Conservative Friend

Answering God's Call for Simplicity

Led by Jackie Speicher

November 07--09, 2008

Cost: $160 per person

Jesus advocated a lifestyle of simplicity to an extent that seems nearly impossible for most of us now.  In our affluent, fast-paced world many of us experience the ironic burden of overabundance.  As we say "yes" to ever more opportunities in life but eliminate very little, we begin to experience overload.  It may affect us physically, emotionally and spiritually.  It puts a strain on our relationships with self and others - our families, communities and world - while it also strains the capacity of the earth to heal itself from the consequences of our excesses.  It obstructs our connection to God.

During this weekend we will look at where we experience the burdens of affluence in our lives - where we yearn for and realize we need less - and will examine Biblical, Quaker and other sources to guide our reflections on responding to God's call for simplicity today.

Speaking About Christ  Among Liberal Friends

Led by Brian Drayton

March 06--08, 2009

Cost: $160

Encounter with the Spirit of Christ lay at the heart of the rise of Quakerism.  our culture, and our Society of Friends, have traveled far since the England of the 1650s.  What is it we encounter now in the silence of our meetings?  Whose spirit guides us?  For some, Christ is still the answer to that question, but for many Quakers this is not true.  Some Friends who are seeking to learn to follow Christ's guidance, and who rejoice in their discoveries, find little companionship or comprehension in their meetings and are not sure how to give voice to their life and nourish it.  Some in our liberal meetings are uncomfortable with Christian language and wonder how unity can be preserved with those who make a Christian testimony in a pluralistic age.  This weekend retreat/workshop especially invites Friends who are concerned about the role of Christ in their liberal meetings.

During this weekend, we will explore our experiences in speaking about Christ - positive and negative.  More than that, we will consider how we can help each other to a liberating engagement with the cultural, emotional, and spiritual issues that arise within and among us because of the diversity of attitudes toward and interpretations of Christ in our meetings.  How can this engagement feed our prayer lives, our peacemaking, our ministry to each other, our testimony to the world, and better understanding across the divisions among Friends?

Brian Drayton, of Weare (NH) Monthly Meeting is a plant ecologist working in science education research.  He has traveled extensively in the ministry, carrying a concern to encourage those who contribute to their meeting's ministry.  He has given workshops, retreats, and addresses on topics in Quaker history and belief for many Friends meetings and at Pendle Hill.  In 1994, he published Selections from the Writings of James Naylor.  In 2003 Brian was one of the originators of the Quaker Peacebuilders Camp, a program for teaching nonviolent action based on Quaker spirituality.  His most recent book, On Living With a Concern for Gospel Ministry, has been among the best selling Quaker books since 2006.

Journeys with Robert Barclay

Led by Deborah Haines

April 24 --26, 2009

Cost: $160

Robert Barclay's Apology for the True Christian Divinity is a Quaker treasure trove.  First published in English in 1678, the Apology was an attempt to explain to the Christian world the radical Quaker understanding of the Christian message.  Barclay's formal language and style are intimidating to many modern Friends, and it is easy to think of his book as old-fashioned simply because it is so old.  But Barclay was a young man when he wrote it, recently convinced, awe struck and humbled by the experience of the immediate presence of God he had encountered in Quaker worship.

During the past several years as I have read and meditated on the Apology, I feel as if I have been on a journey with Robert Barclay, exploring just what it is that Quakers believe.  I have found him to be a luminous soul and a good companion.  In this workshop I want to share some of what I have learned about him, about Quakerism, Christianity, universalism, mysticism, and transformation.  I want to introduce modern Friends to the ideas and vision of an extraordinary young man, whose experience of Truth is still fresh today as it was more than three hundred years ago.

Deborah Haines, a member of Alexandria Meeting, serves as Recording Clerk of Baltimore Yearly Meeting.  She has served as clerk of the Friends General Conference Advancement Committee and is active on the William Penn House Board.  She travels with a minute from her meeting, under a concern for meeting revitalization, and rediscovering the power of early Quakerism.

A Structured Sojourn With Conservative Friends

Facilitated by Ken and Katharine Jacobsen

Dates by arrangement

Many Conservative Friends believe they can best share their faith by "letting their lives speak."  To help in that sharing, the Friends Center sponsors Structured Sojourns in which participants spend two nights as guests in the homes of Stillwater Monthly Meeting Friends in Barnesville.  Last year's especially successful Sojourn, in which all participants were members of one worship group, has led us this year to offer any Friends' meeting or worship group interested in a closer acquaintance with Conservative Friends the opportunity to schedule its own Structured Sojourn.  In addition to joining their hosts for breakfast and some of their ordinary lives, including a work projects, Sojourners will have times to gather with the group facilitators at the Friends Center for reflection, discussion and the other meals. For more information and to discuss your specific situation, email Katharine Jacobsen at kenkatharine@earthlink.net or phone her at (262) 728-6048.