All Workshops
High School Only
High School Program participants join experienced Junior Gathering staff to create a fun, supportive, and Spirit-filled environment for our youngest Gathering participants. Increase your skill and experience, share the joy of working with children, and give back to our community! Early arrival Monday, 7/6 is mandatory. Application with references required.
Workshop Number: 17
Leaders: Junior Gathering Staff
Anti-Racism
This workshop addresses anti-racism.
Working Toward an Anti-Racist Quaker Community: Two Spaces, One Purpose This workshop brings together two intentional spaces, one for Friends of Color and one for White Friends, around a shared purpose: the deep, committed work of becoming an anti-racist Quaker community. How can we work towards becoming a community that sees Friends of Color as…
Workshop Number: 29
Leaders: Behrta, alicia nance, Amy Rowland, Sandy Kewman
Art, Music, Dance
This workshop will include active engagement with art, movement, or music.
One sees clearly only with the heart. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Discover how digital photography can help you see with fresh eyes, clarity, presence, and wonder. Learn how to receive and record images with heart-centered awareness, without judgment or analysis. Gain insight into how digital photography together with mindfulness and attention to breathing can enrich your…
Workshop Number: 20
Leaders: Peter West Nutting
Strong singers, shy singers, and even self-professed non-singers are all invited to help build a joyful, Friendly, singing community in this workshop, through a variety of genres, from rounds, spirituals, and chants, to world music and songs of peace–all learned in the oraltradition. No singing experience or music reading is necessary to fully participate in…
Workshop Number: 25
Leaders: Ruth Fitz
Literature, Poetry, Sacred Text
This workshop centers around a pre-selected text.
Quaker Poet LVM, LaVerne Shelton, leaves with us poems she was “given”. An abiding Faithfulness to Spirit guided her journey. Via Lectio Divina sharing by first reading aloud, contemplating, then re-rereading together, gaining a deeper understanding,love and appreciation of our Quaker Poet for ourselves and our Spiritual Community. LVM and I met 24 years ago,…
Workshop Number: 14
Leaders: Sharon Gunther
Mimesis is a unique method derived from depth psychology and myth studies that allows for the exploration of an archetypal story in a supportive environment. The DiMinos invite participants to enter a story in stages to appreciate its depth and meanings: Listening as the story is told; guided meditation; sharing; role play; and finally, discussion…
Workshop Number: 16
Leaders: John DiMino and Liza O'Hanlon DiMino
…with Quran Quarter Hour as a brief introduction to the kinds of recitation we will be discussing. Quran Quarter Hour Topics: How does the Quran work? How do Quranic recitations…
Workshop Number: 23
Leaders: Daniela Salazar, Chase Baldwin
Personal Growth/Spirituality
We are in perilous times, in which it’s harder to stay connected to that Source of Life and Power where deep worship, discernment, and Spirit-led action all originate. We will explore, in experiential and immediate ways, how to better live into and sustain connection to that Source. These are incredibly hard times to sustain our…
Workshop Number: 06
Leaders: Christopher Sammond as facilitator, JT Dorr-Bremme as elder
We extend the time we regularly employ for worship in our meetings. Thus, we make ourselves more available to the loving and transforming influence of God Spirit in our lives, hearts and minds. Expectations, hopes: Create a space for Friends seeking the deeper levels of spiritual intimacy that prolonged worship offers. Areas or topics: Worship…
Workshop Number: 07
Leaders: Jorge Arauz
Anger, fear, grief, and pain hinder us from feeling connected with the Spirit and our own healing energies. Through the windows and doors of forgiveness we can open ourselves to a more peaceful way of being. This is especially important in times of uncertainty. Workshop focuses on tools and techniques for doing forgiveness work, not…
Workshop Number: 10
Leaders: Sue Regen, facilitator; Lu & Kenn Harper, elders
In Friends’ Couple Enrichment, partners in committed relationships deepen their intimacy, spirituality, connection, communication, love and humor. Couples of all backgrounds explore vulnerability and connection within a supportive community, grounded in Spirit. The advanced communication skills we practice are built on Friends’ testimonies and practices. Wednesday to Saturday, each day begins with worship and closes…
Workshop Number: 11
Leaders: Gene Sonn, Jess Walcott
We seek to help Friends delve deeply into understanding the flow of Divine Presence in our daily lives, including looking at our prayer lives (“Hello, hello? Is anybody there?”), perceiving guidance (“Am I making this up?”), self-worth (“Who, me?”), mystical experiences, and our fears about opening ourselves to the Divine (“Who, me??!!”). Our hope is…
Workshop Number: 13
Leaders: Shulamith Clearbridge, Joel Cook
Men need time with other men to share our experience, strength, and hope in a patriarchal society. Through a mixture of experiential exercises, open discussions, and shared worship we will celebrate positive masculinity and mourn our broken hearts when men hurt others. This workshop is intended to be a deep sharing amongst men so that…
Workshop Number: 15
Leaders: John Scardina
Our workshop is a safe, loving, and inspiring space for exploring the life of nontheist Friends. (Some may prefer terms such as atheist, agnostic, skeptic, secular humanist, pantheist, panentheist, or other.) All seekers, nontheist or otherwise, are welcome, as long as they are interested in providing a safe space for everyone to share their experiences…
Workshop Number: 19
Leaders: Robin Alpern, tom kunesh
Religious language is obliged to speak in metaphors, which are “a door and window” into our experience of the divine. We will explore some biblical metaphors, alternatives favored by early Friends, and end with those rooted in contemporary process-relational theology, like “the world as God’s body.” We begin with the insight that when it comes…
Workshop Number: 24
Leaders: Tom Gates
It is a great gift to be able to approach our own death or that of another from a place of conscious preparation, knowing one’s own gifts, hopes and fears and those of our caregivers. Through sharing each other’s experiences we will each deepen and grow our awareness. We will explore our readiness to die,…
Workshop Number: 28
Leaders: Mico Sorrel, Dinah Bachrach
Bible
In this workshop, we’ll look at Biblical stories of the prophets—how they perceived (and sometimes struggled against) their leadings from God, and how they found the courage to share uncomfortable truths about their societies and point to the possibility of a more loving world. Reflecting on their experiences, we’ll consider how we might be called…
Workshop Number: 30
Leaders: Ron Hogan
Quaker History/Early Friends
Centering lives of Quaker-adjacent Black freedom seekers and fighters—Pompey in North Carolina, Dinah Nevil, Titus Cornelius, William Boen, young Paul Cuffe and others—this workshop opens a window into revolutionary change in the 1770s. Guided by their call to “Do Justice Without Delay,” we open doors to continuing freedom work today. Friends are invited into the…
Workshop Number: 02
Leaders: Jim Fussell, Trayce Peterson
Social Justice/Peace/Ecology
For decades, Friends around the world have focused on discerning a moral and faithful way forward in applying our testimonies of peace, justice, and equality for all to the people of Israel/Palestine. The unprecedented scale of mass violence that has erupted in Israel/Palestine since October 7, 2023, has only sparked an even wider soul searching…
Workshop Number: 04
Leaders: Steve Chase
Build intergenerational spiritual community with Quaker Voluntary Service (QVS)! In this workshop we will offer frameworks and tools to shape your individual and collective experience and that you can bring to spiritual communities you belong to elsewhere. The workshop is modeled after the QVS Fellowship year and will include activities and concepts that guide the QVS…
Workshop Number: 05
Leaders: Greg Stefanski, Ruth Cutcher
This has been a very HARD year and half for all of us! We have been watching democracy crumble, fascism rise and with it the whole sale extraction and destruction of civil liberties and the environment which were already on shaky ground. All kinds of systems from health care, to education, to even government are…
Workshop Number: 08
Leaders: Lynn Fitz-Hugh
Let’s explore how we can embody Quaker testimonies in our money decisions. Examine how earning, saving, spending, giving and investing can help create beloved community and care for the planet. Through interactive exercises, creative activities, and spiritual inquiry, we’ll examine money stories, question assumptions, and tap into creative solutions. The workshop Embodying Quaker Testimonies in…
Workshop Number: 09
Leaders: Diana Yañez
Money is often taboo – something worldly and uncomfortable to talk about. Yet money profoundly shapes our lives, our relationships, and our communities. We’ll explore our personal and ancestral histories with money, how this shows up in our relationships, and choices we can make as we let our lives speak. “We need to have a…
Workshop Number: 18
Leaders: Nathan Kleban and Emily Scott
The Power of Enough workshop invites participants, through queries and experiential exercises, to let Spirit in
Workshop Number: 21
Leaders: Traci Hjelt Sullivan
People powered campaigns for change have been a tool to move the pillars of power supporting injustice throughout history. Join this workshop for experiential exercises, worship, reflection, and discussion to build skills in designing strategic people powered campaigns. Expectations for the week are for participants to dive into a very experiential program exploring core tenets…
Workshop Number: 26
Leaders: Lina Blount
Movement and Embodiment
We’ll gather in silence. I’ll teach a meditation or a simple clothes on massage or simple laying on of hands energy work. We’ll have a practice time and then gather back in the circle to share experience. The focus is on deep rest, learning tools for healing, and staying strong and balanced in crisis.
Workshop Number: 01
Leaders: John Calvi
In a world filled with so many things to focus on, using both mind and body, we will work on how to increase self-awareness and enhance ability to handle stress effectively. No one is an island. In order to follow the leadings of the Spirit and to acknowledge and support that of God in one…
Workshop Number: 03
Leaders: Jean-Marie Prestwidge Barch, Keith Barch
Quaker Practices
This workshop will focus on the theoretical and practical aspects of Friends decision-making including being a presiding clerk of a Friends meeting or committee. We will cover topics such as: There will be opportunities for experience sharing, mostly in a large group setting. There will be handouts. There is a suggested $10 materials charge. I/We…
Workshop Number: 12
Leaders: Steve Mohlke
We will begin with the spiritual roots and history of Quaker processes and discuss how we do things today. We’ll cover Quaker process in many of its aspects, including business meeting, how things get done, clearness, community, and working through conflict. You will learn about the spiritual and historical roots of current practices and may…
Workshop Number: 22
Leaders: Mathilda Navias
Every Friend carries gifts of ministry, though many of us hesitate to name or share them. This interactive workshop invites participants to explore storytelling as a spiritual practice for discerning and strengthening ministry, including forms of public ministry that speak beyond the meeting. Through worship, reflection, and guided storytelling exercises, Friends will practice sharing their…
Workshop Number: 27
Leaders: Windy Cooler, Layla Cuthrell
