Speakers and Workshops

¡Come and See! (John 1:46)

We will gather for semi-programmed worship every morning.  The following Friends are bringing the messages.

Our Speakers:

Joel Cook was raised in a Christian Science home, where he learned an appreciation of the Bible and of religious study.  In July 1989 he attended Friends’ Meeting for Worship for the first time at Plainfield (NJ) Friends Meeting.  Quaker Meeting immediately became his spiritual home.  Joel brought his love of the Bible and study of religion to his work among Friends.  He led the Bible Half Hour at the 2014 Friends General Conference Gathering.  Joel is a member of Palm Beach Friends Meeting, and worships with the Treasure Coast Worship Group.

Virginia Jalire Quispe is a young adult friend and member of the Central Evangelical Friends Church in La Paz, Bolivia. She feels that she was called to the work of God at the age of fifteen, later using her talents as a nurse, pharmacist and, most recently, as a kinesiology physiotherapist, to support people with limited resources in rural areas.  She feels particularly satisfied to be able to bring the word of God into hospitals. She is a current member of FWCC’s Traveling Ministry Corps.

 

Emily Provance is a member of Fifteenth Street Monthly Meeting in New York Yearly Meeting. She is engaged in various spiritual accompaniment and social media-based ministries, and she travels with a minute from her monthly and yearly meetings.  Emily facilitates workshops and discussions for all ages on a variety of topics in Quaker faith and practice, and she seeks to connect particularly with Friends who may be feeling called into ministry.  She is a current member of FWCC’s Traveling Ministry Corps.

Dave Williams serves as general superintendent of Evangelical Friends Church-Mid America Yearly Meeting.   He also serves as adjunct professor of discipleship and spiritual formation at Barclay College in Haviland, Kansas, and guest lecturer at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas.  Dave has a deep passion to raise up workers for the Lord’s harvest field by encouraging, equipping and empowering God’s people for the work of ministry in order to build up the body of Christ and fulfill the Great Commission (cf. Mt 9:36-38; Eph 4:11-12; Mt 28:18-20).

Friday Night Workshops:

  • “Rhythms of Grace: Life-saving disciplines for Spiritual Leaders” with Dave Williams, EFC-Mid-America YM.  If you have been set apart as a minister of the gospel, you have received a high calling indeed. You are also in for one rough ride. Inspired by the life and ministry of the prophet Elijah, this workshop focuses on the importance of giving adequate attention to our own personal growth and development (self-care) as we are serving others in order to avoid burnout and sustain faithful and effective ministry for the long haul.
  • “Marketing to Friends and Beyond” with Ian Joyce of August Communication, North Carolina Fellowship of Friends.  Friends’ witness can spread if we are clear, concise and relevant to people we want to reach.  Our discussion will be an examination of common marketing challenges facing Quakers and Quaker organizations and how to create practical solutions.
  • “Come and See! Experience the Traveling Ministry Corps” with members of the 2018 & 2019 Traveling Ministry Corps: M. Virginia Jalire, Amigos Central – Bolivia, Kike Jovel, El Salvador YM, Geeta McGahey, Southern Appalachia YM&A, Oscar Rodriguez, El Salvador YM, Marty Smith, Philadelphia YM, Bill Smith, Philadelphia YM, Greg Woods, New England YM.  Wonder what the Traveling Ministry Corps visits are like?  Come and See!  An interactive opportunity to discover the power of Traveling Ministry to transform Quakerism.  Experience the gifts of the Traveling Ministry Corps.  Play a game.  Share a story.  Hear their leadings.
  • “Come and See: An Examination of Earthkeeping Through the Lens of Quaker Conviction” with Adrian Halverstadt, Director, Evangelical Friends Church – North America; Shelley Tanenbaum, General Secretary, Quaker Earthcare Witness; and Cherice Bock, co-clerk, Sierra-Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends.(www.chericebock.com)  What inspires our witness for the Earth?  What are Friends organizations in North America already doing?  Connect with how God is at work in our lives addressing the multiple crises which threaten the web of life.
  • “How can we all be Friends? Using your authentic religious language in community” with Julie Peyton, Sierra-Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends, Kevin Mortimer, Iowa Yearly Meeting (FUM), David Ruiz Trejo, Mexico Reunión General, Chuck Schobert, Northern Yearly Meeting, and Heather Gosse, Monteverde Monthly Meeting.
  • “Who is my neighbor? Welcoming the stranger, being a Friend” with Judy Goldberger, New England Yearly Meeting, and Karla Jay, Indiana Yearly Meeting.  What inspires us to welcome the stranger?  How are Friends organizations, meetings, & churches already witnessing and ministering?  How is God is at work in migration, in our ministry and witness, and in our lives?

Bible Study:

Beth Green-Nagle, from Great Plains Yearly Meeting, will be leading Bible Study.  Beth is an assistant professor of Spanish at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK.

¡Come and See! (John 1:46)

The theme will be ¡Come and See! (John 1:46) with explorations of “Who is my neighbor?” and “How can we all be Friends?” Additional related Biblical texts include John 1:46, Luke 10:36-37, Timothy 3:16, and John 4:33. The Section Executive Committee considered the following elements in their discernment about the theme:

We hold as a main purpose of the Section Meeting to facilitate an experience of the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Inward Christ, the Light Within. We seek a personal encounter and transformative experience in worship and in workshops, with Scripture, through the ministry of the Traveling Ministry Corps, in the midst of changing times and conflict.

Who is my neighbor? Jesus’s answer to this challenging question speaks to us of inclusion, compassionate understanding, the experience of safety and trust.  We hope to experience an environment in which we come to understand our neighbors, from the perspective of brothers and sisters, from the North and the South, in our different spiritual expressions.

How can we be Friends? The Section Meeting should be a place of hope and celebration of our different ways, yet in which we experience ourselves as equals. We wish to focus on those Friends who impact our lives through their testimony and lives of service among Friends as beacons of the “Light that attracts”.

Seeking more information?

  • Look at our Housing and Dining Options!
  • See our Frequently Asked Questions!
  • Questions about housing or meals, contact the Conference Managers.  Phone: 1-701-222-1521
    E-mail:  ConfMgrs@aol.com
  • Questions about transportation, facilities, accessibility, or anything else related to the conference site, contact the Conference Managers.  Phone: 1-701-222-1521
    E-mail:  ConfMgrs@aol.com
  • For questions about the COAL meetings and COAL registration, contact Karen Gregorio.  Email: kareng@fwccamericas.org
  • For other questions about the Section Meeting, contact Heather Gosse.  Phone: 1-215-241-7250  Email: heatherg@fwccamericas.org

Return to the main Section Meeting page.