Upcoming Events
Winter Quarterly Gathering
Join us at West Hills Friends for Winter Quarterly. We will worship together, attend workshops, enjoy a meal together, and listen to each other and the Spirit in meeting for business.
Annual Sessions, 2025
Annual sessions will be held at Reedwood Friends Church in Portland, OR. We will begin on Friday morning through Sunday afternoon. We’ll share lunch and dinner on Friday and Saturday, as well as lunch on Sunday, at Reedwood Friends.
The Gathering Committee is looking for Friends who live in the Portland area who would be willing to host out-of-town attenders, providing overnight hospitality and breakfast. If you would like to host, please contact gathering@scymf.org
Fall Quarterly Gathering
Location
Eugene Friends Church, 3495 W. 18th Avenue, Eugene OR 97402
Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 813 7354 3594
Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81373543594
Please read the advance documents.They include a recommendation to approve a new meeting for membership in Sierra-Cascades.
Register
Please send to registrar@scymf.org the name(s) of those attending, church or meeting affiliation, age(s) if under 18, whether you wish to attend in person or on Zoom, which workshop would you like to attend, and whether you plan to attend the Intergenerational Game Night on Friday evening.
Schedule
9:00 to 10:30 am — Workshops (four different workshops to choose from!)
10:30 to 10:45 am — Break
10:45 to 11:30 am — Worship and music led by Neil Isaacson
11:30 to 12:30 pm —Business session
12:30 to 1:30 pm — Lunch and book signing with Sarah Katreen Hoggatt
1:30 to 5:00 pm — Business session
Workshops (9:00–10:30 am)
All the workshops will be offered in-person. All except the foot-washing will be offered on Zoom if enough people register for attending on Zoom.
The FWCC World Plenary: Living the Spirit of Ubuntu
Gil George will share his experience with the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) World Plenary and host a discussion of the results of the Plenary held in South Africa in August. Gil George will relay the experience and provide a space to discuss the three thematic streams of Creation Care, Healing Historic and Current Injustices, and Living the Spirit of Ubuntu; and how these streams intersect to map the future of FWCC.
Gil George is the Operations Manager for FWCC Section of the Americas. He is a member of West Hills Friends.
Foot-washing Fun with Derek (in-person only)
To wash another person's feet, as Jesus did, and to allow another person to wash our own is to practice deep humility and can be powerfully transformative. This workshop is focused on facilitating a Christ-centered worship experience. In-person only. Dress appropriately.
Derek Lamson has been a worship leader and SCYMF activist since 2017, and currently serves on Faith and Practice Committee.
Jesus, the Roman Empire, and the State of Israel
This workshop will explore: (1) Jesus’ harsh warning in Luke 13:1-5 when he was told about Rome’s massacre of Jews in worship, “Unless you repent, you too will perish”; (2) the current situation in Palestine and Israel; and (3) if Jesus is still relevant, what might repentance look like for those who witness Israeli atrocities today?
Paul Parker recently retired from Elmhurst University outside Chicago where he taught religious studies for 32 years. He has worked, studied, and volunteered in Israel and Palestine frequently since 2004. Most recently, he was the principal of Ramallah Friends School's upper campus which is located near the center of Ramallah in the West Bank of Palestine. From its beginning in 1869 until today, RFS has taught Palestinian boys and girls — Muslims and Christians — in the rich tradition of Friends. Paul attends Eugene Friends.
Let's Talk About Death and Dying (no, really!)
Baltimore Yearly Meeting has just published an important book (with a little help from a couple of Sierra-Cascades folks):
A Tender Time: Quaker Voices on the End of Life.
It includes chapters on aging well, end-of-life planning, and how friends, caregivers, and meetings can respond, and lots of resources. This workshop will introduce the book and its benefits and encourage local meetings to explore it together. The book is available through Barclay Press prior to the workshop.
Laura Simmons spent two years as a hospice chaplain and has lost both her parents; she wishes others were more prepared for this eventuality. Laura attends West Hills Friends.
Annual Sessions
Sierra-Cascades 2024 annual sessions will be held at Canby Grove Retreat Center from June 7 to 9, 2024. Our annual gatherings are joyous community-building times, built on worshipping, singing, learning, laughing, eating and hanging out together, sharing how we see the Divine showing up in our lives, and spending time discerning how we are called to bring love, healing, peace, and justice into our world.
Darren Kenworthy will be our facilitator as Friend in Residence. He will speak on Saturday night and Sunday morning, as well as lead small group discussions. Here are descriptions of the workshops you can attend during annual sessions.
Here’s information on housing, meals, and costs for attending annual sessions in person. The cost for attending on zoom is $25.
We will have childcare and children’s programs for ages birth to 10 years old. It will be available during meetings and workshops but not during free time or during the Friday night game night. There is no additional charge for childcare. Youth activities will also be available.
Register to attend in person. Register to attend on zoom only.
Here are directions to Canby Grove.
Winter Quarterly Gathering
We’ll meet in person and on zoom.
Here are directions to Camas Friends Church, 1004 NE Fourth Ave, Camas, WA .
Here’s the Zoom Meeting ID: 859 4678 1632 or click on: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85946781632
Here are advance documents to read to be prepared for meeting for business.
For the schedule, agenda, and other info, click on “view event” below.
Fall Quarterly Gathering
Join us on Zoom or in person at Eugene Friends Church on October 28 for worship, music, lunch, workshop and meeting for business.
Advance Documents
Click here to read what you’ll need to know to participate in meeting for business.
Location
Eugene Friends Church is at 3495 W 18th Ave, Eugene, OR 97402. To attend Quarterly, do not go to Eugene Friends Meeting. That's another place entirely.
Zoom link
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82008568593 meeting ID: 820 0856 8593
Schedule:
8:30–9:00 am | Registration and Reconnecting with Friends
9:00–9:45 am | Meeting for Worship, led by Jan Robbins, a member of Eugene Friends Church
9:45–12:00 pm | Meeting for Worship for the conduct of Business (with a break in the middle)
12:00–1:30 pm | Lunch
1:10–1:30 pm | Cherice Bock will sign her book, A Quaker Ecology
1:30–3:30 pm | Meeting for Worship for the conduct of business
3:30–5:00 pm | Workshops
Agenda for Meeting for Business
Things to know:
Childcare will be available for children up to age 11 or 12.
The youth are planning an overnight at the church on the Friday before Quarterly. They will have a “Meeting for Worship with Attention to Dungeons and Dragons” on Friday evening. More info here.
Lunch will have choices for vegans, vegetarians, and people with gluten sensitivities. If you have other dietary needs, please email registrar@scymf.org.
Annual Sessions
Theme: ‘Hard-Earned Hope: Finding Our Way Together’
Join us on Zoom or in person for our 6th annual sessions.
In addition to three thought-provoking plenaries, we will celebrate the pastors who served our member meetings for many years: Mike Huber, Faith Marsalli, Clyde Parker, Lorraine Watson, and of course Bernie Bosnjak. Business sessions will include joyful recommendations for recording the gifts of Friends in public ministry.
We will also offer times for special interest/affinity groups to meet. Currently, the list includes a group for LGBTQ Friends and another for 12-step recovery Friends. If you'd like to attend another type of special interest/affinity group, email gathering@scymf.org.
We'll have workshops, and most importantly, we will worship together. Online registration will open soon.
Click here for more information on the plenary session topics
Friday Evening Plenary:
From Memory to Hope
Leann Williams on the Healing Community
Saturday Evening Plenary:
History, Truth, and the Power of Listening:
Friends and Alaska Native Peoples
Jim LaBelle (Inupiaq), president of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. His birth mother was an Inupiaq Quaker.
Susan LaBelle (Sugpiaq), retired professor from the University of AK School of Social Work.
Jamiann S’eiltin Hasselquist (Lingit), vice-president of Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 2.
Sunday Morning Message:
Running On Empty in an In-between Space:
The Liminality of the Tomb and Hope for Resurrection - Mark Pratt-Russum
Winter Quarterly Gathering
Winter Quarterly Gathering
Join us on zoom for worship, workshops and discerning the Spirit’s way forward in decisions and reports in meeting for business.
Because of the snow, we will not be meeting in person. Here is the zoom link.
Please note that the schedule has changed; we will begin at 9:15 a.m.