"We Are One Concert" Kicks Off Seminar on "Co-Creating Our Future"

Music celebrating healing, hope and unity will fill the house with a "We Are One" concert Friday, November 11th from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Congregation of St. Joseph Center, 1515 W. Ogden Ave., LaGrange Park.  The concert is an introduction to a seminar the following day by two accomplished futurists telling how communities are "Co-creating Our Future," while world governments, economies, and institutions are breaking down.  The seminar begins Saturday, November 12th at 9:00 a.m.  Both the concert and seminar are sponsored by The Well spirituality center, a ministry of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

Concert producer, Kathy Sherman, CSJ, has arranged the "We Are One" concert that showcases a variety of musical expressions -- song, dance, drumming, poetry and the visual arts.  "It celebrates 'unity in diversity' and strengthens our commitment to be a blessing of peace and justice in the world," she promises.

The entertainment includes:  Native American song, dance and drumming by Dale Francisco and friends; Holy Cross (Back-of-the Yards) youth performing marimba music, led by Bruce Wellems, CMF; Dan Murphy and the "Note Karacel," featuring wold music; Yolanda Lapriece with "Expressions of You," a south-side community organization that nurtures the creativity of young people through art and dance; and Kathy Sherman, who will share her original and inspirational music and lyrics.

Saturday morning, presenter John McKnight will help participants identify and access the abundant resources within our communities to create a more just, sustainable and compassionate society.  McKnight is emeritus professor of education and social policy and co-director of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University.  He directs research projects on asset-based neighborhood development and community building by engaging people who have been marginalized. He is author of "The Careless Society" and co-author with Peter Block of "The Abundant Community."

In the afternoon, Theodore Richards, a religious philosopher, poet and author of the book "Cosmosophia," will describe how the assumptions, myths and values of industrial capitalism have led to our current turmoil and explain why we need to adopt an earth- and creation-centered attitude as we face our present day crises.  His website, www.cosmosophia.org , is dedicated to cultivating a new worldview in the west.

Richards is also founder and director of the Chicago Wisdom Project, which seeks to empower today's youth to transform themselves, their communities and the world.  It provides mentoring and guidance in pursuing their passions and expressing the wisdom that is an inherent part of their world, to which they are intimately connected.

Richards has traveled the world, including the South Pacific, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America; and he has worked with inner city youth on the south side of Chicago, in Harlem, the South Bronx and in Oakland teaching philosophy, cosmology and martial arts, with emphasis on creativity and imagination. 

To register for the concert and seminar online go to www.csjthewell.org .  Admission is $25 for the concert, $80 for the seminar, or $100 for both.  Overnight rooms are available at the Center for $50 per person.  For more information visit www.csjthewell.org or call 708-482-5048.