No better words than Wild Surrender to describe our three days together at GladdeningLight 2020. Twenty-six states were well-represented along with our Canadian neighbor to the north. This was a GladdeningLight Symposium filled to capacity earlier than ever, with a waiting list that begged for more.

Perhaps no event was more evident of our space challenges than Owen Ó Súilleabháin’s Thursday evening devotional that overwhelmed quaint Marcy Chapel. Nevertheless, the fervency of string and song accompanied wondrous works from Barbara, Moley, Mirabai and Rami.

After a refreshing overnight rain, Rabbi Rami grabbed us by our lapels and shook us into surrender with reverence for the divine feminine. Mirabai Starr continued to honor that theme throughout all her talks.

While the music of Owen & Moley has been exemplary for GladdeningLight these many years, the addition of cellist Eugene Friesen elevated our consciousness to the many sacred qualities of fragile planet Earth, binding one another in harmony.

Barbara Brown Taylor suggested some casual furniture to flank one another as a way to bring us into her conversation on Saturday evening. Her sermon on Sunday in Knowles Memorial Chapel moved us beyond measure. The glorious service music and communal spirit sent us as out into the world in peace.

Next year promises much, so don’t be left on the waitlist. Mark your calendars, February 4-7, 2021, with details and registration to be announced. May the beauty and blessings of our journey further bolster us in this time of trial ~ Randy

President’s Opening Reception

Symposium 2020

GladdeningLight is about mystery and the time-honored practice of stretching into new vistas of faith where doubt and the absence of certainty reside. For the pilgrim, the space between the questions reveals the art of the possible and a measure of the infinite – spiritual nourishment to foster the journey.

Rabbi Rami Shapiro and mystic Mirabai Starr bridge the world’s great faith traditions, joined by beloved storyteller Barbara Brown Taylor – advocates all of divine feminine wisdom – on the campus of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.

Witness current acclaim for our speakers and their themes:

“Mirabai Starr has untethered the sacred cow, turned on the dance music in the meditation hall, and opened the doors to let the cloisters run free! Wild Mercy flows through the heart of all spiritual traditions, and the heart of humanity.”
Celeste Yacoboni

“Rabbi Rami is Jon Stewart’s spiritual double: hilarious and insightful, who wickedly exposes the religious insanities of our time while movingly offering an authentic interspirituality that is timeless.”
Dr. Gordon Peerman

“Barbara Brown Taylor’s life embodies her core message. Being a religious person requires a willingness to not know, along with a love of other human beings. We are not God, so we don’t know how God most wants to be worshiped. We have a better idea how people want to be treated. We are not commanded to love our religions. We are commanded to love our neighbors.”
Nancy Fuchs Kreimer

Musical guests Eugene Friesen and Owen & Moley Ó Súilleabháin frame the entire weekend with concert performances and atmospherics.

Schedule of Events

(PLENARY SESSIONS SOLD OUT)

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

6:00 pm – Reception hosted by the President of Rollins College, Barker House ~~($30 per person)~~ SOLD OUT
8:00 pm – Inter-Spiritual Devotional with Owen & Moley Ó Súilleabháin at The Marcy Chapel, First United Methodist Church, 125 N. Interlachen Avenue at Morse Boulevard, Winter Park FREE & OPEN TO ALL

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2020

10:00 am – Opening program from Rami Shapiro and Owen & Moley Ó Súilleabháin in Bush Auditorium
2:00 pm – Afternoon lecture from Mirabai Starr in Bush Auditorium with Eugene Friesen and Owen & Moley
4:00 pm – Book signing with Rami Shapiro, Barbara Brown Taylor and Mirabai Starr, Bush Foyer; Optional group discussion in Rollins Hall, Third Floor; Interfaith Yoga in Rollins Hall, Room 320, all are welcome (suggest comfortable clothing)
7:00 pm – Observance of Shabbat, Rami Shapiro and Mirabai Starr in Tiedtke Concert Hall
7:30 pm – The Beauty We Love, an ecological convocation by Eugene Friesen with Owen & Moley in Tiedtke Concert Hall

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2020

Enjoy the Farmers’ Market in Downtown Winter Park, New York & New England Avenues, 7:00 – 1:00

8:30 am – Morning coffee, Knowles Classroom 1
9:30 am – Morning lecture from Mirabai Starr in Tiedtke Concert Hall
11:45 am – Luncheon in the Rice Family Pavilion ~~($20 per person)~~ SOLD OUT
2:00 pm – Afternoon lecture from Rami Shapiro in Tiedtke Concert Hall with Eugene Friesen and Owen & Moley
4:00 pm – Optional group discussion in Rollins Hall, Third Floor; Interfaith Yoga in Rice Rotunda, all are welcome (suggest comfortable clothing)
7:30 pm – Evening forum with Mirabai Starr and Rami Shapiro, moderated by Barbara Brown Taylor in Tiedtke Concert Hall, Owen & Moley with Eugene Friesen; Book signing with Mirabai Starr, Barbara Brown Taylor and Rami Shapiro

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2020

9:00 am – Worship service at Knowles Memorial Chapel, homily by Barbara Brown Taylor, readings by Mirabai Starr and Rami Shapiro, music from Eugene Friesen and Owen & Moley FREE & OPEN TO ALL

Afternoon tours at leisure to the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Morse Museum of American Art and the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens in Winter Park

Event Venues

Rollins College — Barker House, Tiedtke Concert Hall, Bush Auditorium, Rice Family Pavilion, Mills Building and Knowles Memorial Chapel

First United Methodist Church — The Marcy Chapel, 125 N. Interlachen Avenue, corner of Morse Boulevard, Winter Park

Hotel Partners

The Alfond Inn, the Park Plaza Hotel (both within walking distance) and the Comfort Suites Downtown Orlando. Reservations may be made by calling The Alfond Inn at (407) 998-8090 and asking reservations to reference the discount code GLAD2020 for the best available rate, the Park Plaza Hotel at $209 per night by calling (407) 647-1072 (referencing the GladdeningLight discount), and the Comfort Suites at $110 per night by using this link or by calling the hotel directly at (407) 228-4007. Note that rate discounts expire the first week of January.

Registration

Participate in the entire three-day weekend for $220 (All-Access including each & every symposium event). Attend the Thursday evening Rollins College President’s Reception at Barker House on the lakefront for $30, and the communal luncheon on Saturday in the new Rice Family Pavilion for $20. Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express accepted. Cancellation policy: full refund for any reason until 12/31/18, no refunds thereafter.

We must’ve waited all our lives for this.

Another GladdeningLight Trip