Join Us at the Convergent Friends Retreat in February
Robin, Martin and I will be co-leading a weekend retreat on convergent Friends we’re calling “Reclaiming the Power of Primitive Quakerism for the 21st Century” at the Ben Lomond Quaker Center this February 20-22. We’re getting pretty excited about the weekend. Basically, it’s going to be a time for everyone interested and/or already invested in the convergent Friends conversation to come together get to know one another better, worship together and wrestle over issues of renewal, the Friends tradition what it means to be Quakers in the 21st century. The retreat center we’re staying at is located in the beautiful Redwoods and has some very peaceful grounds. There will be childcare available and I know L, as well as Robin and Chris’ kids, will be there; so it’s definitely kid friendly and we’d love to add to that mix. Also, if you’re thinking there’s no way you can afford the trip email Quaker Center [mail @ quakercenter dot org] because I hear there is some help available.
Here’s a little descrition we wrote up on some of the things we’ll be doing:
The weekend will include time to share some of our spiritual journeys in small groups and in writing. We will listen deeply and lovingly to one another, as we speak courageously and gently about our own experiences of the Truth. We will explore what we can learn from each others stories, what it means to worship in Spirit and in Truth in the postmodern age, and how to share a lived faith as we serve all creation. We will walk in the redwoods, sing and laugh, have extended waiting worship, and eat together. We will experiment with some traditional Quaker practices and develop some tools to take home, to help us be the change we wish to see in our meetings, churches and the world. Expect inclusive and Christian language.
Along with all of that we’ll also be talking about convergent Friends in the past, I’ll be discussing a little bit about Everett Cattell and what we can learn from him for what we’re doing today, and Martin and Robin will be discussing the New Foundations Fellowship and Lewis Benson’s work for renewal. After working through some practical excersizes about faith and Quaker testimonies and delving into some historical examples we’ll turn to “dreaming” a little about where we would like to see convergent Friends go, where we believe God is taking, and we’ll share stories about where we see God already at work among Friends and in the world.
I hope some of you will be able to join us!
Download the registration flyer here and find more information on the convergent Friends website.