New Story Stewards
Overview
New Story Stewards is a year-long formation community for people seeking to live and lead well during a time of profound transition. It is designed for those who sense that familiar ways of responding to social, ecological, and civic challenges are no longer sufficient, and who feel drawn—often without full clarity—toward a deeper way of being.
The work explores how to inhabit the space between an ending story and one still forming. Rather than offering answers about what comes next, the program invites participants into sustained practice, reflection, and community as they learn how to remain grounded, attentive, and faithful in uncertain times.
New Story Stewards is not a course or training. It is a shared spiritual formation journey, held within a committed learning community - trusting that Spirit is the only trustworthy source from which a life-giving New Story can emerge.
Who This Program Is For
This program is for people who recognize that the present way of life is unraveling, who hunger and thirst for a deeper connection with Spirit, and who may be without a supportive community in which to learn and grow.
What Participants Engage In
Participation is structured but simple, emphasizing consistency over intensity.
Participants gather monthly online for extended sessions that include silence, teaching, poetry, story, small-group reflection, and shared inquiry. The program concludes with an in-person gathering in the Seattle area focused on synthesis, ritual, and welcome into the broader community.
Between gatherings, participants commit to daily spiritual practice, regular reflection, and weekly meetings with an accountability partner. These practices are central to the work and are designed to support integration into daily life.
The emphasis throughout is on lived engagement rather than conceptual understanding. Learning unfolds through repetition, relationship, and attentiveness over time.
The program follows a consistent rhythm across the year. Each gathering builds on what has come before, and each introduces practices meant to be lived with between sessions.
The depth of the work happens not primarily during meetings, but in the weeks between them — through practice, reflection, and conversation. Community provides continuity and accountability as participants learn to remain present in liminal space.
The time commitment includes:
How the Program Unfolds
Twelve monthly online gatherings (2.5 hours each)
One in-person gathering in the Seattle area at the conclusion of the program
Daily spiritual practice of the participant’s choosing
Weekly meetings with an accountability partner (minimum 20 minutes)
Ongoing reflection between gatherings
Participation requires regular attendance and follow-through. This is not a casual commitment.
The Journey
The New Story Stewards program unfolds over 13 months. In the context of Mystical Life, thirteen is a symbol of wholeness and transformation.
We will gather online once each month for twelve 2 ½-hour Zoom Gatherings. We will, of course, use small group discussions, breaks, and other cyber learning aids to keep the sessions lively. Our final gathering will be in person in the Seattle area and will focus on synthesis of the whole, ritualizing the joining of the Alumni Community meeting other Alumni and celebrating.
The Stewards program will begin in October and will culminate in person in October of the following year.
You’ll be matched with a Buddy to deepen learning and accountability and build community.
Monthly Gatherings
Session One: Longing for a New Story
Session Two: A Long Loving Look at the Real
Session Three: Winter Becomes Spring - Welcoming the New Story
Session Four: Witnessing in Liminal Space
Session Five: Grieving in Liminal Space
Session Six: Praying and Acting in Liminal Space
Session Seven: Embracing Mystical Life - Part One
Session Eight: Embracing Mystical Life - Part Two
Session Nine: Rebirth of the Divine Feminine - the Unique Role of Woman
Session Ten: Connecting with Our Mother - A Meditative Experience
Session Eleven: Connecting with Our Mother - Relationship and Reciprocity
Session Twelve: A Virtuous Life - Holding the Light That is Left
Session Thirteen: Grand Synthesis - Living for the Love of all Created by Thee
Shared Commitments
The depth of this work depends on the shared commitment of the community. As you consider participating, we invite you to reflect on your readiness to embrace the following practices:
Attend faithfully. Commit to being present, prepared, and fully engaged at each gathering.
Prepare your heart. Spend fifteen minutes in meditation before each session so your participation begins from a place of attentiveness.
Maintain a daily spiritual practice. Choose a practice that helps cultivate an ongoing relationship with Spirit.
Engage the monthly practices. Carry each gathering into daily life through the practices offered between sessions.
Meet regularly with your Buddy. Encourage one another through accountability, friendship, and love.
What This Program Is Not
New Story Stewards is not a strategic planning process or a problem-solving framework. It does not offer techniques for fixing systems or managing decline.
It is not therapy, coaching, or self-improvement, and it does not promise outcomes, transformation, or personal breakthroughs.
The program does not claim to know when or how a New Story will arrive. It simply offers a way of standing well in the space between stories.
Gift Economy
There is no fee to participate in the New Story Stewards program. It is offered within a gift economy and supported by those who choose to give.
As you consider whether this work may be meant for you, you may find it helpful to sit with the following questions over time:
Are you hungry for a community that will support you in living and leading well in a time of chaos and confusion?
Are you drawn toward deeper guidance on how to remain connected to Spirit amid uncertainty?
Are you open to a way of leadership grounded less in control and more in presence, trust, and responsibility?
Are you willing to make a heartfelt commitment to regular attendance, shared practice, and disciplined engagement over time?
In your gut, do you sense that you are ready for this journey, even without clarity about where it will lead?
Clarity does not come from answering these questions quickly. It emerges through attention, patience, and trust.
Questions for Discernment
Discerning Participation
This work is not for everyone, and discernment takes time. If, after spending time with this description, you feel drawn to explore whether this program may be meant for you, you are welcome to reach out through the Contact page.
Clarity comes through attention, not persuasion.