Gathering in Winnipeg

Gathering and coming together as a community has always been important to many Quakers. We hope to achieve this sense of community as we experiment with our first-ever blended Yearly Meeting.

At the Gathering this year, many exciting activities are taking place, from Quaker studies with Brent Bill, through various Special Interest Groups to the Sunderland P. Gardener Lecture. This year, the Lecture is by Richard ‘Dick’ Preston, who is reflecting on stories from a lifetime of building relationships and friendships with Cree people in the communities along the shores of James Bay in northern Ontario and Quebec. As usual, it is open to everyone, even if you are not registered for Canadian Yearly Meeting 2023. We invite you to register yourself via this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsfu6grzspH9RNk3lrrvlkuPgIosfyj75W

You will then receive the link to attend the Lecture shortly beforehand. Therefore, please take the time to register well before the session is scheduled to start.

Michelle Tolley, Canadian Yearly Meeting’s Archivist, has brought along some fascinating historical pieces from the Archives for everyone to peruse. Below is a picture of the beautiful book of drawings and letters from German children, sent to the Canadian Friends Service Committee as a thank-you gift for food and support that they sent to Germany during the Second World War. The care and detail in these letters and drawings are wonderful to see.

 

 

The Children and Youth program is at the heart and soul of this year’s Gathering. With 17 children and teenagers, the Children’s program is a great success. Last night, children and adults came together for a wet felting workshop to create beautiful fibre art. Today, Monday, they are off on a field trip to Winnipeg to swim.