We are Troubling the Waters, reimagining congregational life for a more just and equitable world
We work with churches, and other faith organizations, to reimagine, rework, or revision their community offerings with a focus on greater equity and inclusion. Lead consultant, David Tremaine, is available for sermon preparation, program auditing, and/or community-wide listening projects with the hope of creating a more just and empowering church.
How do I know if Troubling the Waters is right for me?
In this moment in the history of the world and of the church, we are being asked to examine how the way we do things is pushing back against a dominant culture of scarcity and oppression or simply replicating that culture in our communities of faith. For this reason we must ask whether our community structures, offerings, and ways of being are dismantling or reinforcing the ongoing realities of colonialism and racism.
Some core values of our work are:
Storytelling
Deep Listening
Embodiment
Emotional Conection
Relational Depth
Individual and Communal Empowerment
In our work we partner with faith communities to ask these important questions, among others:
How are our communal offerings (e.g. discipleship, formation, worship, committees, etc.) excluding people based on particular aspects of their identity rather than being reimagined with everyone in mind?
How are our communities consciously or unconsciously propagating destructive characteristics of white supremacy?
How is our common life driven more by conforming to cultural standards than by curiosity and openness to God’s newness?
If you are also asking these questions, then we’re here to talk.
Services
Leadership Retreat Facilitation
Lead consultant David Tremaine is available to facilitate single or multi-day retreats with church vestries or non-profit boards. Leadership groups will be led through a process of reflection and visioning for the community. By engaging in group processing, expressive art reflection, spiritual practices, and cultivating personal “Why” statements, groups will leave the retreat time with concrete practices for the future and a better understanding of why they do what they do.
$75/hour
Program Auditing
Similar to the congregation-wide listening (see below), this is a smaller, more focused listening project, using interviews and focus group conversations to help transform or reimagine a specific part of the congregation’s life. This could include children and family ministry, music ministry, worship life, evangelism, outreach, etc.
$100/hour
Community-Wide Listening
Are you interested in a complete revisioning of the structures and offerings of your community with the hope of cultivating greater equity and inclusion for all? Starting with a season of community-wide, we will locate problem areas and work with community leaders to bring about a more equitable and inclusive community.
$125/hour
From the Blog
Moses, the Burning Bush, and Hearing God’s Call to Justice
When I read the story of Moses and the burning bush, I wonder what it might have been like to be Moses that day. The story says that when Moses saw the burning bush, the messenger from God, he was amazed and said to himself, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight,…
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“Not Peace, But a Sword”: Jesus’ Call to Have Uncomfortable Conversations About Race
Just one third of the way through Matthew’s gospel, in chapter 10, Jesus sends out his newly gathered disciples and prepares them to go out to the lost sheep of Israel, to their own communities and their own people, and preach the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven. In the first half of this…
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Following the Spirit of Truth in an Age of Distrust
Today it feels harder than ever to wrap our minds around “the truth.” With the constant barrage of “alternative facts,” claims of “fake news,” and a seemingly endless feed of Twitter and Facebook bots filling our screens with misleading claims about both politics and pandemics, its hard to decipher what is true and what is…
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About us
We are Troubling the Waters, reimagining the structures and offerings of our faith communities for a more just and equitable world.
We equip leaders and faith communities to delink from colonial narratives of dominance and superiority to reimagine what it means to be a disciple in the 21st century.
Troubling the Waters 