17th – 19th April
A weekend for Redland Meeting members, attenders and our families, where we will be exploring the following theme:
Vision 20/20
We have booked the Ammerdown Centre near Radstock again, so that up to 70 of us can spend a weekend together, involved in a range of all-age activities, sharing meals and having time to relax and get to know each other better at a deeper level. We have chosen the theme of ‘Vision 20/20’, in which we can explore the Quaker vision for our complex world and how we, as Quakers, respond to its challenges. Once again we plan to offer opportunities for both inward reflection and outward action while we also explore the meaning of friendship within and beyond our religious community.
What we have planned:
This year our planning is centred on a range of activities that we can all enjoy together. This worked so successfully in 2018 that once again we do not plan to have separate programmes for different age groups.
Examples of our contemplative stream might be storytelling, meditation, centering prayer, dance, and creative writing. Our action stream might include making refugee doves, planting seeds for guerrilla gardening, engaging in dialogue, action planning, ceilidh dancing, drama and craft activities. These are just some of the themes emerging in our planning. We will also have lots of time for old favourites: art, yoga, mindful walking, singing, meeting for worship, walks, campfire and cocoa, and of course the quiz! We will be asking for volunteers from our Sharing Circles to suggest activities and perhaps to lead them so we will have a varied and exciting timetable drawing on the many talents and strengths in our Meeting. You can dip in and out; there will be space for quiet contemplation and conversation as well as plenty to absorb energetic people of all ages.
To book
If you would like to come, please fill in the booking form on the Redland Meeting website (click here to download the Information & Booking Form document), or pick up a paper copy from the newsletter rack in the Meeting House, and send it to Mark Spring (markjamesspring@gmail.com).
To help
Can you help? Do you have ideas for activities? Please contact Jenni Harris (jennikester@yahoo.co.uk). It could be as simple as bringing a poem, a musical instrument, a song to teach (or to ask to be taught), wool for knitting, a game to play or a reading you have found inspiring or helpful.
Sharing travel
We will strive to make this a zero-waste weekend. Please indicate either if you would like to be a passenger with somebody who is planning to drive or if can offer a lift in your car. If there is enough interest, we will organise a minibus.
If you have never been away with us and are curious please ask around, most needs can be met and most concerns answered. Ammerdown is warm and comfortable, well organised and spacious – perfect for our needs. We’d like to ensure everybody can come who wants to … and that you feel welcome. Perhaps you’d consider sharing your contact details prior to the weekend so that groups of us or pairs can connect and support each other. This is about practical community-building, so even if you cannot come to Ammerdown, we hope you can participate. We hope all of us will be touched and changed by the experience, in ways which turn out to be positive, enriching, energising and affirming.
submitted by Mark Spring
For more details on the Ammerdown venue, go to www.ammerdown-conference.co.uk
