. Through ritual we bless ourselves, connect with our ancestors and multiple identities, and create a pathway to move forward in our lives.
Comments
Rev. Susan Chorley (B.A. Wake Forest University 1994, M.Div/M.A. in Feminist Theology American Baptist Seminary of the West/Graduate Theological Union, 2002) is an ordained American Baptist minister who has served congregations in NC, WA, CA and MA. Susan joins Exhale after serving as the Associate Director and Minister of Programs at the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry in Roxbury, MA where she oversaw programming focused on domestic violence and out-of-school enrichment for high school students. Rev. Chorley has a deep history with Exhale, as a co-founder and long-time board member. Susan is also a co-founder of the Massachusetts Restorative Justice Collaborative and founder of “Partners in Faith” a roundtable for individuals, organizations and congregations who are engaged in faith based organizing around intimate partner violence. In her 17 years of involvement with Exhale, Susan has held deep relationships with staff, volunteers, and others in the Exhale community, serving as an advisor and thought leader. Susan is also a public storyteller, having first shared her personal abortion experience in a 2016 Parent’s Magazine article featuring the stories of mothers who have had abortions. This publicity led to the launch of Exhale’s Pro-Voice Sermon Tour, during which Susan shared her story as a means to create space for bringing abortion into church communities. Building on the success of the tour, The Daily Beast published her op-ed in October 2016. Susan was named a “2017 Faith Leader to Watch” by the Center for American Progress, receiving praise for her boldness in preaching about her abortion to congregations around the country, and was featured in a recent CNN.com piece about Exhale’s groundbreaking pro-voice work. Susan speaks, consults, leads workshops and writes frequently on topics including faith, domestic violence, restorative justice and being an effective ally/accomplice to communities targeted by racism as well as LGBQ/T communities. Susan and her 16 year old son live in Boston, MA.