Greetings to Friends everywhere, from Canby, Oregon!
Friends from around the world are gathered here this weekend under a misty canopy of fir and cedar, spending the weekend in fellowship. The annual gathering of Friends World Committee for Consultation section of the Americas has drawn a healthy crowd from as nearby as Newberg and as far as Australia and South Africa. (FWCC promotes exchanges that advance spiritual renewal and vitality within the Religious Society of Friends.)
Friends began arriving in the area as early as Wednesday evening, and business plenary sessions began Thursday morning. Friday morning, Friends gathered to consider changes to the FWCC committee structure and the FWCC Americas section budget for 2010. Friend also heard a report from Latin American Friends.
In the afternoon, Friends had an opportunity to participate in working group meetings or to meet with FWCC members from other sections. Your editor enjoyed time hearing Friends from Africa share reflections on what it means to be a Friend in their particular section, followed by a session from Friends in the Asia-Pacific region reporting on the liveliness of the Spirit among Friends in the Phillipines, India, and elsewhere in the region.
After dinner, many local Friends joined the gathering to hear the keynote address from Jan Wood, a member of North Seattle Friends Church. Jan spoke to the theme of the gathering, “For there is still a vision for the appointed time” (Habakkuk 2:2-3) She described the parallels between Habakkuk’s crumbling world of violence, greed and injustice and our own state of affairs. Jan invited us to “lift our gaze from our small lives” and to take up the task of living out reconciliation and love with renewed vigor.
Even though the hour grew late, a lively group of thirty or so Friends gathered for an interest group on Quaker blogging, led by Friends Robin Mohr and Greg Koskela. These Friends spoke of the deepening of the Spirit they had experienced through engaging with other Friends online. Friends then participated in a “virtual” blogging exercise to better understand how reading and responding to a message in written form could begin exciting dialogues.
Still other Friends gathered to discuss the relationship between FWCC and young adult Friends. And as with so many Friends gatherings, there was singing, laughter and quiet discussion late into the night.