All Workshops
Open to All
Adults and High School
We will use activities and discussion to explore Quaker life not centered on belief in God. What is spirituality for nontheist Friends? What are our challenges? How can all Friends grow from theological diversity within Quakerism? All seekers will find a safe space to celebrate and deepen their spiritual lives. The goal of this workshop…
Workshop Number: P-17
Leaders: Robin Alpern and Mary Pagurelias
This workshop will create a space for creativity, imagination, and playful community using Faith & Play and Godly Play stories. Each day will include hearing two stories “side by side” and exploring what new truth may be revealed in the familiar when we are open to reflection and wonder. The hope for this workshop is…
Workshop Number: P-42
Leaders: Melinda Wenner Bradley
Moving Gently to Address Stress & Conflict combines energetic grounding, breathing, simple meditative movement and partner practice to address stress and conflict management in daily life. Both seated and standing options, along with other adaptations for physical limitations, make this workshop accessible to all. “Moving Gently to Address Stress & Conflict” combines energetic grounding, breathing,…
Workshop Number: P-01
Leaders: Tomi Nagai-Rothe
Deep worship, vocal ministry and leadings for action all arise from the same Source. While entering into that Source is partly Grace, there are practices which can help us find our way there, more fully and more often. We will engage in experiential and immediate ways of entering this Root. I have been living questions…
Workshop Number: P-30
Leaders: Christopher Sammond
Many people have come to Quakerism from other religious traditions, becoming convinced Friends after a journey of seeking. Often these stories include a difficult road. This workshop is an opportunity for Friends to share these stories, examine their influence on our spiritual lives, and explore what to keep and release. “Talking about religion can be…
Workshop Number: P-63
Leaders: Allison Kirkegaard and Jen Newman
How do we keep our Quaker organizations Quaker? Our organizations are our most vital expressions of our faith, yet few staff, administrators or board members are Quaker. We will explore the role of Governance, nurturing the Quaker core of our organizations and interdependence of our organizations and our worship communities. Quaker schools and retirement communities…
Workshop Number: P-14
Leaders: Chiyo Moriuchi
How does the experience of using one’s hands to create integrate with and inform our spiritual path? Bring existing work and an interest in learning something new. We will explore how making can provide space for creativity and affirmation. Co-led by a beader/seamstress and a knitter/cross-stitcher. We plan to create a space in which people…
Workshop Number: P-16
Leaders: dest/jess(ie)/etc purvis and Judy Purvis
Learn ways to form relationships with community partners that lead to significant community outcomes. Dialogue with visitors who tell the story of their partnering projects and envision possibilities for one’s own community. Experiment with ways to communicate across racial and cultural divides. Participants will leave the workshop with awareness and plans for beginning a project…
Workshop Number: P-59
Leaders: JoAnn Seaver and Terri Lyons
Tell Me a Story! will create a community of storytellers and story absorbers. Each Friend will create an array of stories and share at least three stories. Stories can be poetry, prose, sung, rapped, and accompanied by music, movement and drawings. We will respectfully explore the stories and their meanings. The workshop will create a…
Workshop Number: P-41
Leaders: Sabrina McCarthy and , O
Anger, fear, grief, and pain hinder us from feeling connected with the Spirit and our own healing energies. Exploring our story roots as we practice forgiveness opens us to living in a more peaceful way. Workshop focuses on tools and techniques for doing forgiveness work, not on therapy. FGC 2024 GATHERING WORKSHOP LONG DESCRIPTION Leader:…
Workshop Number: P-13
Leaders: Sue Regan and Lu Harper
This workshop is about how to internalize the wisdom of Braiding Sweetgrass. We will look at how to become naturalized to Turtle Island – examining colonialism, reciprocity, honorable harvest and kinship relationships with all living beings. Worship sharing and experiential exercises for integrating holistic ways of being part of Earth. This is not a “book…
Workshop Number: P-56
Leaders: Lynn Fitz-Hugh
A rising China will help define the 21st century. Yet despite Quaker commitments to peace, there are linguistic, cultural, and political barriers that prevent Friends from engaging with China. This workshop seeks to overcome these barriers using Quakers’ long history in the country as a roadmap for future engagement. In this workshop, we will learn…
Workshop Number: P-09
Leaders: Patrick Lozada
Drawing from stories across generations, including all ages, we will tell stories from The Power of Goodness anthology. The short stories paint pictures of families acting boldly during racial strife or ethnic wars in USA, Russia and Ukraine. We include worship, study and rejoicing. Objectives1. Consider in this story collection, the art form of describing…
Workshop Number: P-54
Leaders: Minga Claggett-Borne and Nadine Hoover
Friends are invited into a deep consideration of the historical reality of the Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools (QIBS), the felt experience of traveling on a path of truth and healing, the particulars of archival research, and possible next steps for individual Friends and our meetings. What was the role of Quakers in assimilation through education…
Workshop Number: P-47
Leaders: Andrew Grant
Friends in this workshop will generate story ideas, craft a true first-person spoken story, and share this story with others. By the end of the week, participants in this workshop should feel comfortable sharing a true, first-person, 5–7 minute story, without notes. The workshop will assist participants in generating personal story ideas, and then revising…
Workshop Number: P-57
Leaders: Erik Hanson
Being in community requires safety, belonging, and connection before Friends are truly be in ‘gathered’ space of Quaker Worship. This workshop will explore what allows us to feel safe and welcoming. We will hold space, allowing Spirit to guide our understanding of how science might inform our practices. This workshop is part of the sampler….
Workshop Number: P-43
Leaders: Jeanne Elberfeld
Participants will write, poetry or prose, as they are led, and then share their story if they like. A formula is provided for responding. The goals are to encourage people to find their voice, to learn the powers of self-expression, to build trusting relationships in the community. Ideal time is 2 hours. We start with…
Workshop Number: P-999
Leaders: S. Bowland
This workshop will focus on all aspects, both theoretical and practical, of being a presiding clerk of a Friends meeting or committee. There will be handouts and opportunities for experience sharing. Most work will be done in a whole group setting. There will be a suggested $10 materials charge. Using handouts and hypotheticals, the following…
Workshop Number: P-998
Leaders: Steve Mohlke
This workshop will explore ways of expressing our spiritual experiences, to glean patterns, to develop narrative about our life paths, to gain clarity for ourselves and express to others what we have been through as spiritual beings. We hope to see more clearly the basis of our callings and leadings. This workshop relates directly to…
Workshop Number: P-10
Leaders: Steve Elkington
Do you wish to write in a way that touches readers and yourself? This workshop offers tips and techniques for connecting with your writer’s heart and how to put your heart on paper. You will learn exercises that help you uncover themes and concerns that bring your writing to life. Do you wish to write…
Workshop Number: P-12
Leaders: J. Brent Bill
In this workshop we’ll root ourselves in radical stories of who we are as humans, Quakers, children of God, and expressions of an evolving, miraculous cosmos. Taking inspiration from the Bible, early Quakers, and contemporary science, we’ll write and share new stories that can help us live fully into the future. This workshop will create…
Workshop Number: P-23
Leaders: Marcelle Martin
What would it look like for Friends to participate in flourishing and just communities amidst climate change? Our collective habits and patterns must transition to a new way. This workshop will consider what this might look like through conversation, activities, information, a grief ritual, and worship sharing. Over the course of the week, we will…
Workshop Number: P-46
Leaders: Dwight Dunston, Cherice Bock
This workshop includes, gentle general strengthening, internal martial arts, gentle directed stretching, self-massage and assisted mindfulness exercises including breathing techniques and guided imagery. We will identify troublesome lifestyle patterns and ways to detangle them. Attenders will leave with a variety of techniques they can use in their daily lives. Our ability to follow leadings of…
Workshop Number: P-20
Leaders: Keith Barch & Jean-Marie Barch
Quakers broke into the world in an era of great turmoil with radically new beliefs about God, worship, class and gender, and ways of living together and in the world. We will walk together with these Friends, exploring how their extraordinary experiences can inform our shared journey as Friends today. Our expectations for the workshop:…
Workshop Number: P-62
Leaders: Adria Gulizia, Peter Blood-Patterson
Whether your work is around climate justice, racial justice, defending elections, or some other concern, this experiential workshop will teach you the theory and practice of nonviolent direct action, drawing on the experience of earlier Quakers, the Civil Rights Movement, and Earth Quaker Action Team. This workshop will teach Friends how to use spiritually grounded…
Workshop Number: P-44
Leaders: Eileen Flanagan
The goal of a Kundalini Yoga practice is to search for one’s deepest, most authentic self. In this workshop we will use yoga movement and meditation to drop into that space which allows for personal insights and knowledge to arise from within the body to the level of consciousness. The only difference for 2024 will…
Workshop Number: P-49
Leaders: Ann Ritter
The Gospel of Mark clearly comes from an oral storytelling tradition. Telling stories was also Jesus’ preferred way to convey his message. Let’s engage with this gospel as if it is the only story we know about Jesus. What does it say to us? What gets triggered? What is eternal? There are 5 elements of…
Workshop Number: P-03
Leaders: Gail Thomas
Restorative Quaker Design is an anti-racist method of problem-solving using elements of restorative practices, Quaker process, and design thinking. This workshop will give Friends the tools necessary to embark on meaningful change in their Quaker communities. Quaker communities face all sorts of large problems, whether it is how to address racism or reparations, or whether…
Workshop Number: P-08
Leaders: Rashid Darden
Explore the intersection of aging and spirituality: how our spirituality matures as we age, stories we carry, care for one another, connection, purpose, joys, questions and worries. Participants will experience mutual support and gain a deeper understanding of their aging journey —what am I called to do now? Explore the intersection of aging and spirituality:…
Workshop Number: P-04
Leaders: Susan Hoskins
Participants will have opportunities to uncover and share current features of their spiritual journey and engage in practices promoting deep listening to Spirit within themselves and others. We will celebrate ubuntu — “I am because we are” — in our worship, conversation and interactions. “The only true voyage, the only bath in the Fountain of…
Workshop Number: P-50
Leaders: L V M Shelton
This is a movement workshop. Participants will be taught a simplified tai chi form called Tai Chi Chih. We will discover the experiences of body awareness, movement, internal energy (chi), and meditative practice. Our focus will be on Rootedness and Balance. We’ll also probe selections from the Tao Te Ching. In times of rapid change…
Workshop Number: P-33
Leaders: John Smallwood
Strong and shy singers are all welcome to join in this circle of f/Friends singing rounds, spirituals, sacred chants, peace, fun and world songs in the oral tradition. Singing together energizes our bodies and nurtures our souls with music that affirms our diversity, reflects our beauty, and celebrates our unity. We will begin each session…
Workshop Number: P-45
Leaders: Ruth Fitz
A workshop for Friends actively engaged in racial justice work. We will share successful approaches to addressing White Supremacy and colonialism that will enhance our techniques for challenging racial and ethnic divisions. Participants must write a statement about their work. Our expectations and objectives for the week are to provide a space for Friends actively…
Workshop Number: P-32
Leaders: Vanessa Julye, Janice Domanik
The workshop will explore the story of eldership among Friends as an essential communal practice of Quaker faith and an integral support to the life and flourishing of a meeting. The story of eldership: The organizing of a vibrant spiritual community, one that challenges the domination systems (religious and political) of its times directly under…
Workshop Number: P-21
Leaders: George Schaefer, Carter Nash
Every day, Mother Culture whispers in our ears a story that explains and supports the unjust and unsustainable way things work around us. This week we’ll uncover her deceptive assumptions and piece together God’s alternative story. Then we’ll conspire together to stay awake enough to enact this new story. In Daniel Quinn’s novel Ishmael, the…
Workshop Number: P-11
Leaders: Joann Neuroth and Carolyn Lejuste
Intergenerational
50% High School and Young Adults, 50% Older
This workshop will introduce participants to Playback Theatre, a form of improvisational theatre where audience or group members tell stories from their lives and see them enacted on the spot. Participants will learn simple playback forms and have the opportunity to perform playback during Gathering. As Southeastern Yearly Meeting’s field secretary for Earthcare, I and…
Workshop Number: P-26
Leaders: Beverly G. Ward, John Heimburg
We will bring to life the unflinching Delaware Quaker abolitionist, Warner Mifflin (1745-1798). We will put together a life-size silhouette – on wheels. He was nearly 7 ft tall & traveled thousands of miles to persuade Friends and others to manumit their enslaved people. Our week will unfold in a series of scenes: We will…
Workshop Number: P-52
Leaders: Judy Hinds
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 Sunday, 6/30 is mandatory. Application with references required.
Workshop Number: P-07
Leaders: Junior Gathering
Adults Only
Age 18+, High School with Permission
Using the framing of our abolitionist past, Daquanna will have us consider “How Will Quakers Change the World – Again?” Moving from history to reparations to tangible acts of empathy using our heart center, we will look to our past to galvanize us to create the future we all deserve. How Will Quakers Change the…
Workshop Number: P-22
Leaders: Daquanna Harrison
Become familiar with origin stories from around the world that inspired the growth of societies of cooperation. If we can see it, we can be it. In the beginning many different creation myths were offered all over this glorious earth-wide garden. The various societies that grew from these myths were imbued with the essence of…
Workshop Number: P-67
Leaders: Sharon Gunther
“I will come in and eat with you, and you with me (Rev 3:20).” This workshop is for Friends who want to embody Spirit when they make choices about food, drink, and physical activity in daily life, recognizing that Friends’ embodied stories are unique and subject to forces beyond our control. Although the inspiration is…
Workshop Number: P-02
Leaders: Barbara Birch
Explore how default survival responses generate a limiting narrative of who we are rooted in fear. Experience how authentic connection with Nature and the Divine can heal our hearts and anchor us in love. Practice embodied tools for repair that can free our meeting communities from common Quaker Stuck Spots. The fascinating field of interpersonal…
Workshop Number: P-55
Leaders: Heather Sowers
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. Friends Couple Enrichment Daily Schedule : Monday to Friday Each…
Workshop Number: P-39
Leaders: Jess Walcott and Gene Sonn
Anti-Racism
This workshop addresses anti-racism.
This workshop provides Friends the opportunity to creatively rethink Quaker process in order to support the life of our meetings and our goal to become an actively anti-racist faith community. This is a space for Friends who are excited and ready to depart from the way we’ve always done it. This workshop provides Friends the…
Workshop Number: P-29
Leaders: Alice Grendon and Hanae Togami
Reparative justice is an essential part of living out Quaker faith. This workshop explores the spiritual imperative and deep need for Quakers to commit to repairing harms done by Quakers and others through their involvement in slavery and its afterlives. Reparative justice is an essential part of living out Quaker faith. This workshop explores the…
Workshop Number: P-25
Leaders: Lucy Duncan and Rob Peagler
Become familiar with origin stories from around the world that inspired the growth of societies of cooperation. If we can see it, we can be it. In the beginning many different creation myths were offered all over this glorious earth-wide garden. The various societies that grew from these myths were imbued with the essence of…
Workshop Number: P-67
Leaders: Sharon Gunther
A workshop for Friends actively engaged in racial justice work. We will share successful approaches to addressing White Supremacy and colonialism that will enhance our techniques for challenging racial and ethnic divisions. Participants must write a statement about their work. Our expectations and objectives for the week are to provide a space for Friends actively…
Workshop Number: P-32
Leaders: Vanessa Julye, Janice Domanik
Learn ways to form relationships with community partners that lead to significant community outcomes. Dialogue with visitors who tell the story of their partnering projects and envision possibilities for one’s own community. Experiment with ways to communicate across racial and cultural divides. Participants will leave the workshop with awareness and plans for beginning a project…
Workshop Number: P-59
Leaders: JoAnn Seaver and Terri Lyons
Tell Me a Story! will create a community of storytellers and story absorbers. Each Friend will create an array of stories and share at least three stories. Stories can be poetry, prose, sung, rapped, and accompanied by music, movement and drawings. We will respectfully explore the stories and their meanings. The workshop will create a…
Workshop Number: P-41
Leaders: Sabrina McCarthy and , O
This workshop is about how to internalize the wisdom of Braiding Sweetgrass. We will look at how to become naturalized to Turtle Island – examining colonialism, reciprocity, honorable harvest and kinship relationships with all living beings. Worship sharing and experiential exercises for integrating holistic ways of being part of Earth. This is not a “book…
Workshop Number: P-56
Leaders: Lynn Fitz-Hugh
Friends are invited into a deep consideration of the historical reality of the Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools (QIBS), the felt experience of traveling on a path of truth and healing, the particulars of archival research, and possible next steps for individual Friends and our meetings. What was the role of Quakers in assimilation through education…
Workshop Number: P-47
Leaders: Andrew Grant
Art, Music, Movement
This workshop will include active engagement with art, movement, or music.
This workshop will introduce participants to Playback Theatre, a form of improvisational theatre where audience or group members tell stories from their lives and see them enacted on the spot. Participants will learn simple playback forms and have the opportunity to perform playback during Gathering. As Southeastern Yearly Meeting’s field secretary for Earthcare, I and…
Workshop Number: P-26
Leaders: Beverly G. Ward, John Heimburg
Join a community co-creating space for worship with song. Share together singing spirituals, freedom songs, chants of early Quaker writings, hymns and songs sung today, old and new. Read materials before the workshop and create next steps to bring tools and singing practices to your Meeting or other Quaker spaces. This workshop is intended to…
Workshop Number: P-28
Leaders: Amy Wagner
Bianca is a Puerto Rican Philadelphian born in the urban condition raised in Quaker practice. She is a 200hr Registered Yoga Teacher and Certified Reiki Practitioner. “Meditation: A Guided Journey Back to Self” led by Bianca Santini-Dumas. In this session, we will explore the profound practice of meditation as a means to reconnect with our…
Workshop Number: P-65
Leaders: Bianca Santini-Dumas
Discover how digital photography can help you see the world around you more clearly and experience it more deeply. Explore a variety of practices that will open new ways of seeing and being present and connect you more closely with yourself, your environment and your community. “One sees clearly only with the heart.” (Antoine de…
Workshop Number: P-24
Leaders: Peter West Nutting
Strong and shy singers are all welcome to join in this circle of f/Friends singing rounds, spirituals, sacred chants, peace, fun and world songs in the oral tradition. Singing together energizes our bodies and nurtures our souls with music that affirms our diversity, reflects our beauty, and celebrates our unity. We will begin each session…
Workshop Number: P-45
Leaders: Ruth Fitz
Participants will write, poetry or prose, as they are led, and then share their story if they like. A formula is provided for responding. The goals are to encourage people to find their voice, to learn the powers of self-expression, to build trusting relationships in the community. Ideal time is 2 hours. We start with…
Workshop Number: P-999
Leaders: S. Bowland
Literature, Poetry, Sacred Text
This workshop centers around a pre-selected text.
Friends in this workshop will generate story ideas, craft a true first-person spoken story, and share this story with others. By the end of the week, participants in this workshop should feel comfortable sharing a true, first-person, 5–7 minute story, without notes. The workshop will assist participants in generating personal story ideas, and then revising…
Workshop Number: P-57
Leaders: Erik Hanson
Enriching/Deepening Our Meetings
Restorative Quaker Design is an anti-racist method of problem-solving using elements of restorative practices, Quaker process, and design thinking. This workshop will give Friends the tools necessary to embark on meaningful change in their Quaker communities. Quaker communities face all sorts of large problems, whether it is how to address racism or reparations, or whether…
Workshop Number: P-08
Leaders: Rashid Darden
This workshop provides Friends the opportunity to creatively rethink Quaker process in order to support the life of our meetings and our goal to become an actively anti-racist faith community. This is a space for Friends who are excited and ready to depart from the way we’ve always done it. This workshop provides Friends the…
Workshop Number: P-29
Leaders: Alice Grendon and Hanae Togami
Quakers broke into the world in an era of great turmoil with radically new beliefs about God, worship, class and gender, and ways of living together and in the world. We will walk together with these Friends, exploring how their extraordinary experiences can inform our shared journey as Friends today. Our expectations for the workshop:…
Workshop Number: P-62
Leaders: Adria Gulizia, Peter Blood-Patterson
Join members of the Eldering Subcommittee of Pacific Yearly Meeting in interactive exercises designed to immerse and deepen our experience and understanding of Quaker eldering. Engage in eldering as prophetic Spirit-led Listening, as acts of nurture, accompaniment and accountability, and as a practice of decolonization through servant leadership. Since 2010 the Eldering Subcommittee of the…
Workshop Number: P-45
Leaders: Dorothy Henderson and Gordon Bishop
Explore the intersection of aging and spirituality: how our spirituality matures as we age, stories we carry, care for one another, connection, purpose, joys, questions and worries. Participants will experience mutual support and gain a deeper understanding of their aging journey —what am I called to do now? Explore the intersection of aging and spirituality:…
Workshop Number: P-04
Leaders: Susan Hoskins
Participants will have opportunities to uncover and share current features of their spiritual journey and engage in practices promoting deep listening to Spirit within themselves and others. We will celebrate ubuntu — “I am because we are” — in our worship, conversation and interactions. “The only true voyage, the only bath in the Fountain of…
Workshop Number: P-50
Leaders: L V M Shelton
The workshop will explore the story of eldership among Friends as an essential communal practice of Quaker faith and an integral support to the life and flourishing of a meeting. The story of eldership: The organizing of a vibrant spiritual community, one that challenges the domination systems (religious and political) of its times directly under…
Workshop Number: P-21
Leaders: George Schaefer, Carter Nash
How do we keep our Quaker organizations Quaker? Our organizations are our most vital expressions of our faith, yet few staff, administrators or board members are Quaker. We will explore the role of Governance, nurturing the Quaker core of our organizations and interdependence of our organizations and our worship communities. Quaker schools and retirement communities…
Workshop Number: P-14
Leaders: Chiyo Moriuchi
Learn ways to form relationships with community partners that lead to significant community outcomes. Dialogue with visitors who tell the story of their partnering projects and envision possibilities for one’s own community. Experiment with ways to communicate across racial and cultural divides. Participants will leave the workshop with awareness and plans for beginning a project…
Workshop Number: P-59
Leaders: JoAnn Seaver and Terri Lyons
We will use activities and discussion to explore Quaker life not centered on belief in God. What is spirituality for nontheist Friends? What are our challenges? How can all Friends grow from theological diversity within Quakerism? All seekers will find a safe space to celebrate and deepen their spiritual lives. The goal of this workshop…
Workshop Number: P-17
Leaders: Robin Alpern and Mary Pagurelias
Explore how default survival responses generate a limiting narrative of who we are rooted in fear. Experience how authentic connection with Nature and the Divine can heal our hearts and anchor us in love. Practice embodied tools for repair that can free our meeting communities from common Quaker Stuck Spots. The fascinating field of interpersonal…
Workshop Number: P-55
Leaders: Heather Sowers
Being in community requires safety, belonging, and connection before Friends are truly be in ‘gathered’ space of Quaker Worship. This workshop will explore what allows us to feel safe and welcoming. We will hold space, allowing Spirit to guide our understanding of how science might inform our practices. This workshop is part of the sampler….
Workshop Number: P-43
Leaders: Jeanne Elberfeld
This workshop will focus on all aspects, both theoretical and practical, of being a presiding clerk of a Friends meeting or committee. There will be handouts and opportunities for experience sharing. Most work will be done in a whole group setting. There will be a suggested $10 materials charge. Using handouts and hypotheticals, the following…
Workshop Number: P-998
Leaders: Steve Mohlke
Art
Together we’ll explore meaning, metaphor, and spirituality through the power of LGBTQIA+ stories, including creating some of our own. What can we learn from ancient and modern queer stories of and how can these connect us more deeply to each other and Divine? Objectives: This workshop will center queer storytelling, enhancing the power of stories…
Workshop Number: P-53
Leaders: Cai Quirk
How does the experience of using one’s hands to create integrate with and inform our spiritual path? Bring existing work and an interest in learning something new. We will explore how making can provide space for creativity and affirmation. Co-led by a beader/seamstress and a knitter/cross-stitcher. We plan to create a space in which people…
Workshop Number: P-16
Leaders: dest/jess(ie)/etc purvis and Judy Purvis
Drawing from stories across generations, including all ages, we will tell stories from The Power of Goodness anthology. The short stories paint pictures of families acting boldly during racial strife or ethnic wars in USA, Russia and Ukraine. We include worship, study and rejoicing. Objectives1. Consider in this story collection, the art form of describing…
Workshop Number: P-54
Leaders: Minga Claggett-Borne and Nadine Hoover
Personal Growth/Spirituality
Every day, Mother Culture whispers in our ears a story that explains and supports the unjust and unsustainable way things work around us. This week we’ll uncover her deceptive assumptions and piece together God’s alternative story. Then we’ll conspire together to stay awake enough to enact this new story. In Daniel Quinn’s novel Ishmael, the…
Workshop Number: P-11
Leaders: Joann Neuroth and Carolyn Lejuste
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 Sunday, 6/30 is mandatory. Application with references required.
Workshop Number: P-07
Leaders: Junior Gathering
Friends in this workshop will generate story ideas, craft a true first-person spoken story, and share this story with others. By the end of the week, participants in this workshop should feel comfortable sharing a true, first-person, 5–7 minute story, without notes. The workshop will assist participants in generating personal story ideas, and then revising…
Workshop Number: P-57
Leaders: Erik Hanson
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. Friends Couple Enrichment Daily Schedule : Monday to Friday Each…
Workshop Number: P-39
Leaders: Jess Walcott and Gene Sonn
Explore how default survival responses generate a limiting narrative of who we are rooted in fear. Experience how authentic connection with Nature and the Divine can heal our hearts and anchor us in love. Practice embodied tools for repair that can free our meeting communities from common Quaker Stuck Spots. The fascinating field of interpersonal…
Workshop Number: P-55
Leaders: Heather Sowers
This workshop is about how to internalize the wisdom of Braiding Sweetgrass. We will look at how to become naturalized to Turtle Island – examining colonialism, reciprocity, honorable harvest and kinship relationships with all living beings. Worship sharing and experiential exercises for integrating holistic ways of being part of Earth. This is not a “book…
Workshop Number: P-56
Leaders: Lynn Fitz-Hugh
We will use activities and discussion to explore Quaker life not centered on belief in God. What is spirituality for nontheist Friends? What are our challenges? How can all Friends grow from theological diversity within Quakerism? All seekers will find a safe space to celebrate and deepen their spiritual lives. The goal of this workshop…
Workshop Number: P-17
Leaders: Robin Alpern and Mary Pagurelias
Tell Me a Story! will create a community of storytellers and story absorbers. Each Friend will create an array of stories and share at least three stories. Stories can be poetry, prose, sung, rapped, and accompanied by music, movement and drawings. We will respectfully explore the stories and their meanings. The workshop will create a…
Workshop Number: P-41
Leaders: Sabrina McCarthy and , O
Many people have come to Quakerism from other religious traditions, becoming convinced Friends after a journey of seeking. Often these stories include a difficult road. This workshop is an opportunity for Friends to share these stories, examine their influence on our spiritual lives, and explore what to keep and release. “Talking about religion can be…
Workshop Number: P-63
Leaders: Allison Kirkegaard and Jen Newman
Deep worship, vocal ministry and leadings for action all arise from the same Source. While entering into that Source is partly Grace, there are practices which can help us find our way there, more fully and more often. We will engage in experiential and immediate ways of entering this Root. I have been living questions…
Workshop Number: P-30
Leaders: Christopher Sammond
Moving Gently to Address Stress & Conflict combines energetic grounding, breathing, simple meditative movement and partner practice to address stress and conflict management in daily life. Both seated and standing options, along with other adaptations for physical limitations, make this workshop accessible to all. “Moving Gently to Address Stress & Conflict” combines energetic grounding, breathing,…
Workshop Number: P-01
Leaders: Tomi Nagai-Rothe
Together we’ll explore meaning, metaphor, and spirituality through the power of LGBTQIA+ stories, including creating some of our own. What can we learn from ancient and modern queer stories of and how can these connect us more deeply to each other and Divine? Objectives: This workshop will center queer storytelling, enhancing the power of stories…
Workshop Number: P-53
Leaders: Cai Quirk
This workshop will create a space for creativity, imagination, and playful community using Faith & Play and Godly Play stories. Each day will include hearing two stories “side by side” and exploring what new truth may be revealed in the familiar when we are open to reflection and wonder. The hope for this workshop is…
Workshop Number: P-42
Leaders: Melinda Wenner Bradley
Anger, fear, grief, and pain hinder us from feeling connected with the Spirit and our own healing energies. Exploring our story roots as we practice forgiveness opens us to living in a more peaceful way. Workshop focuses on tools and techniques for doing forgiveness work, not on therapy. FGC 2024 GATHERING WORKSHOP LONG DESCRIPTION Leader:…
Workshop Number: P-13
Leaders: Sue Regan and Lu Harper
“Song of Myself” is Walt Whitman’s story of himself and America, nature and humanity, the body and the soul. It calls to us, challenges us, encourages us, and invites us to a better understanding of Spirit and of ourselves. Teens: Walt would have loved you. Please consider joining us. “Song of Myself” is a long…
Workshop Number: P-06
Leaders: Su Penn
“I will come in and eat with you, and you with me (Rev 3:20).” This workshop is for Friends who want to embody Spirit when they make choices about food, drink, and physical activity in daily life, recognizing that Friends’ embodied stories are unique and subject to forces beyond our control. Although the inspiration is…
Workshop Number: P-02
Leaders: Barbara Birch
Explore the intersection of aging and spirituality: how our spirituality matures as we age, stories we carry, care for one another, connection, purpose, joys, questions and worries. Participants will experience mutual support and gain a deeper understanding of their aging journey —what am I called to do now? Explore the intersection of aging and spirituality:…
Workshop Number: P-04
Leaders: Susan Hoskins
Discover how digital photography can help you see the world around you more clearly and experience it more deeply. Explore a variety of practices that will open new ways of seeing and being present and connect you more closely with yourself, your environment and your community. “One sees clearly only with the heart.” (Antoine de…
Workshop Number: P-24
Leaders: Peter West Nutting
This workshop will explore ways of expressing our spiritual experiences, to glean patterns, to develop narrative about our life paths, to gain clarity for ourselves and express to others what we have been through as spiritual beings. We hope to see more clearly the basis of our callings and leadings. This workshop relates directly to…
Workshop Number: P-10
Leaders: Steve Elkington
The workshop will help you shape your unique approach for work. We fuse personal, professional, and civic aspirations with Quaker values, weaving a purpose-driven narrative and understanding our context and systems. Explore diverse career paths, enhance adaptability, identify key environmental elements, and align with your life view. The workshop will help shape the interconnected world…
Workshop Number: P-38
Leaders: Keira Wilson
Bianca is a Puerto Rican Philadelphian born in the urban condition raised in Quaker practice. She is a 200hr Registered Yoga Teacher and Certified Reiki Practitioner. “Meditation: A Guided Journey Back to Self” led by Bianca Santini-Dumas. In this session, we will explore the profound practice of meditation as a means to reconnect with our…
Workshop Number: P-65
Leaders: Bianca Santini-Dumas
In worship we root ourselves in Truth, Love and Life. United in the Light, we return to the Word that was at the beginning and lives in us. In that Light, our Shepherd, we have our rest, our strength, our victory. In Daily Extended Meeting for Worship we keep to the simplicity of Friends’ devotion….
Workshop Number: P-64
Leaders: Jorge Arauz
The goal of a Kundalini Yoga practice is to search for one’s deepest, most authentic self. In this workshop we will use yoga movement and meditation to drop into that space which allows for personal insights and knowledge to arise from within the body to the level of consciousness. The only difference for 2024 will…
Workshop Number: P-49
Leaders: Ann Ritter
Mimesis is a unique group process derived from depth psychology and myth studies that allows for exploration of story in a supportive environment. We invite participants to enter the text in stages through storytelling, meditation, enactment, and discussion. Each step reveals personal resonances as well as universal or archetypal elements. The use of myth and…
Workshop Number: P-51
Leaders: John and Liza DiMino
Join members of the Eldering Subcommittee of Pacific Yearly Meeting in interactive exercises designed to immerse and deepen our experience and understanding of Quaker eldering. Engage in eldering as prophetic Spirit-led Listening, as acts of nurture, accompaniment and accountability, and as a practice of decolonization through servant leadership. Since 2010 the Eldering Subcommittee of the…
Workshop Number: P-45
Leaders: Dorothy Henderson and Gordon Bishop
This workshop includes, gentle general strengthening, internal martial arts, gentle directed stretching, self-massage and assisted mindfulness exercises including breathing techniques and guided imagery. We will identify troublesome lifestyle patterns and ways to detangle them. Attenders will leave with a variety of techniques they can use in their daily lives. Our ability to follow leadings of…
Workshop Number: P-20
Leaders: Keith Barch & Jean-Marie Barch
In this workshop we’ll root ourselves in radical stories of who we are as humans, Quakers, children of God, and expressions of an evolving, miraculous cosmos. Taking inspiration from the Bible, early Quakers, and contemporary science, we’ll write and share new stories that can help us live fully into the future. This workshop will create…
Workshop Number: P-23
Leaders: Marcelle Martin
Bible
The Gospel of Mark clearly comes from an oral storytelling tradition. Telling stories was also Jesus’ preferred way to convey his message. Let’s engage with this gospel as if it is the only story we know about Jesus. What does it say to us? What gets triggered? What is eternal? There are 5 elements of…
Workshop Number: P-03
Leaders: Gail Thomas
This workshop will create a space for creativity, imagination, and playful community using Faith & Play and Godly Play stories. Each day will include hearing two stories “side by side” and exploring what new truth may be revealed in the familiar when we are open to reflection and wonder. The hope for this workshop is…
Workshop Number: P-42
Leaders: Melinda Wenner Bradley
Dance and/or Movement
Do you wish to write in a way that touches readers and yourself? This workshop offers tips and techniques for connecting with your writer’s heart and how to put your heart on paper. You will learn exercises that help you uncover themes and concerns that bring your writing to life. Do you wish to write…
Workshop Number: P-12
Leaders: J. Brent Bill
The goal of a Kundalini Yoga practice is to search for one’s deepest, most authentic self. In this workshop we will use yoga movement and meditation to drop into that space which allows for personal insights and knowledge to arise from within the body to the level of consciousness. The only difference for 2024 will…
Workshop Number: P-49
Leaders: Ann Ritter
This is a movement workshop. Participants will be taught a simplified tai chi form called Tai Chi Chih. We will discover the experiences of body awareness, movement, internal energy (chi), and meditative practice. Our focus will be on Rootedness and Balance. We’ll also probe selections from the Tao Te Ching. In times of rapid change…
Workshop Number: P-33
Leaders: John Smallwood
Moving Gently to Address Stress & Conflict combines energetic grounding, breathing, simple meditative movement and partner practice to address stress and conflict management in daily life. Both seated and standing options, along with other adaptations for physical limitations, make this workshop accessible to all. “Moving Gently to Address Stress & Conflict” combines energetic grounding, breathing,…
Workshop Number: P-01
Leaders: Tomi Nagai-Rothe
Other Faith Traditions
Become familiar with origin stories from around the world that inspired the growth of societies of cooperation. If we can see it, we can be it. In the beginning many different creation myths were offered all over this glorious earth-wide garden. The various societies that grew from these myths were imbued with the essence of…
Workshop Number: P-67
Leaders: Sharon Gunther
Participants will have opportunities to uncover and share current features of their spiritual journey and engage in practices promoting deep listening to Spirit within themselves and others. We will celebrate ubuntu — “I am because we are” — in our worship, conversation and interactions. “The only true voyage, the only bath in the Fountain of…
Workshop Number: P-50
Leaders: L V M Shelton
This is a movement workshop. Participants will be taught a simplified tai chi form called Tai Chi Chih. We will discover the experiences of body awareness, movement, internal energy (chi), and meditative practice. Our focus will be on Rootedness and Balance. We’ll also probe selections from the Tao Te Ching. In times of rapid change…
Workshop Number: P-33
Leaders: John Smallwood
Quaker History/Early Friends
In this workshop we’ll root ourselves in radical stories of who we are as humans, Quakers, children of God, and expressions of an evolving, miraculous cosmos. Taking inspiration from the Bible, early Quakers, and contemporary science, we’ll write and share new stories that can help us live fully into the future. This workshop will create…
Workshop Number: P-23
Leaders: Marcelle Martin
We will bring to life the unflinching Delaware Quaker abolitionist, Warner Mifflin (1745-1798). We will put together a life-size silhouette – on wheels. He was nearly 7 ft tall & traveled thousands of miles to persuade Friends and others to manumit their enslaved people. Our week will unfold in a series of scenes: We will…
Workshop Number: P-52
Leaders: Judy Hinds
Reparative justice is an essential part of living out Quaker faith. This workshop explores the spiritual imperative and deep need for Quakers to commit to repairing harms done by Quakers and others through their involvement in slavery and its afterlives. Reparative justice is an essential part of living out Quaker faith. This workshop explores the…
Workshop Number: P-25
Leaders: Lucy Duncan and Rob Peagler
Quakers broke into the world in an era of great turmoil with radically new beliefs about God, worship, class and gender, and ways of living together and in the world. We will walk together with these Friends, exploring how their extraordinary experiences can inform our shared journey as Friends today. Our expectations for the workshop:…
Workshop Number: P-62
Leaders: Adria Gulizia, Peter Blood-Patterson
The workshop will explore the story of eldership among Friends as an essential communal practice of Quaker faith and an integral support to the life and flourishing of a meeting. The story of eldership: The organizing of a vibrant spiritual community, one that challenges the domination systems (religious and political) of its times directly under…
Workshop Number: P-21
Leaders: George Schaefer, Carter Nash
This workshop will create a space for creativity, imagination, and playful community using Faith & Play and Godly Play stories. Each day will include hearing two stories “side by side” and exploring what new truth may be revealed in the familiar when we are open to reflection and wonder. The hope for this workshop is…
Workshop Number: P-42
Leaders: Melinda Wenner Bradley
A rising China will help define the 21st century. Yet despite Quaker commitments to peace, there are linguistic, cultural, and political barriers that prevent Friends from engaging with China. This workshop seeks to overcome these barriers using Quakers’ long history in the country as a roadmap for future engagement. In this workshop, we will learn…
Workshop Number: P-09
Leaders: Patrick Lozada
Friends are invited into a deep consideration of the historical reality of the Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools (QIBS), the felt experience of traveling on a path of truth and healing, the particulars of archival research, and possible next steps for individual Friends and our meetings. What was the role of Quakers in assimilation through education…
Workshop Number: P-47
Leaders: Andrew Grant
Social Justice/Peace/Ecology
Explore the intersection of aging and spirituality: how our spirituality matures as we age, stories we carry, care for one another, connection, purpose, joys, questions and worries. Participants will experience mutual support and gain a deeper understanding of their aging journey —what am I called to do now? Explore the intersection of aging and spirituality:…
Workshop Number: P-04
Leaders: Susan Hoskins
Friends are invited into a deep consideration of the historical reality of the Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools (QIBS), the felt experience of traveling on a path of truth and healing, the particulars of archival research, and possible next steps for individual Friends and our meetings. What was the role of Quakers in assimilation through education…
Workshop Number: P-47
Leaders: Andrew Grant
Drawing from stories across generations, including all ages, we will tell stories from The Power of Goodness anthology. The short stories paint pictures of families acting boldly during racial strife or ethnic wars in USA, Russia and Ukraine. We include worship, study and rejoicing. Objectives1. Consider in this story collection, the art form of describing…
Workshop Number: P-54
Leaders: Minga Claggett-Borne and Nadine Hoover
A rising China will help define the 21st century. Yet despite Quaker commitments to peace, there are linguistic, cultural, and political barriers that prevent Friends from engaging with China. This workshop seeks to overcome these barriers using Quakers’ long history in the country as a roadmap for future engagement. In this workshop, we will learn…
Workshop Number: P-09
Leaders: Patrick Lozada
Tell Me a Story! will create a community of storytellers and story absorbers. Each Friend will create an array of stories and share at least three stories. Stories can be poetry, prose, sung, rapped, and accompanied by music, movement and drawings. We will respectfully explore the stories and their meanings. The workshop will create a…
Workshop Number: P-41
Leaders: Sabrina McCarthy and , O
Learn ways to form relationships with community partners that lead to significant community outcomes. Dialogue with visitors who tell the story of their partnering projects and envision possibilities for one’s own community. Experiment with ways to communicate across racial and cultural divides. Participants will leave the workshop with awareness and plans for beginning a project…
Workshop Number: P-59
Leaders: JoAnn Seaver and Terri Lyons
Deep worship, vocal ministry and leadings for action all arise from the same Source. While entering into that Source is partly Grace, there are practices which can help us find our way there, more fully and more often. We will engage in experiential and immediate ways of entering this Root. I have been living questions…
Workshop Number: P-30
Leaders: Christopher Sammond
Every day, Mother Culture whispers in our ears a story that explains and supports the unjust and unsustainable way things work around us. This week we’ll uncover her deceptive assumptions and piece together God’s alternative story. Then we’ll conspire together to stay awake enough to enact this new story. In Daniel Quinn’s novel Ishmael, the…
Workshop Number: P-11
Leaders: Joann Neuroth and Carolyn Lejuste
A workshop for Friends actively engaged in racial justice work. We will share successful approaches to addressing White Supremacy and colonialism that will enhance our techniques for challenging racial and ethnic divisions. Participants must write a statement about their work. Our expectations and objectives for the week are to provide a space for Friends actively…
Workshop Number: P-32
Leaders: Vanessa Julye, Janice Domanik
Do you wish to write in a way that touches readers and yourself? This workshop offers tips and techniques for connecting with your writer’s heart and how to put your heart on paper. You will learn exercises that help you uncover themes and concerns that bring your writing to life. Do you wish to write…
Workshop Number: P-12
Leaders: J. Brent Bill
Using the framing of our abolitionist past, Daquanna will have us consider “How Will Quakers Change the World – Again?” Moving from history to reparations to tangible acts of empathy using our heart center, we will look to our past to galvanize us to create the future we all deserve. How Will Quakers Change the…
Workshop Number: P-22
Leaders: Daquanna Harrison
Whether your work is around climate justice, racial justice, defending elections, or some other concern, this experiential workshop will teach you the theory and practice of nonviolent direct action, drawing on the experience of earlier Quakers, the Civil Rights Movement, and Earth Quaker Action Team. This workshop will teach Friends how to use spiritually grounded…
Workshop Number: P-44
Leaders: Eileen Flanagan
The workshop will focus on what economic justice is or might be, why it matters, and how to come together in community to work towards it. We will share AFSC’s efforts to build economic justice and what this looks like in the communities we partner with. This interactive workshop will raise awareness of economic inequality…
Workshop Number: P-35
Leaders: Rick Wilson and Lida Shepherd
What would it look like for Friends to participate in flourishing and just communities amidst climate change? Our collective habits and patterns must transition to a new way. This workshop will consider what this might look like through conversation, activities, information, a grief ritual, and worship sharing. Over the course of the week, we will…
Workshop Number: P-46
Leaders: Dwight Dunston, Cherice Bock
Reparative justice is an essential part of living out Quaker faith. This workshop explores the spiritual imperative and deep need for Quakers to commit to repairing harms done by Quakers and others through their involvement in slavery and its afterlives. Reparative justice is an essential part of living out Quaker faith. This workshop explores the…
Workshop Number: P-25
Leaders: Lucy Duncan and Rob Peagler
We will bring to life the unflinching Delaware Quaker abolitionist, Warner Mifflin (1745-1798). We will put together a life-size silhouette – on wheels. He was nearly 7 ft tall & traveled thousands of miles to persuade Friends and others to manumit their enslaved people. Our week will unfold in a series of scenes: We will…
Workshop Number: P-52
Leaders: Judy Hinds
Join Quaker Voluntary Service staff & alumni for an experimental workshop modeled after the QVS fellowship year! Come build intergenerational spiritual community with us. We’ll offer frameworks and tools to shape your individual and collective experience in the workshop, and that you can bring home to your spiritual communities! Friends of all ages are eager…
Workshop Number: P-19
Leaders: Ruth Cutcher, Rachael Carter