By Katrina McQuail
As the coordinator for this year’s Continuing Revolution Conference, I have been under the weight of our charge: what does the Peace testimony mean to (you) young adult Friends today? How can we lean into its depth and power? In designing the conference I’ve come to the following invitational queries: Do you feel called to action, but are unsure about what to do? Are you in the midst of movement organizing and need some grounding and recharge? Then I hope you join us for the six-day Continuing Revolution conference from June 2-7th, 2017.
The conference is packed with everything from practical logistics of non-violent action organizing to opportunities for deep introspection, and everything in-between.
Continuing Revolution is Pendle Hill’s annual conference for young adult Friends (ages 18-35) and seekers. This year, the timely, broad theme of the conference is Peace and Justice, through the lens of activism and spirituality. Built on the momentum from the past five incredibly successful years, the 2017 conference focuses on the Quaker testimony of Peace through the lens of waging nonviolence.
In the broader world, peace and pacifism can be confused with inaction and passivity. In these turbulent times, action is needed. Our tradition has many examples of people who have acted boldly and bravely for justice, not because Peace was a testimony but because they were working from a conviction, fueled by their Quaker practices and supported by their Meetings. Some feel, in the present, that Quakers are all talk. Now is a time to be clear in our convictions. How do we each respond as individuals and corporately to the pressing needs of this moment?
How do we get to the point that we can participate in and organize actions, imbue movements with non-violence, band together over our shared goals, stop having small differences divide us, and bring beauty and humour into our protests? Learn the logistics of organizing, nonviolent communication tactics, options for trying to work within the system and how to organize outside of it as well as the benefits and hazards of using social media and current technology to engage and organize. Bring your thoughts and values to a discussion about whether there is ever a time and place that peace and nonviolence are not enough.
The conference is six days of intense, training-oriented workshops and sessions. Each morning there will be options for movement and worship to ground yourself before starting the day. We’ll nourish your body with delicious meals from the Pendle Hill kitchen; many of the greens are sourced directly from the onsite Pendle Hill garden. We’ll have a diverse range of trainers and leaders, using a variety of teaching and learning methods for engaging our minds and bodies in multiple ways. We create a packed schedule so that you can pick and choose what is most meaningful and useful to you, taking time as you need it for reflection and self-care. There will be opportunities for individual processing, artistic expression, and a weaving together of all of the sessions by our common thread facilitator.
The Pendle Hill campus is a stunning 24 acres with trails to walk or run, places to sit or worship, an art studio, library, and a whole community of people supporting the work that we’ll be doing.
Interested in learning more about the conference? Click here to check out the Continuing Revolution webpage. Contact conference coordinator Katrina McQuail by email (kmcquail@pendlehill.org) or assistant conference coordinator, Amy Greulich (agreulich@pendlehill.org).
