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Monday, April 20, 2009

Meet and Greet



Meet and Greet today comes to us from the Grand Canyon, where a few of us journeyed following the BE 2.0. It seems appropriate to share with you some of the highlights of our conference with Wil Gafney on the topic of Women Prophets:Daughters of Miriam.

Day One: April 16
We arrived throughout the day...and found our rooms around courtyards like this one:


Some of us arrived early enough to walk the labyrinth....notice if you can, the ground squirrel who made her home under the labyrinth...


And here is the view beyond the labyrinth....


The first night we gathered after supper and share the creation story of RevGals...a delightful email trail of blogger comments. Afterward we entered our worship space

for an evening prayer led by Wil. Most of us, who had travelled far, and been up many hours went to bed after the worship. A few of us stayed up awhile longer enjoying spicy salsa and chips with a little wine or "pop."

Day 2
We gathered after breakfast for morning worship and then our first presentation by Wil. She led us through an interesting discussion on who is a prophet...and finding women in the texts of the Bible, even when it appears that women aren't there...We did some small group work looking at the various kinds of "prophets", a bit more group discussion, and then broke for lunch. (See Wil Ganey's book, Daughters of Miriam, Women Prophets in Ancient Israel, for more infor).The afternoon we had free time. A number of us went into "Old Scottsdale" and did some shopping at the ....some of us bought knitting supplies for the first time while others decided to try and up our knitting technique with more complicated patterns.

We reconvened with Wil for an evening study session followed by evening worship. Some of us stayed up late playing cards....(what were you playing???)

Day 3:
We had sabbath time on Saturday morning. Some of us walked the grounds, others chose to go back into Old Scottsdale. We gathered in the afternoon for more time with Wil looking at the begats in 1 Chronicles and listing all the women named in chapters 1-8...we also broke into small groups and choose a story in scripture about a woman and recorded it using just the pronoun "she" and the verbs associated with the woman's story: so, "She said," "she bowed," "she spoke," etc....and during our small group work we enjoyed this courtyard:

and some flowers in the area:


Following our time with Wil we had a short break and then reconvened for a group photo:


After the photo we had dinner and then spent a relaxing evening around a

the night was cool, the fire was blazing (that's Wil in the background, if you can see her), the wine flowed (well water and "pop" too), and the conversations delightful.

Day 4:
As I write this it is Saturday night. Sunday morning we will gather for a closing Eucharist written by various members of those attending. Afterward seven us are loading into two cars and heading north to the Grand Canyon. The rest will be taking the shuttle back to the airport and heading home. If this is posted as written it means I have not been able to add anything further about our BE 2.0 since Saturday night.....but I will update as possible.

All I can say is, it's really been wonderful. Thank you to those who helped create this wonderful blog ring and for the inspiration to bring us together for the Big Events. There is already conversation about next year: where (East coast? Southeast?), what (cruise? retreat center, a personal home), when (how many weeks after Easter, 1 or 2?)....but whenever, whatever, wherever....plan to be at the BE 3.0....

23 comments:

  1. Oh, Goodness! What a wonderful time! The learning and recreating all sound delightful.

    If I may, I'd love to put in a bid for the NorthEast for next year--as much as everyone enjoys the warmth of the sun, surely we can find a lovely lodge with a roaring fire and exquisite ocean views, or someplace near a botanical garden with some tropical greenhouses?

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  2. I'm home and trying to convince myself it's Eastern Time, not "Neverland Desert Time." It was wonderful to be with all of you.
    Wherever we meet next year, please know the planning committee will attempt to balance needs and desires as best they can and to look for some scholarship money for next year.
    (But MaineCelt? I don't think our region in April will sell under any circumstances!)

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  3. Lovely pictures and report ... I would come to Maine in April ... if I could afford it ... and the Northwest can be lovely any time of year ... 70 degrees and sunny here today. Maybe two BE's a year ... summer in the north and winter in the south???

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  4. I wonder if there are Lilly funds available ANYWHERE for this. It seems right up their alley.

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  5. In the short time that I have journeyed here with the gals, this place has become a haven for me. I eagerly await each day's postings, try to keep everybody straight, and am beginning to get to know the posters. When the next BE gets put on the calendar I plan to mark it on mine and start dropping $$ into a special jar. Or perhaps we can work on some especially creative fundraisers to help defray expenses (a la SheRev's Lilly suggestion).

    Waiting with baited breath.

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  6. PS--Kanuga, the episcopal conference center in western North Carolina is quite nice. And I believe that the diocese of East Carolina has a conference center on the beach...

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  7. It really was such a great time...and neverland desert time was an amazing treat and gift and blessing.
    thank you everyone!

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  8. It was WONDERFUL! I am super busy with coming back to over 300 emails...sigh...but so good to have taken the time away with my dear friends. Love you all and can't wait until next year!

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  9. It sounds like everyone had a glorious experience! As one who was not there, I especially love the "group picture!"

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  10. Wow...sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing the re-cap.

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  11. It sounds lovely.

    I wish for a BE in NYC or somewhere in New England! Lots of good possibilities.

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  12. If anyone reading this has experience getting grant money from Lilly and would like to help us try to do that, please be in touch with me! revsongbird@gmail.com
    Thanks!

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  13. It was such a meaningful time for me in many ways. Special thanks to those who helped me begin my new knitting hobby! I miss you all and hope I can join in next year...wherever that may be

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  14. Thank you all, I had a wonderful time. For those of you who liked the book, please go to Amazon and leave a comment. Again, thank you very much!

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  15. What a beautiful time that looks like!

    Someday I hope to be able to join you.

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  16. Totally delightful... and blessed to read about it through your eyes, MomPriest.

    I'm grateful for RevGals... never realized until recently how you have helped me find my voice. <3

    Deb

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  17. I wish I could have posted from the Grand Canyon....we had sooo much fun! I'll save that for some future version of Meet and Greet....I arrived home about 8:45 last night, after dropping some of the Grand Canyon folk off at their hotel in Phoenix - and I hope those travelling home today arrive with out delay and safely!

    It was a great experience.

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  18. I had such a wonderful time at the event. It was so good to be with such amazing women at such a beautiful place.

    The Grand Canyon trip also included a side-trip to Sedona which was breathtaking, as was the Canyon. I'll never forget it. Thanks to Mompriest who made our uber-fun side-trip possible.

    I'm heading home today and wishing I could take the warmth of Phoenix with me!

    TTFN my RevGal friends.

    hip2B - I LOVE the word "pheeto"!!!

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  19. It all sounds wonderful and I'm so sad I couldn't be with you this time...saving my pennies as best I can for B.E4 if not 3...Thank you for including us stay at homes, though :)

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  20. I'm home and back at the day job. It was great to see all the pics and remember the warmth of the time together. Thanks to all who worked to plan and present this event. It was a refreshing break and so good to see RevGal friends old and new.

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  21. It was the coolest thing ever. Southeastern beach would be awesome next year.

    And please, oh please, two weeks after Easter? Much friendlier for associate pastors, as we discussed there, and the weekend after Easter is the major professional conference for spiritual directors, at which I am very much hoping to lead a workshop.

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  22. For the record, we were playing Crazy 8s. I know because I won almost every hand!

    The Grand Canyon was amazing but the altitude wasn't so great for me.

    The Diamondbacks game was well worth the $6 ticket price.

    And the warmth, priceless.

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