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Voices of Convergence

Posted Feb 21, 09:45 PM | 1 comments | by Editor | Link

This weekend, 90+ women are participating in the third annual Convergence gathering at Edgefield Manor in Portland, Oregon.

Here are some of the voices of the women present at this weekend’s gathering:

Sarah Montoya, a member of the Seven community in San Francisco, has posted this poem, “Fragile Strength,” from Convergence (along with the photo above):

Fragile strength.
Held together by the cut and torn pieces of fabric.
Bent and broken branches, creating a nest.

These baskets were the center pieces on each of our tables at Convergence.
They represent our lives.
Our beautiful mess.
Trusted by God to hold precious pieces of life.

We are women who lead In The Way of Jesus.

We sat together and shared our stories.
We had 15 minutes each to share and in that time we were listened to.
For 15 minutes 4 women sat and heard me- with out judgment, without advice, with love.
They listened with love and understanding.
They have been hurt and are healing.
We know each others pain without having to speak it, but we have the freedom to speak it here.

We are that nest—we are the broken and bending pieces that create the whole.
The whole that is fragile strength: malleable enough to be used by God, strong enough to hold the church, to guide her and move her toward The Way.

Ronna Detrick Miller, director of special projects at Mars Hill Graduate School, writes in “Tasting God”:

It’s really quite stunning — being one of 90+ women in the same room — all different, all together. Some of us know each other. Most of us do not. And it doesn’t matter. Our diversity and similarity, when combined, is more beautiful than any one of us alone. And amazingly, our own beauty, as individual women, is experienced, enhanced, and embraced; we become more beautiful. It’s holy. It’s a taste of God. ...

There’s something about it — women in relationship with one another — that is unsurpassed by nearly any other experience I know. There’s an energy and enthusiasm that is poignant when partnered with freely expressed sadness and grief. It’s holy. It’s a taste of God.

I think of how many contexts I experience on a daily basis that involve only a part of me, just one or two of my five senses: listening, speaking, tasting, smelling, touching. Rarely am I palpably aware of all of them at the same time — and in community with others. But when women gather, something reconnects us to our truest selves, to our senses, to our bodies, to our hearts, to each other. It’s holy. It’s a taste of God.

UPDATE 2/22/2009: Here are a few more updates from Convergence …

Ronna Detrick Miller writes in “Dancing with God”:

There’s something about letting our guard down and being surrounded by others who do the same that enlivens and empowers. Women rarely get that opportunity. In work, church, and culture we can (or do) rarely let our guard down and are surrounded by others who are not dancing the way we do — or even to the same music. We feel outnumbered, alone, and sometimes pretty silly — out there on the dance floor, moving to a different beat. But not yesterday.

Yesterday we laughed and sang, cried and clapped, ate and drank, talked and listened, rested … and danced. Not alone, but in community, in unity, in fellowship, in beauty, in solidarity, in strength. Yesterday we tasted God. Yesterday we danced with God.

Sarah Montoya writes in “The Tension in Worship”:

There is something profoundly beautiful about the honest worship songs we have been singing this weekend. These songs were written by the worship leaders that are here and they sing of pain and the healing. They admit that we have been broken before and we know we will be broken again, still follow. ...

We have sung songs of both grief and rejoicing. The sound of distinctively female voices rising up in confession to the Lord has be therapeutic for my soul. God is here — wooing us. Reminding us that we are created in the image of God as a precious creation. Also reminding us that we must surrender to God’s goodness, we must choose to allow God’s redemption. I love the tension of those two realities. The freedom to cry out in earnest to my Abba, along side the understanding that God is already aware and already healing me.

Laura Simmons, Associate Professor of Christian Ministries at George Fox University, shares her perspective as a “Convergence newbie”:

You see, these are the cool women—not superficially cool, not wannabe cool—but truly cool women. Women who give their lives to and for the disenfranchised, who don’t care about what people think, whose language may be salty but their hearts are made of gold. ...

And such interesting people! The woman from Langley who wrote a dissertation about how folks who leave churches under traumatic circumstances can find healing and hope again. The gal who brought her dulcimer on the plane from Colorado so she can contribute her gifts to this glorious montage. The three seminarians animatedly discussing ecclesiology over dinner … it was a vibrant group. ...

I’ve stopped worrying about what I’m wearing and whether I know folks or not—now I’m just glad I came. Wish you could be here.

These are dispatches from Convergence 2009. If you missed it and want to participate in a future Convergence gathering, check out the Convergence website for updates on what’s coming up.

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