History

The Profound Journey Dialogue experiment is a guided 2-day seminar launched in 2007. The events were offered in the USA and internationally.

During the 1950-70’s, responding to the civil rights movement, the war in Viet Nam, and the emerging revolutions of the times, the Ecumenical Institute: Chicago (EI), developed and delivered  intenstive seminar events nationally and globally to tens of thousands of participants, largely within the structures of faith communities and universities.

The dawning of the Twenty-First Century brought a new awareness of the Earth, the One Blue Marble we call home, as well as a new consciousness of our global diversity and a need to teach our programs with more inclusive language.  From the memorable symbols and methods of the earlier foundational courses of the Ecumenical Institute (EI) along with its sister organization, the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA), staff members and volunteers  devised and shared methods of possibility, courage, and significant action. These methods were used successfully in all sectors, including government agencies, churches, services clubs, corporations, and local communities.  Diverse groups reported their successes with :

• • vital sense of community
  • deeper sense of meaning
  • vocational reflection
  • larger context and motivation for engagement
  • methods that sustain  people on their lifejourney & vocational journey.

Seminar creator John Cock describes it as follows:

“The PJD is created for this time of multicultural and Earth community evolution that leaves us humans dazed with angst and anticipation. Needed is a concentrated event to reflect on what is going on within us and to rediscover what motivates us and sustains us to serve effectively.”

Clarence Snelling, a retired seminary professor, remarked: “This seminar was the most appropriate setting for secular folks with secular ideas to face issues and make decisions, which have previously and primarily been available in theological contexts.”

PJD seminars have been held in the following locations:

• • Denver, 37 participants
  • Dubuque, 40 participants
  • Metropolitan New York, 26 participants
  • Chicago, 37 participants
  • Seattle, 35 participants
  • Taipei, Taiwan,
  • Nepal
  • Austin, TX
  • Shadow Rock, Phoenix, AZ