A nonprofit Christian ministry organization

Way of the Spirit

18 months, eight online distance sessions with two residential retreats*, learning, and growth in faithfulness from the wisdom of Quaker spirituality. APPLICATION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JAN 15, 2020.

Find Life in Your Prayer

Try new spiritual practices. Ground efforts for peace and justice. Revitalize your relationship with the Holy. Grow in awareness of the guidance of God within. Stretch into contemplative silence, movement, creative, vocal or healing prayer.

 

Bring Your Own Experience

The specifics of your life, character, activities, and sensibilities matter in the life of faith. Engage a gently guided, experiential approach to spiritual discernment, relational spirituality, Quaker “leadings,” and universal ministry or Spirit-led service. Way of the Spirit seeks to integrate the wholeness of our experiences in God. The ordinary, or practical, and the “spiritual” weave one Reality. More here.

 

Grow Beloved Community

Join the extraordinary community of participants and alumni, intentionally fostering each others’ faithfulness over time. Enjoy spiritual companioning (Quaker “eldering”) by program staff during and between retreats. Meet monthly with other participants in online sessions for mutual support of faithfulness. Class size limited to 15-18. Read what participants say.

Way of the Spirit welcomes sincere seekers from several faith communities. We are enriched by the gifts of Quaker spirituality even as Quakers are nourished by other perspectives. We connect in our common yearning for the Holy, share deeply, and grow in faithfulness to our own paths.

 

Step Out Spirit-Led

Practice Way of the Spirit program content. Act on what you learn  at home, at work, in your faith community, on the streets, in your witness to the world. All have a part in the “universal ministry”—lived faith, intentionally exercised toward others. Grow in spiritual accompaniment or become an “everyday prophet.” Serve food, clean up, organize, lead… Do what is “yours to do” with the joy and freedom of Holy Love.

 

Learn from Quaker Wisdom

Study and integrate Christian and Quaker resources through a highly responsive curriculum. Approx. 200 pages of carefully selected materials in preparation for each retreat.

 

*Participate in Residential Retreats or from a Distance

The 2020 residential cycle of five retreats will gather in Oregon and Washington State. We are delighted to experiment with an additional Way of the Spirit option for participants from a distance. It will combine online learning models with two residential retreats in Oregon:

  • Eight live distance learning sessions gathering participants from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, California, and beyond.
  • Two residential retreats exploring highly relational topics: God-between us, forgiveness, beloved community, and spiritual accompaniment (Quaker “eldering”). 

 

Way of the Spirit is funded through participant fees and tax deductible donations through Good News Associates

 

PROGRAM CALENDAR

2019 CLASS IN PROGRESS:

  • Module 4: January 16-20, 2020 Whidbey Island, WA
  • Module 5: May 28 – June 1, 2020 Mt. Angel, OR

2020 DISTANCE-RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM

  • 8 Distance-Learning Sessions, January 2020-June 2021
    • Saturdays, 9am-12:30 Pacific Time:
    • 2020 Feb 1, Feb 22, Jun 6, Oct 17, Dec 12
    • 2021: Feb 13, Apr 10, Jun 12
  • Two Residential Retreats April 2-5, 2020 and August 6-9, 2020
    • Mt. Angel, OR, 45 minutes south of Portland airport.

 

Eight Years of Way of the Spirit

We’ve offered 45 retreats between January 2012 and November 2019. That’s over 225 days of reflection, prayer and growing with God. Read the inspiring origins of this program here.