Body Theology: Exploring the body and communal movement in the church as a way towards liberation

Lois Snavely

Fri 2 PM | Studio

This workshop will be an interactive, movement-based study of where the Church has colonized the body in pastoral leadership, liturgical movement and even the posture of prayer (particularly the bodies of women, POC and LGBTQ+ Christians). We will explore where we hold our own biases around what the body “should” or “shouldn’t” do, and then explore ways in which the body can be liberated in liturgical settings. This workshop will seek to move beyond just the realm of performative movement. Instead, the session will co-create with the participants a safe space where we can find ways to communally liberate the body in everything from preaching to prayer. We will operate around a theological understanding of the body, movement and dance as part of a liberative way to do Church and ministry. Throughout, we will utilize a unique approach to movement and body-awareness as an essential part of leadership training, personal and spiritual development, and community activism.

Lois Snavely

Lois is an MDiv student at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago and a candidate for ordination within the United Church of Christ. She is a former professional dancer and still loves shaking up the Church and its theology of the body. Lois’s vocation lies at the intersection between spiritual direction and pastoral care, bringing a liberative theology into the corporate workspace, and exegeting the Church and the Bible from a feminist and religious pluralist perspective. At her home of University Church Chicago, Lois is a member of the Social Justice Committee and the Dance Choir. She has toured nationally with the Chicago-based performance ensemble Jump Rhythm Jazz Project, and she has performed, choreographed and taught movement-based awareness workshops at North Park Theological Seminary, McCormick Theological Seminary, Urban Village Church, University Church Chicago, Beloved of God Ministries, The Way International and SALT Performing Arts. Connect with her on Instagram @lsnavely7

Sessions:
80 Body Theology: Liberate!