Dreaming Sanctuary: An Intergenerational LGBTQ+ Gathering 

The past few years have seen prolonged traumas, fear, and challenges globally and locally for the LGBTQ+ community. This retreat will offer a refuge space for renewal, rejuvenation, and relationship building at Pendle Hill, a Quaker center open to all for retreat, learning, and community. This gathering will bring together LGBTQ+ participants from a range of ages and spiritual backgrounds, providing an opportunity to break bread together, recenter in openness to the Spirit, and create new connections as we celebrate what nourishes and sustains us across the generations.

We will explore inherited spiritual practices that sustained our queer ancestors, including the fundamental practice of building shared spiritual community.

Youth Participation:

Dreaming Sanctuary welcomes current high school students as full retreat participants, whether attending with a family member, sponsor, or on their own. Friends General Conference Young Adult and Youth Coordinator Kody Hersh, assisted by a team of experienced youth workers, will be coordinating and supporting youth participation. High schoolers will have a designated housing area and will meet together as a peer group for additional support and connection throughout the weekend. Use the regular form to register or contact KodyH@FGCQuaker.org with questions.

Additional Funding for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Participants:

Friends General Conference has two funds that may be able to provide funding for travel and registration expenses of People of Color registering for Dreaming Sanctuary. Read more and apply for funds here: FGC Funds for Friends of Color – Friends General Conference (fgcquaker.org)

Download the flyer to share with your community.

Leaders

nova george (all pronouns) is a wonderer and poet interested in worship and the ways faith informs imaginings and realities regarding community, belonging, and inclusion. nova’s eyes light up in conversation about the role of technology in spiritual education, liberation theologies, black literature as sacred text, and everyday ritual and spiritual practice. You might find nova lounging in a Brooklyn café having a cup of herbal tea, singing to a tree from their patio, or dreaming about the world they hope to co-create with all of you.

Kody Gabriel Hersh (they/he) is a queer, trans Quaker youth worker, whose work has centered around building safe and inclusive intergenerational community, supporting youth leadership, working for justice, and preventing abuse. They are the author of the Friends Journal article “A Gospel of Quaker Sexuality” and a former presiding clerk of Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Concerns. They live on the ancestral lands of Tiwa-speaking peoples in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and serve as Friends General Conference’s Young Adult and Youth Ministries Coordinator. They love queer YA novels, vegan dessert, and good trouble.

Frances Kreimer (she/they) is a queer Jewish educator and the Education Director of Pendle Hill. She previously taught and directed Villanova University Law School’s Clinic for Asylum, Refugee, and Emigrant Services, focusing on mental health, trauma healing, and movement lawyering. She is drawn to Pendle Hill’s experiment in spiritual learning community as a space to imagine the world we are building together.

Financial aid may be available. If you are seeking funds to participate in this program, click to review and complete our Financial Assistance Application and a Pendle Hill staff member will follow-up with you shortly (please do NOT register online). Thank you for your interest.

Travel directions to Pendle Hill.

Please make sure to review our health and safety expectations at https://pendlehill.org/stay/covid-19-information/.