Quaker Spring

For the last five years in June, Friends from over 20 yearly meetings drawing on all branches of Friends have gathered together in Barnesville, Ohio, or Rindge, NH, to explore what Spirit-led Quakerism is about at its core - and to experience it together. These were truly "gatherings with a difference" - with most of the week left unplanned and open to the leading of the Spirit.

In 2012 Quaker Spring will return to Barnesville, Ohio and will meet from June 24-29.  For more information on this summer's gathering, go to:

Friends of various ages and background have come together & spent time listening to ways the winds of the Spirit are blowing through their lives. We've found it a little hard to explain concretely what a gathering such as this one is actually like.  Deborah Haines wrote a new piece recently attempting to describe this called: 

Jesus in the Midst

Here are a couple of additional ways to sense what these gatherings are like: The Epistle from QuakerCamp in Stillwater and a Friends Journal article about the same original gathering called Blessed by the Witness of God.

Over 70 Friends attended the 2011 gathering held at The Meeting School in Rindge, NH. Materials about last summer's gathering including the closing minute that summarizes all we experienced that week can be found on the right sidebar.

You can also find there links to lots more material about earlier gatherings including epistles, queries, minutes of exercise and talks by Susan Smith, Fran Taber, and others.

Gathering costs are deliberately kept very low (around $30/day per adult). Fees are on a "freewill offering/pay what you feel led" basis, so no one need stay away for reasons of limited funds. There are children's programs in the morning and childcare available in the evening.

We welcome Friends of all branches and expressions of faith to join with us. Although Bible study happens each morning and many Friends here here have been drawn to the faith of earlier generations of Quakers, Friends with many different paths have enjoyed this opportunity to seek, share, and worship with others in this open, relaxed retreat-like time.

We especially welcome Young Adult Friends!  One of the most exciting things about these gatherings has been the powerful sharing across generational lines between Young Adult and older Friends. Many in both groups have spoken of how powerful and unusual this experience has been. To see more about this, go to YAFs at Quaker Spring.

Our planning/discerning group currently includes: Deborah Haines (Baltimore YM), Micah Bales (Great Plains YM), Susan Bailey & Susan Smith (Ohio YM), Ann Armstrong, Noah Baker-Merrill, Peter Blood-Patterson, Angela Hopkins & Susan Zeichner (New England YM), Janet Hough (New York YM) and Ellen Deacon (Philadelphia YM). 

You can email the Quaker Spring planning group if you have questions or ideas about this summer's gathering. If you prefer, you may also write Deborah Haines, 2794 Fort Scott Dr, Arlington VA 22202 or call her at 703-706-8176.

We welcome contributions to support these gatherings. For more information on how this can be helpful, please go to: Contributions to Quaker Spring

We hope you will join us this June in Barnesville!