Epiphany or Desperation: An Experiment for a Quaker Gathering

The Colorado Regional Meeting planning committee moved into silence. We were hoping to find our way to the theme for our upcoming, weekend-long Fall Gathering. It was getting a bit late to organize for the usual program of a speaker and workshops as well as social time for music and creativity, worship sharing groups, and group worship. We hadn’t yet found a topic that would speak to the members of the Colorado Regional. We needed inspiration, if not an epiphany.

Several things weighed on the committee. Regional gatherings everywhere since the end of the COVID pandemic had struggled to rebuild its engagement and attendance. Our gathering was no different. Friends shared topics they would like to hear about and a sense that “Our gathering will be just before the election. It will be a tense time. I don’t know what we will want to focus on.”

During the silence of that summer evening and following discernment, we were led to create a program that would address this tension, this concern about the democracy of the United States and living in it. We came to unity on this query: How can our faith practice prepare us and sustain us during this difficult time?

And thus our theme began to take shape. Our discernment led us to consider our testimonies, the SPICES. We asked, “How can our testimonies serve us in this tense and dispiriting time?”

One member of the planning committee was urgent in their leading that we should wrestle with the tension and discomfort among ourselves, engaging everyone. They didn’t want to give anyone a chance to sit in the back row and nap. Their special gift was helping people find their way to participating. We labored and came to understand that we didn’t want a speaker to come talk at us about this. We wanted to talk to each other about how each of us had used our testimonies to guide us in the past and how we could use them now, and in the future, no matter the results of the upcoming election.

We had our concerns about this different path for the Fall Gathering program. Would anyone come if we didn’t have a speaker? What if the conversations flopped? Eventually, the entire planning committee became animated about our theme and our means for exploring it. After a wide-ranging discussion, the teachers among us settled on a way to accomplish our plan.

Quickly, each member of the committee volunteered to lead two discussion groups about one of the testimonies. We created queries for these discussions of each testimony; the first set was about how the participants had lived the testimony, and the second set was about living the testimony in the future. A final discussion was scheduled to hear from each group about their findings regarding the question: How could we live each testimony in the future? Every member of the planning committee was now a participant in the actual program. Talk about engagement and participation! We were very excited and a bit anxious about our grand experiment.

Registration for the gathering was encouraging. We attracted 42 people, more people than last year, and stayed two nights at the beautiful YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado. Our schedule for the event allowed other Friends to be part of the program if they wanted to drop in for the full day on Saturday. This added an additional 20 people.

We placed the attenders into 6 discussion groups of 10 or fewer people, so everyone had a chance to speak if they wished. The discussions were generally lively; hallways and dining hall were abuzz between discussions. The final reporting session was well attended, and the discussions were rich. The planning committee members were noticeably relieved that people were enjoying our program experiment.

In short, the experiment was a success. Friends were asked to complete a brief evaluation form on the spot. Fifty percent of attenders participated in an evaluation of the event. Most folks listed the discussions of testimonies or getting to know other people from Colorado as the best thing about the gathering. Some commented that it was the perfect topic and approach for the times. One participant, who is often a speaker at Friendly events, joked that we might never need a speaker again. Some reported that we sat still too long; some thought we could have done the job with one discussion session; and others thought we should move more. I hope those people join the planning committee.

The Colorado Regional Planning Committee was clear that we needed a program that spoke to the condition of our community in this fraught time. It labored long and carefully. So perhaps this experiment resulted from more of an openness to the Spirit with just a tad of desperation than from epiphany. Isn’t that the way with discernment among Friends? We aren’t sure what we are doing until the Way opens and surprises us.

Nota Bene

During the Fall Gathering, I asked Friends to give me a word to include in a poem about the weekend. They wrote a word on a paper tag and then tied the tag to a string. By the end of the weekend, I had 29 words to put in a poem in the order as they appeared on the string. The donated words are italicized. One Friend commented that the poem could be our epistle.

Felicitations, Friends, Thank you for a joy-filled weekend. I could hug each of you and gift you your favorite yogurt. Down to the aglets on my shoelaces, I am grateful for your participation.

Unfortunately, few grandchildren joined us. Erin and Kane had visions of playful, peachy kiddoes exuding Quaker testimonies all weekend. But alas, like the sole doe on the hillside, they were left to watch and hope.

The nearby national park had prescribed fires which clouded the sky and tickled our philtrum. The air had halitosis. And yet, the mountains and moraines were beautiful, and the days inspired us.

Our schedule ran mostly on time, and our clerk is the GOAT! Our smiles gleamed as we completed our experiment, intimating that, although we worship in silence, we have plenty to say. We went with our gut for the program, and we are happy as a puppy with the result.

Even our business meeting rose to the challenge of being scintillating, and we avoided loquaciousness (wink, wink). We didn’t plan a group mountain-climbing outing. That would be ridiculous! Talk about herding cats!

We felt our connection with the Spirit and each other, listening with joy. Holding lightly our collective effervescence.

Molly Wingate is a member of Colorado Springs Meeting and the board of directors for Western Friend. Her column, “Plain Speaking” from Patheos.org, is archived on Western Friend’s website: https://westernfriend.org/library/plain-speaking-from-molly-wingate/