Blue River Quarterly Meeting
From Shahin
Adrian, Juli, and I traveled to DuBois, Illinois September 20-22 for the Blue River Quarterly (BRQ) gathering that is part of Illinois Yearly Meeting. Friends welcomed us warmly, curious about how we discovered them and how things fared with Memphis Friends Meeting and our own yearly meeting. Many of us had similar stories about attendance before, during, and after the pandemic and about hybrid worship.
We arrived late Friday for registration and found our cabin in the dark. Saturday was filled with early morning worship, adult and youth programs, business meeting,
and a nighttime bonfire. Plus Adrian went horseback riding, Juli connected with the horses at the stable, Adrian and I canoed on the lake and I found time to hike. Sunday wrapped up the programming before worship, pack-out, and goodbyes.
The adult programming was based on Pendle Hill pamphlet #442 “Meeting at the Center: Living Love and Reconciling One with Another” by Bruce Birchard. We considered the topic of reconciliation within ourselves (for past mistakes or regrets), inter-personally, within our local communities as well as nationally/globally. We
explored how being truthful and overcoming fear can nurture the “spark” that bridges the gulf within ourselves or between people; how that process leads to “god happening” — that of god, the divine, or the inner light as a verb (rather than a noun); and how we all came with our own griefs and conflicts. The content felt timely, relevant, and meaningful.
The BRQ gathering includes 10 meetings and worship groups from Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa. The geographic distribution felt akin to — but not as vast — as SAYMA
although our four-hour drive felt very different than the six- or eight-hours it takes to travel to Berea, KY or Asheville, NC. These “Quarterly” gatherings actually happen semiannually: in the fall at the DuBois Center in southern Illinois, and in spring at a camp near Springfield, IL. The Illinois Yearly Gathering is held in McNabb, IL, about two hours southwest of Chicago. With such a positive experience, I will likely be back.