Nurturing the Relational Heart of Democracy
A 4-Session Reading and Practice Formation Series
Engaging Healing the Heart of Democracy by Parker J. Palmer
| WHAT? | Formation Series |
| WHEN? | Weekly on Mondays at 4:30 – 6:00 PM Pacific / 7:30 – 9:00 PM Eastern March 9th thru April 6th, 2026 (no meeting on March 23rd) |
| WHERE? | Online Via Zoom |
Nurturing the Relational Heart of Democracy is a four-session, guided formation series exploring how spiritual grounding, relational courage, and embodied practices can help us meet political anxiety without losing our humanity—or one another.
In times of political upheaval, many of us feel pulled between fear, fatigue, anger, and a longing for something wiser and more humane than what dominates our public life. This Reading and Practice Formation Series offers a spiritually grounded space to reflect, listen, and re-center—without demonizing those who see the world differently.
Drawing on Parker Palmer’s Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit and “Five Habits of the Heart that Make Democracy Possible,” participants will engage both text and practice: reading thoughtfully, reflecting communally, and experimenting with spiritual habits that cultivate resilience, compassion, and moral clarity. This is not a debate or a strategy session—it is an invitation to tend the spiritual heart that sustains democratic life and faithful presence in a divided world.
“If American democracy fails…[it] will happen because we–you and I–become so fearful of each other, of our differences and of the future, that we unraveled the civic community on which democracy depends, losing our power to resist all that threatens it and call it back to its highest form.
. . .
For those of us who want to see democracy survive and thrive–and we are legion–the heart is where everything begins: that grounded place in each of us where we can overcome fear, rediscover that we are members of one another, and embrace the conflicts that threaten democracy as openings to new life for us and for our nation.”
–Parker J. Palmer, Healing the Heart of Democracy, 9-10
Series Details
Four sessions on Mondays: March 9, March 16, March 30, and April 6 (no meeting on March 23) at 4:30pm PT / 7:30pm ET, 90 minutes per session.
Required Reading
Please prepare by reading and/or viewing prior to each session.
- Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit by Parker J. Palmer (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- Five Habits of the Heart that Make Democracy Possible (PDF)
- Certain videos may be shared in advance for viewing.
Session Outline
- March 9: Healing the Heart of Democracy, Introduction, Prelude, Chapters 1 and 2 (through p. 47) and Five Habits of the Heart PDF
- March 16: Healing the Heart of Democracy, Chapters 3 and 4, pgs. 49-87
- March 30: Healing the Heart of Democracy, Chapters 5 and 6, pgs. 89-150
- April 6: Healing the Heart of Democracy, Chapters 7 and 8, pgs. 151-193
About the Facilitator
Sheri D. Kling, Ph.D., is a theologian, songwriter, and spiritual teacher who draws from wisdom and mystical traditions, relational worldviews, depth psychology, and the intersection of spirituality and science to help people find meaning, belonging, and transformation. She serves as director of Process & Faith with the Center for Process Studies, interim minister of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Bradenton, Florida, and teaches regularly for the Haden Institute and Claremont School of Theology, from which she earned her doctorate. She is the author of A Process Spirituality: Christian and Transreligious Resources for Transformation, and editor of Renewing Faith: Reigniting Faith and Ministry through Process and Open & Relational Theologies. As a public speaker, Sheri delivers dynamic presentations to groups, and offers courses, concerts, and spiritual retreats. She can be found online at sherikling.com.