FGC july 2026 Gathering in Vermont

Greetings, friends! Here’s our schedule & some recommended reading to get your brain spinning.

Nontheism among Friends (NaF) workshop

tuesday 7wensday 8thursday 9friday 10saturday 11
8.15-8.45sit happens ~ morning meetings for quiet / silence / insites • Rosa Parks Room, 1st floor, Davis Center
9:00-11:45NaF 1NaF 2NaF 3NaF 4
l u n c h
3-4Nontheism among Friends – Q&A Clarifying beliefs
– Andrea		Dark & light
– Robin & tom		NTFs look
to the future
4.14-5.15Living the Quaker Nontheist Life
– Jim Cain		Deconstructing qism
– tom		Contemplative sharing: what does nontheism mean to you? Contemplative sharing:
whatever rises

good reads … a friendly nontheist primer

our 2026 Nontheist Friends Center …
• Rosa Parks Room on the 1st floor of the Davis Center (UVM’s student center)
• every morning … 8 – 8.30 • sit happens • meditation/practice, hosted by tom kunesh
starting our mornings, sitting quietly in community, waiting for godot 

afternoon programs/presentations/discussions …

Wednesday, July 8

3-4 • Nontheism among Friends: Q & A – with Robin Alpern
Nontheism is one of many forms of diversity among Friends and is even widely varied under the ‘nontheist’ rubric. Where do we fit in as we seek to be open to the “continuing revelation” of truth, to support all Friends, and to help strengthen Quakerism?  All are welcome for this introductory presentation and discussion. 

4:15 – 5:15 • Living the Quaker Nontheist Life: Freedom, Responsibility, and Community in a Godless Universe, with Jim Cain
What does it mean to live a deeply spiritual, ethical, and compassionate life if …
… there is no supernatural being looking after us?
… there is no divine plan?
… there is no revealed moral code?
… there is no guarantee that justice will prevail?
… death is final?
Many people assume that these ideas lead inevitably to despair, nihilism, or selfishness. Yet many Quaker Nontheists have found precisely the opposite: that accepting these realities can deepen gratitude, responsibility, compassion, and wonder.

Thursday July 9

3-4 • Clarifying My Beliefs, with Andrea Henley Heyn
This workshop presents a simple framework for looking closely at one’s belief system, providing queries to inspect language, theories, admonitions, assumptions, awe, physical responses, personal history, etc. It will present examples of transformational experiences without the need for a supernatural explanation. It will always leave room for the concept that “I may be wrong.” This concept allows for others to have strongly-held beliefs which do not coincide with one’s own but which may give them equal satisfaction and comfort.

4:15 – 5:15 • Deconstructing qism, with tom kunesh
Building on the iconoclasm & aniconism of 16th-century Radical Reformation, qism has a long history of minimalism & religious deconstruction.
Some friends advocate helping others along the path & taking it further.  

Friday July 10

3-4 • racism in Light: finding new ways to talk about the dark & the light among Friends, with Robin Alpern and tom kunesh
Angloamerican christians developed a colorized vocabulary to talk about race & secure their own privilege. While eurocentric empires demonized, terrorized, enslaved & stole from Indigenous peoples around the world, White supremacy was celebrated with white Jesuses made in the image of Light. White Quakers — 99% of all quakers at the time — participated in this racialized color hierarchy of White as Light as Right for over 300 years. Today we ask, where is color balance in Friends’ contemporary vocabulary? – Is there sacred knowledge in darkness? – good in blackness? How do we balance the moral associations with Light & Dark with quakers of all shades & tone, and refine our words so that Light is not a White Being of Might & Right? We’d like to hear what Friends of Colors & theist & nontheist Friends think about kromatic balance in qism.

4:15 – 5:15 • Contemplative Sharing: What does nontheism mean to you?
A session grounded in silence, with plenty of space for sharing reflections on the topic 

Saturday July 11

3-4 • Nontheist Friends: Where To From Here? 
Open discussion: where might the presence of Nontheist Friends in the Religious Society of Friends lead next?

4:15 – 5:15 • Contemplative Sharing: Whatever Rises
A session grounded in silence, with plenty of space for sharing reflections on the topic

your hosts … from back in 2024

Learn more about nontheist friends on our website here: nontheistquakers.org