Hi friends - If you’re planning to join us at the Porch Gathering next month (it begins four weeks from today), please register today or over the weekend - there are important deadlines coming up, after which your options may be limited. Details below.
But first, let me say this: as with many of you, I’ve felt the weight of the past few weeks, and I’ve seen the shafts of light, and I need the Porch Gathering as much of any of us.
There is a spirit of courage, creativity, and community springing up, not yet fully born yet.
I often think that there is a need to discern how to take life seriously without taking ourselves too seriously - another way of putting that, these days, is to re-imagine what we believe we’re here for, what humans are, what life is - what matters most, and what we can leave to the side. That re-imagining includes how we’re going to pay attention to ancient wisdom and pioneering knowledge about how to continue to build communities in which everyone is permeated by and nurtured to embody a vision of their own creative possibilities, bringing what they have and asking for what they need, and in which the only qualification for membership is a commitment to not harming anyone.
The Porch Gathering is one of the places where that re-imagining can happen. It takes place March 13th-15th, near Asheville, NC. You can find out more about it at www.theporchgathering.com.
And if you’re planning to join us, please note:
ACCOMMODATION
Accommodation at Montreat Conference Center is now extremely limited, and the deadline for booking is next Tuesday, February 18th.
Some accommodation remains at William Black Lodge/South Carolina Inn.
If you want to stay onsite, I recommend you don’t wait any longer to book.
MEALS
Even if you’re not staying at the Conference Center, if you want to eat meals on site during the Gathering, the deadline for booking commuter meals at Montreat Conference Center is also next Tuesday, February 18th.
SCHOLARSHIPS
As we announced last week, partial scholarships are available to anyone who needs one - if you can’t afford the registration fee, or if it would cause financial hardship to register at full rate, there are codes listed at the Gathering website that you can use to significantly reduce the cost of attending. Standard registration is $379, but you can reduce this to as little as $79 if you need to.
ONLINE OPTIONS
We are offering an option to share in the Porch Gathering online - live-streaming some events, and recorded several others. This option is $99, or $49 with a scholarship code (see the website for details).
And let me repeat: I’ve felt the weight of the past few weeks, and I’ve seen the shafts of light, and I need the Porch Gathering as much of any of us. If you sense that need for yourself, we are ready to welcome you.
Hi Gareth, it looks like I went out of order/sequence when registering for the Porch Gathering a few minutes ago. I sent $179.00 to The Porch before registering for the Montreat gathering. What do I need to do now? Elaine (Lois E) Ferguson