Toward a Testimony of Sexuality

Workshop number: 
33
Kim
Stoner
Peter
Bishop
Audience
Who may register: 
Open to All (adult & high school)
part time-attenders welcome
Time breakdown
Worship/worship-sharing: 
50%
Lecture: 
10%
Discussion: 
20%
Experiential Activities: 
20%
Description
Leader Experience: 

Kim Stoner is currently clerk of New Haven MM and served as clerk of the WPSSE from 2007-10. She has led discussions on sexuality with several meetings with Thayer Quoos, former convenor of the working party. Kim co-led (with Carol Boyer of Northampton Meeting) a workshop for Connecticut Valley QM called "Tough Times, Buoyant Spirits: Preparing Ourselves, Our Meetings, and Our Communities for Difficult Times" during a 2 day workshop at their annual retreat at Woolman Hill. She has a travel minute from New Haven Meeting to lead discussions on the latter topic - how we deal with the crises in the world such as peak oil, climate change and financial meltdown.

Peter Bishop serves as Recording Clerk for Mt. Toby MM and led four discernment discussions in 2009 at the request of the meeting. He has been recording clerk of the NEYM Working Party on Spirituality & Sexual Ethics from 2007 to present. He co-led an interest group with YAFs at NEYM annual sessions in 2009, and was convenor of the work group on same sex marriage minute at NEYM. Peter, a high school science teacher, led a group of his students to Kenya this past spring, with support from Eden Grace, Director of FUM African Ministries.

Short Description: 

We will explore what we feel God is saying to us as Friends about this topic. We will share with each other ways to encourage open-hearted dialogue and discernment in our meetings on this subject. Led by the NEYM Working Party on Spirituality and Sexual Ethics.

Long Description: 

We hope to offer an open and safe opportunity for Friends to share together their beliefs about sexuality, and to encourage Friends to undertake the kind of discernment process that we are attempting to do in New England YM on this subject. We will offer opportunities to practice shared discernment on this challenging subject, similar to what has been done both in meetings around NEYM over the past 5 years and within our own working party.

Topics may include the role of our testimonies in sexual relationships,
the role of the worshipping community in nurturing and sustaining relationships, how we can act faithfully as we go through the stages of personal development in our lives; and as our relationships go through their own stages of development, including dissolution .

30 minutes of worship
15-30 mins. of personal checkin time with participants
Brief sharing (15-20 mins) by leaders to introduce a particular aspect of the topic for day’s exploration
Group worship sharing on the subject interspersed with individual journaling and/or meeting in small subgroups for more personal sharing. (90+ mins )
Closing worship or other activity (15 mins.)

We have an extensive bibliography. Can also reference both our working party’s website as well as http://www.quaker.org/sexuality and http://www.quakersong.org/sexuality/ . If participants’ Meetings have written any minutes on this subject it would be useful to bring these, as well as any other resources they have found useful in their own reflection on this subject (e.g. passages from YM faith & practices, writings, etc.) or any personal writing they have done on this subject.