Program Spotlight: Spiritual Deepening

When we’re doing it faithfully, what are the qualities of Quaker social action? Spirit-filled, hopeful, compassionate, clear, loving, patient, connected. During a visit to the Alaskan Friends Conference annual sessions in July, FGC Spiritual Deepening Program Coordinator Rachel…

When we’re doing it faithfully, what are the qualities of Quaker social action?  Spirit-filled, hopeful, compassionate, clear, loving, patient, connected.  During a visit to the Alaskan Friends Conference annual sessions in July, FGC Spiritual Deepening Program Coordinator Rachel Ernst Stahlhut drew from the Spiritual Deepening program materials to explore with Alaskan Friends how their spiritual community energizes, vitalizes, and sustains their collective witness against climate disruption.  Worshipping around a campfire, Friends shared the spiritual roots of their call to social action and explored ways that discernment, worship, clearness, and community with other Quakers can help ground Friends in their long-term work for loving change. 

Through exercises and conversations such as this, FGC’s new Spiritual Deepening Program offers meetings and individuals an opportunity and structure to listen deeply to one another, explore Quaker roots, and engage together in shared spiritual practices. With varied content and a flexible structure ready for all-ages participation, Spiritual Deepening offers an adaptable program for any Quaker community, tailorable to the needs of any particular group.

The Spiritual Deepening program will launch in September of 2016. It is available for Quaker communities of any size and denomination, whether a meeting, worship group, church, or group of friends. In addition to in-person small groups, the Spiritual Deepening experience will be available for isolated friends, or any interested individual, to go through the program in a remote, e-learning style exploring their spiritual practice and understanding of Quaker faith with a cohort of other participants in a guided, moderated online format. To receive further information about this program as it launches please sign up here

Photo by Christine Ashley
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