MCGM will be hosted by Evanston meeting on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009.

Schedule:

9:30 am gathering
10 am Meeting for Worship, Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
12 noon lunch hosted by Evanston Monthly Meeting
1 pm Listening Circle Workshop facilitated by Tim Baer and Joanna Wiebe
3 pm Closing

Childcare is available during the event.

How to get there: Evanston’s meeting house is at 1010 Greenleaf St. in Evanston, IL; there is plenty of street parking. The meeting house is one-half mile from the Main Street stop of the Metra and CTA.

Please let Evanston Friends know how many to plan for! RSVP to newsletterfriend@evanstonquakers.com with the names of those attending. It will be helpful if you will let us know names and ages of children planning to attend.

Quakers of all sorts from meetings and worship groups in Chicagoland and beyond will gather May 2 at Evanston Monthly Meeting, for worship, spiritual nurture, food and fellowship, and service. This includes Friends from 57th Street, Chicago Monthly Meeting, Downers Grove, Duneland, Evanston, Friends Gathering in Jesus Christ, Lake Forest, Northside Friends, Oak Park, Oshkosh, Rock Valley, South Bend, and Upper Fox Valley. We gather to remember and to celebrate who we are.

Listening Circle Workshop
“The branches of your intelligence grow new leaves in the wind of this listening.” - Rumi
From 1 to 3 pm, Joanna Wiebe and Tim Baer will facilitate a Listening Circle Workshop, modeled on the Shalom Mountain Retreat Center process. Participants in this experiential workshop will learn the Listening Circle meeting format, which gives everyone in the group an opportunity to listen and to be heard. This two hour workshop will train you to run your own Listening Circles, which are a safe atmosphere for:
• sharing ideas, stories and feelings
• building understanding relationships
• giving and receiving support and encouragement
• practicing the art of deep listening
You will take home a concise handout which clearly outlines the steps of the Listening Circle process. You can use the Listening Circle meeting format with any size of group, with any age, in any setting.