A Spirited Gathering in the East

Camp Shepherd's Spring
June 6-8, 2003

I really wanted to write a report on the recent weekend gathering at Shepherd's Spring (June 6-8). But these are busy days. So this little summary will have to do for now.

Our group at Shepherd's Spring was small but rich with ideas and with love for the church. You know that most Church of the Brethren workshops and retreats could not happen without newsprint, and we filled our share. We had long lists of concerns and struggles. But we had pages filled with the hopeful signs in the church. For me one of the best sessions was the careful thinking we did on Saturday afternoon about how VOS might help Brethren listen to each other and reach out across the divides.

We also did some more lighthearted brainstorming about the VOS hospitality center in Boise. It will be in the Capitol Room at the University Inn on the corner of the Boise State Campus and will be open as a place of retreat, meditation, good conversation, and some surprises. Look here and on the listserve for more about this.

The gathering did the basic thing that VOS tries to do—provide a safe space and common ground for people to share honestly their hurts and hopes. Voices were raised in concern and in praise. Spirits were open. But I sensed there is something more for VOS. I thought about it all weekend, and I continue to think about it. We are slowly working out a vision, not in order to counter something but in order to move forward toward something that God is calling us to do and be. Yes, it has to do with sexual orientation. Yes, it has to do with making it safe for people of faith to be who they are in all their diversity. Yes, it has to do with how we understand scriptures. Yes, it has to do with how we conduct our business at Annual Conference. But it is also about opening ourselves to an abundant life larger and fuller than the concerns that occupy and drive us, living freely and lovingly in that life.

— Jim Lehman