Quakers ‘Gathering of Friends’ to be held at St. Ben’s

by Cori Hilsgen

news@thenewsleaders.com

More than 150 Quaker congregations from the United States and Canada, as well as Belize and Guatemala, and about 1,000 people will meet July 3-9 for a “Gathering of Friends” at the College of St. Benedict.

The group of Quakers, who are also referred to as “Friends,” has been meeting annually since 1900. Each summer, about 1,000 Quakers gather to share a week of worship, activism, music and more.

This year’s theme for the gathering is: “Be humble, be faithful, be bold.”

The week includes programs and events, including small-group morning workshops, public evening meetings called “plenaries,” and programs for children, teens and adults.

According to a press advisory, the Quakers practice a religion of experience: a contemporary, simple and radical faith with roots in the Protestant Reformation in England in the 1600s.

Three speakers will share how to live the theme message in the world today at 7 p.m. during evening meetings in the CSB Benedicta Arts Center Escher Auditorium.  These meetings are open to the general public.

Quaker author Rex Ambler will speak on Monday, July 4. He is best known for bringing the wisdom of early Friends to Friends today. His books share his experiences and influences that include Gandhi’s work with the poor and oppressed in India, the value of meditation and personal change in the face of crisis.

On Thursday, July 7, award-winning University of St. Thomas School of Law professor and founding director of the Community Justice Project (a civil rights legal clinic) Nekima Levy-Pounds will speak about her message. She is an expert on issues of race, public policy, economic justice, public education, juvenile justice and the criminal justice system.

And on Friday, July 8, freelance grace provocateur Peggy Senger Morrison will talk. She is a recorded Friends minister and founding pastor of Freedom Friends Church. Her recent book, Miracle Motors:a pert near true story, is a motorcycle theology. As a licensed counselor for 20 years, she has worked with trauma healing, especially among Quakers in Central Africa.

During the event, the group sets up a Gathering Bookstore and moves inventory from QuakerBook’s location on the Pendle Hill Campus in Pennsylvania to the gathering location. The bookstore is stocked with books, handcrafts and more. The QuakerBook’s bookstore will be located on the second floor of Gorecki Dining Hall and is open to the public.

After the Gathering, the group hopes to leave energized and ready to share its faith and learnings with others.

Friends conference organizer Ruth Reber said they hope the Friends will take away “a deeper relationship with God and a sense of a joyful, supportive and inclusive community that will sustain them as they seek to live their lives based in that living faith.”

Online communications fellow Piper Lewis said she hopes the Gathering is a place for Quakers to nurture spirit through attending workshops and plenaries that inspire learning, self-reflection and also through fellowship with others throughout the week.

“I hope to enjoy time reflecting deeply on our shared Quaker faith and connecting with Friends from around the United States and Canada,” Lewis said. “I hope gathering (attendees) leave feeling deeply nourished in spirit and inspired to take that joy and fellowship back to their own home meetings.”

Reber said each year the Friends general conference site selection committee chooses a new area for the event.

“The College of St. Benedict submitted a proposal for 2016 and was able to offer a wonderful setting for this year’s conference,” Reber said. “When that was combined with the beauty of Minnesota, we chose to come to St. Joseph.”

Lewis said during the Gathering, the group will stay in campus housing on the CSB campus.

“The majority of Quakers attending will be primarily eating on the college campus, but there will probably be some visitors around town for brunches or other outings,” she said.