Workshops Open to All

This Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) Basic workshop uses experiential activities developed around the world to practice peace and heal from trauma—personally, in community and with global neighbors. After this workshop, you may join AVP or Friends Peace Teams in communities, prisons and former war zones around the world.

We gather in the welcoming presence of the Divine, trusting in the loving power of the Spirit to nourish, teach and transform us, embracing each other in that love, as Friends.

Deepen spiritual awareness and appreciation of food through activities, story sharing, eating, field trips, and worship . Consider issues surrounding food justice and food choice, and explore what it means to eat “at the center”. Share ideas on how our meetings can foster food ethics and sustainable, just food choices.

Chant starts simply. As we sing, the music and worship grow richer and deeper. We use a variety of styles and traditions, mostly Judeo-Christian. Expect joy, tears, exaltation, and healing. No singing experience or gift is necessary. Various words for the Divine will be used and may not express every worshipper's truth.

Learn how interfaith peace activists are building a new religious culture through local and global efforts, and how interfaith work can deepen your spiritual life and Quaker practice.

When George Fox came to know the "infinite love of God" he understood it in Christian terms. Many today encountering that same "ocean of Light" apply a "universalist" interpretation. Explore universal love as manifested in the words of early Friends, Jesus, Hebrew scripture and contemporary Quaker ways of seeking truth.

This workshop's goal is to help Quakers rediscover their roots as radical revolutionaries. We use Gandhi's concept of a "sweet spot," where self, society, resistance and love overlap to create the greatest lever for personal and societal transformation. This workshop will be hands-on, practical and life changing.

Talk about racism and get an opportunity to practice assisting others in talking about it. We will spend time defining and talking about racism, structural racism and white privilege. Our work will be done in small, large and racial affinity groups.

What is the Wisdom tradition? How is it used in the Gospels and early Christianity? Why do the Divine Feminine, mysticism and the early Quakers  claim this tradition? How can Wisdom still speak to us today in the complex, challenging 21st century?

Friends today are known more for their actions than for any statement of beliefs. Would your acquaintances be surprised to learn that you are a Quaker? Share your responses to queries and actual scenarios, and practice incorporating the testimonies of peace, equality, integrity, simplicity and community into your daily life.

How do we as Friends approach migration? We’ll reflect on belonging and otherness, our relations to civil authority, causes and consequences of migration, questions of labor and human rights, and how to address migration in the light of Quaker testimonies. All points of view are welcome.

Failing economic and environmental conditions are undermining society and endangering the commonwealth of life. 1) What are the common roots of the economic and environmental crises? 2) What strategic changes should we advocate? 3) How can Quaker witness and action become more effective to help make these changes possible?

Quakerism emphasizes personal spiritual experiences which inspire commitment to moral action.  Some of our beloved mottos capture this flavor: “What canst thou say?” and “Let your life speak.” Explore formative spiritual experiences in our communal history, Spirit’s continuing revelation among us today, and ways to open ourselves to spiritual experiences.

Explore Quaker economic philosophy and how Quaker business leaders today and throughout history have significantly impacted social inequality, industries and institutions.  Examine complex ways our lives are woven through businesses we encounter daily and how shifts in our perspectives on business might influence our understanding and practice of Quaker Testimonies.

Matthew Fox describes Creativity as one of the "Movements of the Divine." Worship share about ourselves as creators, and loose our creativity on shared fabric projects. Bring a UFO (unfinished object) or something you are led to use as a starter piece. Contribute to each other's projects leaving them more beautiful.

This workshop will explore respectful listening and dialogue as tools for understanding and bridge building in our everyday lives. Participants will conduct a listening project during the workshop in order to practice what they are learning and begin to use listening to impact change.

Liberal? Conservative? Misogynist? Mystic? Homophobe? We will set Paul’s life in historic context, compare and contrast what is known of his life from the book of Acts and his Epistles, and examine his thought and theology by comparing epistles written by Paul to those attributed to but not written by Paul.

We will explore lobbying as a nonviolent, Quaker practice for building relationships that lead to effective communication, even with those holding very different views. We'll share skills, practical methods, tactics and success stories to prepare ourselves to return home energized to engage with those in power on crucial issues.

Based on photographs and stories from my most recent journey to Israel and Palestine, the workshop will provide background and context for the conflicts with special attention to Bethlehem, Gaza, youth, nonviolence, and hydropolitics. We’ll craft a proposal for Quakers to help build peace and justice in Israel and Palestine.

Activists or contemplatives, we seek utopia, a world transformed. Early Friends proclaimed that new world, and read the Bible for guidance toward it, particularly apocalyptic literature like Revelation. We will engage worship-sharing around difficult Biblical passages, and discuss our contemporary struggles in light of how early Friends discerned way forward.

Gleaning from the 2012 FWCC Conference of Friends in Kenya, an opportunity for all branches of Friends to unite our spiritual foundation of faith with an understanding of the basis of our work in the world in all its diversity, we will use home groups, interest threads, and activities to clarify and reveal our Truth.

Explore your spiritual autobiography through intuitive free writing and deep listening to ourselves and each other. Using tools from group spiritual nurture, we will write in response to queries and brief readings. As we share our stories, we will find the sacred shining through the ordinary events of our lives.

A participatory exploration of sensory experiences as doorways into deepening worship and artistic expression as Spirit-led ministry - combining Meeting for worship with musical improvisation, creative movement, and other artistic expressions. In worship sharing we will discuss how alternative forms help us open to gathered experiences of the Divine.

Prompted by the three central expressions of the early Quaker movement – the Light, the Seed, and the Truth – we will explore our own spiritual experiences for insights to deepen Friends’ understanding and practice in the 21st century. Just what makes Quaker thought unique, anyway?

Worship through knitting our own projects and prayer shawls to donate as we choose. Bring machine washable, bulky yarn and size 13 needles for the prayer shawls. Bring writing to share which inspires you and your own projects (or try some of mine). No knitting experience necessary.

This experiential workshop will discover the experiences of body awareness, movement, internal energy (chi) and meditative practice. Participants will be taught a simplified tai chi form called Tai Chi Chih ®and explore the Taoist, contemplative classic, the Tao Te Ching. We will practice and examine silent waiting worship.

This interactive workshop will use theatrical techniques, creative exercises, solo exploration, and group collaboration for actively examining and engaging with one's spiritual journey.

Worship together through knitting our own projects and a square to join into an afghan to be donated as we choose. Bring 1 ball of worsted-weight yarn, size 9 needles and your own projects (or try some of mine). Bring writing to share which inspires you. No knitting experience necessary.

Using acts of Jesus from the Gospel of John as crucial exemplars of the Eternal Way, we can, independently of creed, enhance our ability to embody divine love in discernment, being, and action in the twenty-first century. Starting with the gospel’s depictions, we’ll practice dialogue, re-enactment, meditation, and divine reading.