Epistle of the 2012
Pacific Northwest Quaker Women’s Theology Conference
June 13-17, 2012
Corbett, Oregon
Greetings
to Friends everywhere.
Grace
permeated our days and wove the variegated fibers of our lives together into a
tapestry of light and love much like the quilts that surrounded us in our
meeting space at the 2012 Pacific Northwest Quaker Women’s Theology Conference.
We gathered on June 13, 2012, at the Menucha Conference Center above the
Columbia River near Corbett, Oregon, around the theme of Inviting, Contemplating, and Enacting Grace. Prior to the
conference each participant wrote a short essay in response to the theme. The
conversation among us began as we read each other’s papers online and
throughout our time together. We came
with differing experiences among Friends and other faith traditions, some
excited, others tentative about what we would hear, and feel, and do together.
We came yearning for community, a place to feel at home. We came knowing we
would be challenged to listen deeply, to learn to open and stretch, hoping the
effort would yield deeper understanding and add new patterns and textures to
our tapestry of grace as we were woven together.
Thursday
morning we received a message from Ashley Wilcox on Inviting Grace. Ashley
opened with her admission of love for the Apostle Paul. Drawing from Acts 9 she
showed us that sometimes we invite grace through doing the completely wrong
thing. We can also invite grace into
our lives by accepting and giving loving acts and living words. Darla Samuelson
taught us how to use specific disciplines to create a space for grace to touch
the pain of shame that is common in human experience.
Friday morning Cherice Bock led us through a
contemplation of grace through a word study.
She asked the provocative question, “Do we have to feel guilty to
receive grace?” In answer to her own question, she proposed that grace is an
undeserved gift with no strings attached. Cherice concluded that grace is
active, social, and enduring.
As
stewards of grace when we extend grace to others we receive grace into our own
lives and are further called to extend grace in this world. Christine Hall
continued by saying that in contemplating grace we are swept up in a love that
connects us to God, one another, creation, and divine mystery. She finished with a quote from Thomas Merton
stating that through contemplation we “see through the illusion of our
separateness.”
Saturday,
responding to the theme Enacting Grace,
Carol Urner challenged us to say “yes” to leadings even when we do not know
where our “yes” will lead us. In that “yes” there is a river of light that
will flow through us and sustain us.
Elenita Bales followed and reminded us that that the word “enact”
contains “act.” She encouraged us to
develop a rhythm of faithfulness in speaking the truths that emerge from our
souls, and to risk vulnerability that we may become a channel of change. Quoting historic Quaker Ann Wilson, Elenita
asked, “What wilt thou do in the end?”
Afternoon workshops presented a variety of ways we can
nourish our lives and create an opening for grace. In Writing as Spiritual Practice we explored several ways to begin and
be faithful to our own spiritual writing. A workshop on the Bible revealed that in spite of feelings about
Scripture, ranging from anger through love, the group had an interesting and
respectful discussion. In a session
entitled Speaking Holy Boldness
participants considered viewpoints and experiences that made clear that prophetic
witness is alive and well in our yearly meetings. Another group shared the different practices, such as movement,
meditation, prayer, and visualization they use to hold others in the Light. In a session entitled The Hard Stuff women from different yearly meetings responded to
questions that had been submitted in writing earlier. Participants engaged in
respectful discussion that acknowledged our differences while encouraging
understanding and acceptance. One
workshop focused on listening and care committees and offered guidelines and
tools on how to support others through suffering. Judy Maurer shared her
experiences and reflections on teaching, listening, worshipping, and working on
social justice issues in Russia. Christine Hall introduced Way of the Spirit, an opportunity to engage in contemplative study
through a new program in the Pacific Northwest.
Evening activities provided opportunities to further
be woven together in our tapestry of community. Thursday evening Roena Oesting,
dressed and speaking as Elizabeth Fry, recounted major events from “Betsy’s” life
as written in her journals. We
expressed gratitude for the way Elizabeth Fry’s work in prisons started a
pattern of prison reform work among Friends that continues today. On Early Friday
evening we listened to the experiences of those who attended the FWCC Sixth World Conference of Friends in Kenya. Their exchanges
were fruitful, rich and full, though sometimes difficult. As we heard their
stories we could sense that there, too, they were held by grace. Later, we danced,
sang, played Hearts fiercely, worked on a HUGE puzzle, and created art. All these allowed for new openings into one
another’s hearts and connections through joyful exchanges.
Throughout the conference threads of conversations at
meals, home groups, over the puzzle, or
on hikes further wove us together in beauty and grace. It was an amazing gift
to sit at a meal and turn to a stranger and feel no awkwardness. On Sunday
morning we were gathered together for a final hour of worship in which Nancy
Thomas brought us the challenge to carry gratitude with us in response to God’s
grace. We came here to be ourselves and
left affirmed in our appreciation for and joy in the deepening cross-yearly
meeting friendship; that is grace. Borrowing
a sentiment from Carol Urner, we have to finish, but we have not yet begun.
