The Call & Challenge of Ministry: A Gathering on Spiritual Life & Ministry

Hosted by New England Quakers & 4 others

Zoom

Registration

Past Event

Welcome! To join the event, please register below.

About Event

This is the second gathering of Friends in New England concerning the nurture of spiritual life and ministry in our local Quaker communities. On November 13th, we will focus on the call to ministry and the challenges of that call. This gathering will take place on Zoom.

Ministry is a gift to us — to our meetings, to our communities, and to the wider world.

As Friends, we hold that everyone is a minister, or a person capable of ministry (being a vessel for the work of the Spirit). We also know from experience that ministry can come in many forms, and can develop in many different ways and change over time. We can view ministry as occurring on a spectrum, both in how it shows up in the lives of the person called and the multifaceted ways it shows up in our meetings and communities.

But how do we notice gifts and calls to ministry in ourselves? How does it feel to notice and respond to these calls? What are some of the challenges? What are the ways people with a ministry have been supported, or not supported, in their call?

There is among Friends a paradox in embracing the spiritual worth of all while recognizing that some individuals carry particular gifts of ministry. How do we constructively and lovingly engage with the tensions that arise from this paradox?

This gathering is one space to explore these questions together and to consider the opportunities before us amid the tension.

We invite you to join us.

Gathering Schedule:

9:00 Welcoming Program (including small groups and worship)
9:45 Brief break
10:00 Facilitated conversation (led by Jen Higgins-Newman, featuring LVM Shelton, Gretchen Baker-Smith, Skip Schiel, Briana Halliwell, and Brian Drayton)
11:15 Worship
12:00 Announcements and lunch
1:15 Afternoon facilitated small groups
2:30 Brief break
2:45 Closing program, sharing, and worship

We especially encourage multiple Friends from a meeting to attend, either gathering together in person locally or separately. The shared experience will provide companions for each of you as you bring the fruit of new learnings back home, across New England.

This is the second of several planned seasonal gatherings. You can read more about the vision for Spiritual Life and Ministry gatherings here. You are welcome to participate in one or all of these events.