The Fetzer Institute

06/01/2026

The conversation around disability often focuses on services. But what happens when people can't access those services in ways that honor their faith, culture and identity?

After her daughter aged out of school, one mother struggled to find a place where her daughter could belong not just as a person with disabilities, but as a young Muslim woman whose faith, culture and dignity mattered.

She found Amaana, a grassroots organization in New Orleans showing what becomes possible when accessibility includes the whole person, and when faith communities recognize that inclusion is a sacred responsibility.

Read "Inclusivity Means All" by Dilshad Ali in our Spiritual Solutions Library: https://tinyurl.com/2d4y5857

05/28/2026

While Shivam Gosai was sitting with a Hindu client, he listened to them talk about their experiences. The client told Shivam that they had seen Lord Krishna, a Hindu deity.

That moment felt intimate. The client was vulnerable, speaking from a place of deep spiritual connection.

Shivam paused. He wasn’t looking to assign a diagnosis, but rather to fully listen. “If I try to pathologize it, that shuts down the whole conversation,” he shares.

As a licensed mental health counselor for the The Psychotherapy & Spirituality Institute in New York, Shivam understood how spirituality, particularly within Hinduism, is often misunderstood in modern mental health care.

The clinical language of diagnoses, symptoms, and protocols fails to account for the complexities of a community whose worldview is deeply interwoven with spiritual traditions and ancestral frameworks.

Read on in our Spiritual Solutions Library: https://tinyurl.com/5drhf3zx

✍️ Suraj Arshanapally

05/28/2026

Event alert for London, Cambridge, and Oxford!

For the past five years, the Fetzer Institute has brought together scholars and spiritual leaders from nine world religious traditions to explore a profound question: how can re/telling sacred stories help us imagine a more compassionate, connected future of shared flourishing?

Now, that work comes to life through the volume "Retelling Sacred Stories: Our Journeys to a Shared Sacred Story" — and through three upcoming public conversations in the UK exploring spirituality, shared flourishing, and the power of human connection.

📍 London | June 2 | Exploring Sacred Stories in a Secular Age
📍 Cambridge | June 4 | Exploring the Sacred in Human Relations
📍 Oxford | June 5 | Exploring the Power of Sacred Stories

These gatherings invite us into deeper reflection on empathy, solidarity, and care for one another and our world.

Learn more and register:
https://tinyurl.com/3mwy724x

05/26/2026

The Buddhist Churches of America – a name shaped by the persecution Japanese Americans faced during WWII – is rooted in the venerable Jodo Shinshu or “Shin” tradition practiced by Japanese American communities since the late 19th century.

The Dharma Schools within mirror the structure of Sunday school, with weekly classes focused on Buddhist teachings for kids of all ages. Young children learn about friendship and gratitude; high school students engage with more complex topics, including the foundations of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism.

This case from Fetzer's Spiritual Solutions Library looks at how one branch, the Orange County Buddhist Church, serves as a space of connection, spiritual nourishment, and cultural support.

🔗 https://tinyurl.com/3y5np4ea
✍️ by Anu Gorukanti

05/21/2026

This powerful story about belonging from Treetops Collective shares the voices of refugee and immigrant women rebuilding their lives through community, faith, and mutual support.

From mothers fleeing the Taliban, to Muslim women navigating harmful stereotypes, to immigrant leaders now serving their own communities — this piece from our Spiritual Solutions Library explores what happens when hostility is replaced with compassion, empathy, and shared humanity.

Because no one should have to earn their right to sacred dignity.

Read the full story by Zinta Aistars here: https://tinyurl.com/45uau3p7

05/20/2026

"This book represents one of the most ambitious interfaith collaborations of our time.

Each tradition’s retelling honors its own lineage while contributing to a shared sacred narrative for humanity. Readers of the shared sacred story are encouraged to engage it through the lens of their sacred tradition and/or experience.

Our hope is that these stories will inspire deeper empathy, solidarity, and a renewed sense of the Sacred in public and private life.”

— Dr. William F. Vendley, Vice President of World Religions and Spirituality at the Fetzer Institute and Former Secretary General of Religions for Peace International.

Read more from his perspective and from diverse scholars and spiritual leaders representing nine world religious traditions in "Retelling Sacred Stories."

Order your copy here: https://tinyurl.com/3mwy724x

05/19/2026

We are excited to share that the Leadership Initiative for Faith and Education (LIFE) released two new reports this spring, both of which speak directly to the critical role of faith, religion, and spirituality in supporting public education and student flourishing.

Today, we’re sharing the first report, “Faith in Educational Renewal: Religion as a Resource to Transform Learning Opportunities,” which examines how faith and spirituality can help bridge student learning opportunity gaps.

As the report notes, authors Bryant Jensen of BYU and Dr. Irvin Scott of Harvard University do not advocate “for public schools to teach religious doctrine or use public funds for religious purposes." Rather, they explore a "‘third way’ — in the nonsectarian tradition of Benjamin Franklin — that avoids the two extremes of endorsing religion in schools, on one end, or entirely excluding it from the work of schools, on the other.”

The report includes six core recommendations for people in positions of leadership, from policymakers to educators to caregivers, to leverage religion and spirituality as transformational resources in school environments.

📖 Read the full report here: https://life.gse.harvard.edu/life-action

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About LIFE: Housed in the Harvard Graduate School of Education and led by Dr. Scott, LIFE envisions a system that improves educational outcomes and reduces disparities by embracing partnerships between schools and faith organizations and supporting the spiritual lives of students and educators.

The Fetzer Institute’s Xiaoan Li serves on LIFE’s Advisory Board, working closely with Dr. Scott and other leaders in this field.

LIFE | In Action ARTICLES, REPORTS, AND RESEARCH LIFE in Action The Leadership Initiative for Faith & Education fosters scholarship, dialogue, and leadership grounded in the intersections of faith and learning. Through our Book Talk Seminar Series and a growing body of articles, reports, and researc...

05/14/2026

Today, we're sharing a different format of storytelling from our Spiritual Solutions Library: an episode from Fetzer's Shared Sacred Story podcast project.

Having spent the past two decades studying and practicing Zen Buddhism, Ruben Habito brings a deeply informed and thoughtful perspective to the pursuit of the Sacred.

He spent many years studying Buddhism and teaching Sacred Theology at Sophia University in Tokyo. He now teaches at Perkins School of Theology - Southern Methodist University, where he's a professor of world religions and spirituality and directs the school’s Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Direction Certificate programs. He is also the guiding teacher of the Maria Kannon Zen Center in Dallas.

This conversation with Habito explores big questions around "the why of things." Link to listen: https://tinyurl.com/2eudt5jz

05/14/2026

Today, we're sharing a different format of storytelling from our Spiritual Solutions Library: an episode from Fetzer's Shared Sacred Story podcast project.

Having spent the past two decades studying and practicing Zen Buddhism, Ruben Habito brings a deeply informed and thoughtful perspective to the pursuit of the Sacred.

He spent many years studying Buddhism and teaching Sacred Theology at Sophia University. He now teaches at Perkins School of Theology - Southern Methodist University, where he's a professor of world religions and spirituality and directs the school’s Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Direction Certificate programs. He is also the guiding teacher of the Maria Kannon Zen Center in Dallas.

This conversation with Habito explores big questions around "the why of things." Link to listen: https://tinyurl.com/2eudt5jz

05/12/2026

In a fragmented world, we are losing the ability to see others in their wholeness — to perceive the sacred presence within each human being. As a result, our relationships suffer, and our communities grow more divided.

The arts, particularly dance, are often dismissed in spiritual spaces and undervalued as tools for healing and transformation.

In this story, we meet former professional dancers — now members of the Fetzer community — who have long known the transformative power of liturgical dance. Their perspectives reflect a broader cultural resistance to embodied expressions of the sacred.

🎥 Watch the full short film: https://tinyurl.com/3zb6xtst