Sacred Collective

Sacred Collective exists to invite and partner with students to seek justice, to encounter community, and to linger in Divine truths. Our monthly community meal anchors our community. This “place and time for nourishment, in body and soul” is a rare opportunity for a wide variety of people to gather, breathe, and be in community. It has become a primary source and site for “misfits” of many kinds to craft belonging, together. The connections made at our community meal give life to almost everything else we do. On one occasion, Anna reported, “Conversation was vibrant, and ranged from anti-trans legislation and rooting deep in an increasingly red state to prayer, to Gaza, to spiritual practices that sustain activism, to the relationship between Spanish and indigenous languages, to avant garde music, to the challenges and gifts of multiple places of belonging, to an app tracks congressional bills, to sexual violence on campus, to Christian Nationalism and Christian Zionism and the explicit and more subtle ways that antisemitism and xenophobia show up in scripture and church, to fighting pipelines and restoring prairiegrass.” Our chaplain provides one-to-one counseling sessions with students. We receive referrals from the University of Iowa Counseling Service, faculty from various departments including Religious Studies, Gender & Sexuality Studies, and more, as well as word-of-mouth and walk-ins. Anna sometimes meets with students in their office, or for walks on campus, or in movement spaces/during protest events. Counseling is generally short term and can cover a broad range of issues in the student’s life, such as: spiritual formation & exploration; confronting and healing from religious trauma & spiritual violence; vocational discernment; mental health assessments and referrals; relationship struggles; navigating identity, especially gender dysphoria/eupohoria and sexual orientation exploration; sexual assault; eating disorders; discernment about academic majors, internships, graduate programs, etc.; substance use and harm reduction. Last fall we moved into a new location, which we offer for student and community groups meetings and events. Sean develops volunteers and supporters and administers the space, coordinating with guests for programs and events. In the past few months we have hosted regular meetings for groups like the Johnson County Transgender Advisory Committee, Iowa City Action for Palestine, Eastern Iowa JVP, and hosted events such as a workshop on visionary Judaism, and a Queer and Trans Joy themed art show in collaboration with the QTPOC student group on campus.

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Sacred Collective will receive at least 20% of the profits when the following products are purchased: