TBC Pre: The Art of Becoming: Contemplative Practice & Process Theology

What if the Divine were a part of your unfolding life, right here and now—in relationship, creativity, and the quiet moments in between?

This immersive pre-conference gathering invites participants into the living, breathing intersection of process theology and contemplative practice, guided by spiritual practitioners and thinkers Dr. Tim Burnette (Way Collective) and Dr. Danny Prada (Heartway).

In a day designed for slowing down, reflecting deeply, and practicing inner attention, we’ll alternate between group dialogue, accessible contemplative exercises, and shared reflection. Each session will center around one core movement of becoming, opening space for us to explore the theological and existential terrain of personal transformation, from the inside out.

10:00–11:00am – Self in Process: Unfolding Multitudes

We begin with the question of the self—not as a fixed entity, but as a fluid unfolding. Through contemplative grounding and relational dialogue, we’ll explore what it means to be a self in process, to hold our contradictions tenderly, and to embrace identity not as a conclusion but as a continual becoming. This session honors the soul’s plurality, echoing Whitman’s line: “I am large, I contain multitudes” and invites a deeper understanding of how a process conception of the self invites us into an entirely different posture in the world.

11:00am–12:00pm – Pedagogy of the Inner Life: Unknowing, Possibilities, and Presence

How does process thought invite us into contemplation? This session turns toward the inner curriculum of unknowing, letting go, and the openness it makes possible. We'll explore a contemplative pedagogy rooted in mystery, presence, and emergence—one that honors not just what we know, but how we attend to ourselves and each other. Through spiritual practice and shared reflection, we’ll consider how transformation unfolds when we stop striving for mastery and instead become available to what is new, possible, and real.

12:00pm-1:30pm - Lunch

1:30–2:30pm – The Fellow Sufferer Who Understands: Co-Creation, Suffering, and Beauty

Drawing from process theology, we will explore the Divine not as distant or detached, but as the fellow sufferer who understands. This session will engage the sacred reality of suffering—not to resolve it, but to witness it within a larger movement of co-creation and beauty. Together, we’ll reflect on what it means to be held—and to hold one another—in the tender, unfinished work of justice and healing that reflects the heart of God.

2:30–4:00pm – Beauty as the Widest Horizon: Wonder, Awe, and Surrender

We will close by entering the great mystery: the world itself as an unfolding revelation of Divine Beauty. This final session will draw us into the contemplative dimensions of awe, impermanence, and the posture of surrender—not as a passive resignation, but as a radical participation in the flux of life. Through nature-based practice and poetic reflection, we’ll remember that beauty is not what resists change, but what appears because of it, that as contemplatives, we might find peace amidst the passage of life.

Weather permitting, parts of the day will take place outdoors. You’ll leave not only with fresh insight but with real practices to carry into your spiritual, relational, or communal life.

This session is for those longing to slow down, open up, and engage process theology not just intellectually—but somatically, communally, and contemplatively.

Ticket: $99 Note: This ticket does not include admission to the main Beer Camp event and is designed to be an optional add-on for those arriving early. Lunch not included.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Luther Seminary, 2481 Como Avenue, Saint Paul, United States